The Beijing regime has put a former U.S. religious official on the sanction list in payback to the U.S. sanction of a Chinese perpetrator in persecuting Falun Gong. Johnnie Moore, a two-time commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and his family members will be barred from visiting mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian announced in a May 26 press conference. Zhao said it was a “response to the U.S. blatant move to endorse cults and impose unilateral sanctions to Chinese personnel based on lies and disinformation,” invoking a label it had frequently used on the Chinese spiritual practice. He further accused the United States of “interfering in China’s internal affairs in the name of religious issues.” Moore, who has advocated on behalf of suppressed religious groups in China, said it was “an honor to be sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party.” “The …