c. 1998 Religion News Service

BEIJING _ Ying Mulan, who also goes by the name Sister Angela Theresa, wears a cream blouse and habit. Sitting in a pew in South Cathedral, one of six government-sanctioned Catholic churches in Beijing, she speaks firmly when asked what she thinks about American worries of persecution in China.

“America is so concerned about many things about other countries,” Ying said. “It’s just like a policeman. So sometimes you misunderstand China and other countries.”

A 1997 U.S. State Department report said that Christians have reportedly been victims of persecution in more than 70 countries.

But when the United States points a long finger of moral indignation, alleging violations of religious freedom, the response is often, “Who asked you?” Even in the United States, many ask: “Can we do anything to help? Should we?”

As the world’s premier superpower, the United States has long been the international cop on a wide range of human rights issues. Now that Congress has enacted a law making religious freedom a foreign policy mandate, the United States also will be policing and punishing persecution of all faiths in other countries.

In general, the more desperate Christians see their condition, the more they want the United States to take decisive action.

In Pakistan, Christians are treated as second-class citizens, outside the protection of the law. In Sudan, they are attacked and enslaved as part of a holy war. In Egypt, converts to Christianity face imprisonment and torture. And in China, while some believers enjoy relative freedom in government-approved churches, those worshipping in underground churches say they are harassed and imprisoned.

The Rev. Alexander John Malik, the bishop of Lahore for the Church of Pakistan, said the Christian minority in his country needs pressure from the West to make the government drop a blasphemy law used against Christians _ even if it means more trouble in the short run.

“We always suffer,” Malik said. “We don’t mind that.”

Bona Mawal, a native of southern Sudan who teaches African history at Oxford University in England, agreed.

“There is no amount of persecution that can be worse than what the people are suffering,” said Mawal, who has lost 19 brothers in a civil war the Islamic government of the north calls a jihad. “Any step that can be taken will help.”

The bill provides 15 possible responses, from a simple diplomatic reprimand to economic and trade sanctions. In signing the bill, President Clinton commended its flexibility, reminding Congress he has to impose economic measures “only in the most extreme and egregious cases of religious persecution” and that those measures can be waived in favor of other national interests.

In the past, the United States has sanctioned Pakistan and Sudan, among others, for various human rights violations. In places such as Sudan, where a civil war has ravaged religious minorities and others for 40 years, there might be little more the United States can do.

But Egypt, which depends on more than $2 billion annually in U.S. aid, and China, a key trading partner, could be jolted by economic sanctions.

Sanctions are controversial. USA Engage, a coalition of 497 businesses, says sanctions hurt U.S. business without accomplishing their goals.

Some Christians abroad fear a backlash.

M.L. Shahani, formerly Pakistan’s only Christian judge and now in private practice, advises caution. He said the Muslim majority in his country will blame Pakistani Christians if the United States imposes sanctions.

“It may result in violence against the non-Muslims,” he said.

In Egypt, the Rev. Safwat N. el-Baiady, president of the Egyptian Council of Protestant Churches, said: “This wouldn’t be good for Christians here. The majority will think it’s the problem of the Christians as to why they are losing the U.S. aid.”

Some suggest more individual approaches. Two Democrats and two Republicans in Congress have formed the Religious Prisoners Congressional Task Force, which aims to orchestrate letter-writing campaigns on behalf of religious prisoners in foreign countries.

It models itself on similar efforts in the 1970s to help Jewish dissidents in the former Soviet Union and Amnesty International’s “prisoners of conscience” campaign to aid imprisoned political dissidents.

Rep. Joseph R. Pitts, R-Pa., a group member, said such efforts can be effective. “When congressional members engage in advocacy with key government officials, prisoners’ lives can change for the better, prison conditions alter, torture ceases, and prisoners may even be released.”

DEA END O’KEEFE