I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5725 

To impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act to combat the suppression of the freedoms of speech, association, assembly, procession, and demonstration of the people of Hong 

Kong, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 30, 2020 

Mr. GALLAGHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human 

Rights Accountability Act to combat the suppression of 

the freedoms of speech, association, assembly, procession, 

and demonstration of the people of Hong Kong, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hong Kong Be Water 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com5 mittees’’ means— 

6 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

7 the Committee on Armed Services, the Select 

8 Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on 

9 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the 

10 Committee on the Judiciary, and the Com11 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

12 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

13 Committee on Armed Services, the Permanent 

14 Select Committee on Intelligence, the Com15 mittee on Financial Services, the Committee on 

16 the Judiciary, and the Committee on Appro17 priations of the House of Representatives. 

18 (2) BASIC LAW.—The term ‘‘Basic Law’’ means 

19 the Basic Law of Hong Kong. 

20 (3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per21 son’’ means an individual or entity that is not a 

22 United States person. 

23 (4) HONG KONG.—The term ‘‘Hong Kong’’ 

24 means the Hong Kong Special Administrative Re25 gion of the People’s Republic of China. 


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1 (5) JOINT DECLARATION.—The term ‘‘Joint 

2 Declaration’’ means the Joint Declaration of the 

3 Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 

4 and Northern Ireland and the Government of the 

5 People’s Republic of China on the Question of Hong 

6 Kong, done at Beijing December 19, 1984. 

7 (6) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 

8 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 

9 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 

10 have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 

11 result. 

12 (7) NATIONAL.—The term ‘‘national’’ has the 

13 meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 

14 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

15 1101(a)). 

16 (8) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

17 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

18 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law19 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

20 United States; or 

21 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

22 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 

23 the United States, including a foreign branch of 

24 such an entity. 


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1 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) In February 2019, the Government of Hong 

4 Kong proposed the ‘‘Fugitive Offenders and Mutual 

5 Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation 

6 (Amendment) Bill 2019’’ (in this section referred to 

7 as the ‘‘extradition bill’’). 

8 (2) The extradition bill would have allowed for 

9 the extradition of individuals from Hong Kong to 

10 the mainland of the People’s Republic of China for 

11 the first time and offered minimal if any legal re12 course to those individuals identified for extradition. 

13 (3) The extradition bill was but the latest ex14 ample of the steady encroachment of the Govern15 ment of the People’s Republic of China on the free16 doms guaranteed to the people of Hong Kong under 

17 the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. 

18 (4) Millions of the people of Hong Kong have 

19 taken to the streets in peaceful protests since the in20 troduction of the extradition bill in order to defend 

21 Hong Kong’s democracy against predations by the 

22 Government of the People’s Republic of China, as 

23 enabled by Government of Hong Kong. 

24 (5) The Government of Hong Kong has re25 sponded to those peaceful protests with force and 

26 brutality, including by authorizing the use by the poVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:13 Jan 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5725.IH H5725

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1 lice of tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets, and 

2 beatings, resulting in the arrests and injuries of 

3 thousands of people. 

4 (6) On October 1, 2019, the Hong Kong police 

5 fired live ammunition at a teenage protestor, mark6 ing a dangerous escalation in the Hong Kong police 

7 force’s use of force against protestors. 

8 (7) The Government of Hong Kong has invoked 

9 the Emergency Regulations Ordinance in order to 

10 expand the powers available to Hong Kong’s police 

11 as they suppress protesters. 

12 (8) The Government of Hong Kong has coopted 

13 or coerced local companies like MTR Corporation 

14 Limited and Cathay Pacific Airways Limited into fa15 cilitating the suppression of protests by denying 

16 protestors’ access to reliable train services and ter17 minating staff who support the pro-democracy move18 ment. 

19 (9) The Government of Hong Kong continues 

20 to defy peaceful protestors’ rightful demands for the 

21 resignation of Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie 

22 Lam, an impartial inquiry into police brutality, and 

23 greater democratic freedoms, as guaranteed to the 

24 people of Hong Kong by the Government of the Peo25 ple’s Republic of China. 


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1 (10) The unwillingness of the Government of 

2 Hong Kong to meet protestors’ demands is a direct 

3 product of its role, not as a representative or pro4 tector of the people of Hong Kong, but rather as a 

5 proxy for the regime of the Communist Party of 

6 China in Beijing, which has demonstrated its intent 

7 to impose its will on Hong Kong, including through 

8 paramilitary or military force. 

9 (11) The approach of that regime to Hong 

10 Kong is not fundamentally dissimilar from the ap11 proach the regime has taken elsewhere in the Indo12 Pacific region and beyond, including by using eco13 nomic threats to compel Air Canada, Air France, 

14 Apple, Audi, Blizzard Entertainment, British Air15 ways, Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, Coach, Dolce & 

16 Gabbana, Google, Malaysia Airlines, Marriott Ho17 tels, the National Basketball Association, Qantas 

18 Airlines, Swarovski, Tiffany & Co., and Versace into 

19 remaining silent in response to its treatment of 

20 protestors in Hong Kong. 

21 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that— 

23 (1) the Government of the People’s Republic of 

24 China has willfully violated the terms of the Joint 

25 Declaration and the Basic Law; 


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1 (2) the steady encroachment of the Government 

2 of the People’s Republic of China on the freedoms 

3 and democracy of the people of Hong Kong reflects 

4 the fundamentally totalitarian nature of the regime 

5 of the Communist Party of China; and 

6 (3) the totalitarian ambitions of the Communist 

7 Party of China do not end in the territory of the 

8 mainland of the People’s Republic of China, but 

9 rather extend to the remainder of the Indo-Pacific 

10 region, as part of a broader hegemonic vision that 

11 would see the Government of the People’s Republic 

12 of China exert domineering influence over the inter13 ests and behavior of other countries in that region. 

14 SEC. 5. GLOBAL MAGNITSKY SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO 

15 CERTAIN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS THAT EN16 GAGE IN SUPPRESSION OF FREEDOMS OF 

17 SPEECH, ASSOCIATION, ASSEMBLY, PROCES18 SION, AND DEMONSTRATION OF THE PEOPLE 

19 OF HONG KONG. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, and as appropriate 

22 thereafter, the President shall impose the sanctions de23 scribed in subsection (c) with respect to each foreign per24 son described in subsection (b) if the President has cred25 ible information that the foreign person has knowingly 


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1 suppressed or facilitated the suppression of the freedoms 

2 of speech, association, assembly, procession, or demonstra3 tion of the people of Hong Kong, as guaranteed under Ar4 ticle 27 of the Basic Law. 

5 (b) FOREIGN PERSONS DESCRIBED.—A foreign per6 son described in this subsection is a foreign person who 

7 is— 

8 (1) a current or former official of the Govern9 ment of Hong Kong; 

10 (2) a current or former official of the Govern11 ment of the People’s Republic of China; or 

12 (3) acting on behalf of, or in cooperation with, 

13 an official of either such Government. 

14 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de15 scribed in this subsection are the sanctions described in 

16 section 1263(b) of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 

17 Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 

18 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note). 

19 (d) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 

20 15 days after imposing sanctions under subsection (a), the 

21 President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

22 committees a report regarding measures taken to imple23 ment this section. 

24 (e) TERMINATION.—This section shall terminate on 

25 the date on which the President determines and certifies 


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1 to the appropriate congressional committees that the Gov2 ernment of Hong Kong is no longer suppressing, or 

3 complicit in the suppression of, the freedoms of speech, 

4 association, assembly, procession, and demonstration of 

5 the people of Hong Kong. 

6 SEC. 6. FREEZING OF ASSETS OF CHINESE NATIONALS AND 

7 STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES UNDERMINING 

8 THE AUTONOMY, BASIC LIBERTIES, AND 

9 HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG 

10 KONG. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, and as appropriate 

13 thereafter, the President shall exercise all powers granted 

14 by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

15 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block or 

16 prohibit all transactions in property and interests in prop17 erty of each foreign person described in subsection (b) that 

18 the President determines has attempted to undermine the 

19 autonomy, basic liberties, and human rights of the people 

20 of Hong Kong, if such property and interests in property 

21 are in the United States, come within the United States, 

22 or are or come within the possession or control of a United 

23 States person. 

24 (b) FOREIGN PERSONS DESCRIBED.—A foreign per25 son described in this subsection is— 


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1 (1) a national of the People’s Republic of 

2 China; 

3 (2) an entity owned or controlled by the Gov4 ernment of the People’s Republic of China; or 

5 (3) an individual who is a member of the board 

6 of directors, an executive officer, or a senior official 

7 of an entity described in paragraph (2). 

8 (c) INAPPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY RE9 QUIREMENT.—The requirements of section 202 of the 

10 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

11 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply for purposes of this section. 

12 SEC. 7. EXCEPTIONS; WAIVERS. 

13 (a) EXCEPTION FOR HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.— 

14 The requirement to impose sanctions under sections 5 and 

15 6 shall not apply with respect to activities to provide hu16 manitarian assistance to the people of Hong Kong. 

17 (b) EXCEPTION FOR INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES.— 

18 The requirement to impose sanctions under sections 5 and 

19 6 shall not apply with respect to activities subject to the 

20 reporting requirements under title V of the National Secu21 rity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.), or any author22 ized intelligence activities of the United States. 

23 (c) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF

24 GOODS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and require2 ments to impose sanctions authorized under this Act 

3 shall not include the authority or requirement to im4 pose sanctions on the importation of goods. 

5 (2) GOOD DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 

6 term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or manmade 

7 substance, material, supply or manufactured prod8 uct, including inspection and test equipment, and ex9 cluding technical data. 

10 (d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the imposi11 tion of sanctions under section 5 or 6 with respect to a 

12 foreign person if the President determines and reports to 

13 the appropriate congressional committees that the waiver 

14 is— 

15 (1) in the national security interests of the 

16 United States; or 

17 (2) necessary to prevent undue economic harm 

18 to the people of Hong Kong. 

19 SEC. 8. IMPLEMENTATION; REGULATIONS; PENALTIES. 

20 (a) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may exercise 

21 all authorities provided to the President under sections 

22 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic 

23 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this 

24 Act. 


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1 (b) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The President shall 

2 issue such regulations, licenses, and orders as are nec3 essary to carry out this section. 

4 (c) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, attempts to 

5 violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of section 

6 5 or 6 or any regulation, license, or order issued to carry 

7 out either such section shall be subject to the penalties 

8 set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the 

9 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

10 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits 

11 an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of that section. 

Æ 


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