II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 821 

To promote access for United States officials, journalists, and other citizens 

to Tibetan areas of the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 4, 2017 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To promote access for United States officials, journalists, 

and other citizens to Tibetan areas of the People’s Republic of China, 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 ‘‘Reciprocal Access to 

5 Tibet Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Government of the People’s Republic of 

9 China does not grant United States officials, jour10 nalists, and other citizens access to China on a basis 


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1 that is reciprocal to the access that the Government 

2 of the United States grants Chinese officials, jour3 nalists, and citizens. 

4 (2) The Government of China imposes greater 

5 restrictions on travel to Tibetan areas than to other 

6 areas of China. 

7 (3) Officials of China have stated that Tibet is 

8 open to foreign visitors. 

9 (4) The Government of China is promoting 

10 tourism in Tibetan areas, and at the Sixth Tibet 

11 Work Forum in August 2015, Premier Li Keqiang 

12 called for Tibet to build ‘‘major world tourism des13 tinations’’. 

14 (5) The Government of China requires for15 eigners to obtain permission from the Tibet Foreign 

16 and Overseas Affairs Office or from the Tibet Tour17 ism Bureau to enter the Tibet Autonomous Region, 

18 a restriction that is not imposed on travel to any 

19 other provincial-level jurisdiction in China. 

20 (6) The Department of State reports that— 

21 (A) officials of the Government of the 

22 United States submitted 39 requests for diplo23 matic access to the Tibet Autonomous Region 

24 between May 2011 and July 2015, but only 

25 four were granted; and 


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1 (B) when such requests are granted, diplo2 matic personnel are closely supervised and given 

3 few opportunities to meet local residents not ap4 proved by authorities. 

5 (7) The Government of China delayed United 

6 States consular access for more than 48 hours after 

7 an October 28, 2013, bus crash in the Tibet Autono8 mous Region, in which three citizens of the United 

9 States died and more than a dozen others, all from 

10 Walnut, California, were injured, undermining the 

11 ability of the Government of the United States to 

12 provide consular services to the victims and their 

13 families, and failing to meet China’s obligations 

14 under the Convention on Consular Relations, done 

15 at Vienna April 24, 1963 (21 UST 77). 

16 (8) Following a 2015 earthquake that trapped 

17 dozens of citizens of the United States in the Tibet 

18 Autonomous Region, the United States Consulate 

19 General in Chengdu faced significant challenges in 

20 providing emergency consular assistance due to a 

21 lack of consular access. 

22 (9) The Country Reports on Human Rights 

23 Practices for 2015 of the Department of State stat24 ed ‘‘With the exception of a few highly controlled 

25 trips, the Chinese government also denied multiple 


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1 requests by foreign diplomats for permission to visit 

2 the TAR.’’. 

3 (10) Tibetan-Americans, attempting to visit 

4 their homeland, report having to undergo a discrimi5 natory visa application process, different from what 

6 is typically required, at the Chinese embassy and 

7 consulates in the United States, and often find their 

8 requests to travel denied. 

9 (11) The Country Reports on Human Rights 

10 Practices for 2016 of the Department of State stat11 ed ‘‘The few visits to the TAR by diplomats and 

12 journalists that were allowed were tightly controlled 

13 by local authorities.’’. 

14 (12) A September 2016 article in the Wash15 ington Post reported that ‘‘The Tibet Autonomous 

16 Region . . . is harder to visit as a journalist than 

17 North Korea.’’. 

18 (13) The Government of China has failed to re19 spond positively to requests from the Government of 

20 the United States to open a consulate in Lhasa, 

21 Tibet Autonomous Region. 

22 (14) The Foreign Correspondents Club of 

23 China reports that— 

24 (A) 2008 rules prevent foreign reporters 

25 from visiting the Tibet Autonomous Region 


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1 without prior permission from the Government 

2 of such Region; 

3 (B) such permission has only rarely been 

4 granted; and 

5 (C) although the 2008 rules allow journal6 ists to travel freely in other parts of China, Ti7 betan areas outside such Region remain ‘‘effec8 tively off-limits to foreign reporters’’. 

9 (15) The Department of State reports that in 

10 addition to having to obtain permission to enter the 

11 Tibet Autonomous Region, foreign tourists— 

12 (A) must be accompanied at all times by a 

13 government-designated tour guide; 

14 (B) are rarely granted permission to enter 

15 the region by road; 

16 (C) are largely barred from visiting around 

17 the March anniversary of a 1959 Tibetan upris18 ing; and 

19 (D) are banned from visiting the area 

20 where Larung Gar, the world’s largest center 

21 for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, and the site 

22 of a large-scale campaign to expel students and 

23 demolish living quarters, is located. 


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1 (16) Foreign visitors also face restrictions in 

2 their ability to travel freely in Tibetan areas outside 

3 the Tibet Autonomous Region. 

4 (17) The Government of the United States gen5 erally allows journalists and other citizens of China 

6 to travel freely within the United States. The Gov7 ernment of the United States requires diplomats 

8 from China to notify the Department of State of 

9 their travel plans, and in certain situations, the Gov10 ernment of the United States requires such dip11 lomats to obtain approval from the Department of 

12 State before travel. However, where approval is re13 quired, it is almost always granted expeditiously. 

14 (18) The United States regularly grants visas 

15 to Chinese officials, scholars, and others who travel 

16 to the United States to discuss, promote, and dis17 play the perspective of the Government of China on 

18 the situation in Tibetan areas, even as the Govern19 ment of China restricts the ability of citizens of the 

20 United States to travel to Tibetan areas to gain 

21 their own perspective. 

22 (19) Chinese diplomats based in the United 

23 States generally avail themselves of the freedom to 

24 travel to United States cities and lobby city councils, 

25 mayors, and governors to refrain from passing resoVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Apr 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S821.IS S821

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1 lutions, issuing proclamations, or making statements 

2 of concern on Tibet. 

3 (20) The Government of China characterizes 

4 statements made by officials of the United States 

5 about the situation in Tibetan areas as inappro6 priate interference in the internal affairs of China. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT10 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com11 mittees’’ means— 

12 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

13 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen14 ate; and 

15 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

16 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

17 Representatives. 

18 (2) SENIOR LEADERSHIP POSITIONS.—The 

19 term ‘‘senior leadership positions’’ means— 

20 (A) at the national level, the Chairperson 

21 of the National Committee of the Chinese Peo22 ple’s Political Consultative Conference and the 

23 Head and Deputy Heads of the Communist 

24 Party Central Committee’s United Front Work 

25 Department; 


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1 (B) at the sub-national level— 

2 (i) members of the Communist Party 

3 Standing Committee of the Tibet Autono4 mous Region; 

5 (ii) the Director of the Tibet Autono6 mous Region Tourism Bureau; 

7 (iii) the heads of United Front Work 

8 Departments of Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu, 

9 and Yunnan Provinces; and 

10 (iv) members of the Communist Party 

11 Standing Committees of the areas listed 

12 under paragraph (3)(B); and 

13 (C) any other individual determined by the 

14 Secretary of State to be personally and substan15 tially involved in the formulation or execution of 

16 policies related to access for foreigners to Ti17 betan areas. 

18 (3) TIBETAN AREAS.—The term ‘‘Tibetan 

19 areas’’ includes— 

20 (A) the Tibet Autonomous Region; and 

21 (B) the areas that the Chinese Government 

22 designates as Tibetan Autonomous, as follows: 

23 (i) Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autono24 mous Prefecture, and Pari (Tianzhu) TiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Apr 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S821.IS S821

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1 betan Autonomous County located in 

2 Gansu Province. 

3 (ii) Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autono4 mous Prefecture, Malho (Huangnan) Ti5 betan Autonomous Prefecture, Tsojang 

6 (Haibei) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 

7 Tsolho (Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Pre8 fecture, Tsonub (Haixi) Mongolian and Ti9 betan Autonomous Prefecture, and Yulshul 

10 (Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 

11 located in Qinghai Province. 

12 (iii) Garze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autono13 mous Prefecture, Ngawa (Aba) Tibetan 

14 and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, and 

15 Muli (Mili) Tibetan Autonomous County, 

16 located in Sichuan Province. 

17 (iv) Dechen (Diqing) Tibetan Autono18 mous Prefecture, located in Yunnan Prov19 ince. 

20 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT. 

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

22 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

23 the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate con24 gressional committees a report that includes— 


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1 (1) an assessment of the level of access Chinese 

2 authorities granted diplomats, journalists, and tour3 ists from the United States to Tibetan areas, includ4 ing— 

5 (A) a comparison with the level of access 

6 granted to other areas of China; 

7 (B) a comparison between the levels of ac8 cess granted to Tibetan and non-Tibetan areas 

9 in relevant provinces; 

10 (C) a comparison of the level of access in 

11 the reporting year and the previous reporting 

12 year; and 

13 (D) a description of the required permits 

14 and other measures that impede the freedom to 

15 travel in Tibetan areas; and 

16 (2) a list of each individual who holds a senior 

17 leadership position. 

18 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report required 

19 under subsection (a) shall be made available to the public 

20 on the website of the Department of State. 

21 SEC. 5. INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIENS. 

22 (a) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS.—No individual who is 

23 included on the most recent list required under section 

24 4(a)(2) may be eligible to receive a visa to enter the 


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1 United States or be admitted to the United States if the 

2 Secretary of State determines that— 

3 (1)(A) the requirement for specific official per4 mission for foreigners to enter the Tibetan Autono5 mous Region remains in effect; or 

6 (B) such requirement has been replaced by a 

7 regulation that has a similar effect and requires for8 eign travelers to gain a level of permission to enter 

9 the Tibet Autonomous Region that is not required 

10 for travel to other provinces in China; and 

11 (2) restrictions on travel by officials, journal12 ists, and citizens of the United States to areas des13 ignated as ‘‘Tibetan Autonomous’’ in the provinces 

14 of Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan, and Gansu of China 

15 are greater than any restrictions on travel by such 

16 officials and citizens to areas in such provinces that 

17 are not so designated. 

18 (b) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.—The Secretary of 

19 State shall revoke, in accordance with section 221(i) of 

20 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), 

21 the visa or other documentation to enter or be present in 

22 the United States issued for an alien who would be ineli23 gible to receive such a visa or documentation under sub24 section (a). 

25 (c) WAIVER FOR NATIONAL INTERESTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State may 

2 waive the application of subsection (a) or (b) in the 

3 case of an alien if the Secretary determines that 

4 such a waiver— 

5 (A) is necessary to permit the United 

6 States to comply with the Agreement Regarding 

7 the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 

8 at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered 

9 into force November 21, 1947 (TIAS 1676), or 

10 any other applicable international obligation of 

11 the United States; or 

12 (B) is in the national security interests of 

13 the United States. 

14 (2) NOTIFICATION.—Upon granting a waiver 

15 under paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall 

16 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

17 a document detailing the evidence and justification 

18 for the necessity of such waiver, including, if such 

19 waiver is granted pursuant to paragraph (1)(B), 

20 how such waiver relates to the national security in21 terests of the United States. 

22 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON VISA POLICY. 

23 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that reciprocity forms 

24 the basis of diplomatic law and the practice of mutual ex25 changes between countries. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that— 

3 (1) a country should give equivalent consular 

4 access to the nationals of a foreign country in a 

5 manner that is reciprocal to the consular access 

6 granted by such foreign country to citizens of the 

7 country; and 

8 (2) the Secretary of State, when granting dip9 lomats from China access to parts of the United 

10 States, should take into account the extent to which 

11 the Government of China grants diplomats from the 

12 United States access to parts of China, including the 

13 level of access afforded to such diplomats to Tibetan 

14 areas. 

Æ 


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