(RNS) When Xi Jinping and Donald Trump had their first face-to-face meeting earlier this month in Mar-a-Lago, the plight of Christians in China could scarcely have been farther from either leader’s mind. 

An already full docket of talks on North Korea and U.S.-China economic ties was overshadowed by Trump’s bombing of Syria, a fact he relayed to Xi at the end of their evening banquet. 

But America ceding its role as global moral enforcement officer — including the once-customary raising of human rights with China during bilateral talks — has consequences.

The Chinese State Council recently released draft laws and regulations it plans to process in the coming year. They include revisions to the Regulations on Religious Affairs, potentially threatening the ability of millions of Chinese to practice their faith. The regulations come on the back of a two-year campaign in eastern Zhejiang province to remove crosses from the tops of churches and signal the end of a period of more relaxed control over religion.

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