WATCH: State Department holds news briefing following release of religious freedom report

State Department spokesman Vedant Patel held a news briefing on Monday after Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave remarks at the release of the 2023 International Religious Freedom report.

Watch the briefing in the player above.

The International Religious Freedom report is compiled annually by the State Department and “describes the status of religious freedom, government policies violating religious belief and practices of groups, religious denominations and individuals, and U.S. policies promoting religious freedom in nearly every country and territory throughout the world,” according to the department’s website.

During the briefing, Patel was asked about China’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Falun Gong is a form of Chinese meditation and exercise with a spiritual underpinning.

Since 1999, the Chinese government has cracked down on Falun Gong, charging it with being an unregistered religion and cult that aims to subvert the state. China has also been accused of using jailed practitioners as unwilling sources for organs.

When asked if the U.S. will be taking broader actions against the situation, Patel said, “I’m not going to preview any actions or designations or additional steps that the government might take from here, but we have already taken a number of historic actions on human rights specifically to hold violators accountable.”