- In the latest back and forthbetween the US and China,

the Communist government hassanctioned Rev. Johnnie Moore.

- Until his term expired a few weeks ago,

he served has a commissioner

on the US Commission forInternational Religious Freedom.

Moore is an outspoken critic

of China's treatment of peopleof faith and he joins us now.

Johnnie, great to see you.

Now you are a private citizen,

so Johnnie, how do thesesanctions affect you?

- The truth is, theydon't affect me very much.

I had no plans to travel to China.

I had no plans to goto Hong Kong or Macau.

The fact of the matter isis that it demonstrates

how desperate the ChineseCommunist Party is.

I mean, John, if I'm a threat (laughs)

to the Communist Party of China,

they are in more trouble thanwe even think that they are.

And if you read thewhole press conference,

the briefing earlier today in Beijing,

I mean, there was almost this obsession

with addressing thiscriticism about the Uyghurs

and other human rights issues.

This means we're getting to them

and I take it as a high compliment

to be sanctioned by the Communist Party.

- You mentioned it there,

you've made it your mission, Johnnie,

to advocate on behalf ofHong Kong Christian Jimmy Lai

who speaks out aboutChina's human rights abuses

and has been jailed for his work.

Do you think this factored

into the sanctions levied against you?

- You know, I don'tknow why they chose me,

except for what they said,

and they said two or three things.

Number one, my referring toChina's human rights abuses

as the worst in the world.

It is.

Number two, my advocacy for Jimmy Lai,

the Catholic businessperson

imprisoned in Hong Kong right now,

unjustly by the Communist Party.

And interestingly, number three,

somehow they knew

that I had met with theBiden administration's

transition team in early January

and I advised the Biden administration

to continue in the path ofthe Trump administration,

but to take a page from America's rivalry

with the Soviet Union a generation ago,

which was to put religious freedom

and human rights front and center.

And we have to do this.

I mean, the very fact

that they've taken a desperate measure,

which is a publicity stunt, basically,

to sanction someone like me,

demonstrates that they are sensitive.

They are weaker than they wantus to believe that they are.

And we have to make a decision now,

all Americans, Democrats and Republicans,

that are we not handingour future generation

to the Chinese Communist Party

to do what they want with innocent people.

And look, there are millions of victims

of the Chinese Communist Party.

I gave them my voice andChina's trying to shut me up,

and I'll tell you what they've done.

They've ensured that me and people like me

are never going to close our lips,

we're never gonna stop our advocacy

until every Muslim, everyChristian, every Tibetan Buddhist,

every other person in that country

that has these God given rights

has the ability to express those rights.

- Johnnie Moore, we appreciate your time

and I'm sure we'll be keeping tabs

on where things go withthese sanctions with you.

Thanks so much, Johnnie.

- Thanks for having me.- Thanks Johnnie.