Persecution watchdog Release International released a report this week indicating that Christian persecution in China has reached its worst levels since Mao’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. The report coincides with the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, a brutal government crackdown on pro-democracy protests that has exacerbated persecution.

The threat of persecution is now expanding. In Hong Kong, new national security laws increasingly target religious freedom, including one law that compels Catholic priests to report so-called treasonous crimes they hear during confession.

Release International is urging the international community to recognize the escalating persecution by China.