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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2829

To prohibit funding by United States Government agencies of the participation of certain officials of the Chinese Government in international conferences, programs, and activities until the Chinese Government releases

certain individuals imprisoned or detained on religious grounds.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 22, 1995

Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr.

SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr.

ROYCE, Mr. PORTER, and Mr. WOLF) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To prohibit funding by United States Government agencies

of the participation of certain officials of the Chinese

Government in international conferences, programs, and

activities until the Chinese Government releases certain

individuals imprisoned or detained on religious grounds.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress makes the following findings:

5 (1) It has been reported that at an internal

6 Central Communist Party meeting in 1994, Chinese
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1 President Jiang Zemin asserted that religion is one

2 of the biggest threats to Communist Party rule in

3 China.

4 (2) On January 31, 1994, Premier Li Ping

5 signed decrees number 144 and 145 which restrict

6 worship, religious education, distribution of bibles

7 and other religious literature, and contact with for8 eign coreligionists.

9 (3) The Chinese Government has created orga10 nizations that have as their purpose controlling all

11 religious worship, activity, and association in China

12 and supplanting the Roman Catholic Church, inde13 pendent Protestant churches and independent Bud14 dhist, Taoist, and Islamic associations.

15 (4) In July 1995 Ye Xiaowen, a reputed atheist

16 and rigid communist, was appointed to head the Bu17 reau of Religious Affairs, an agency controlled by

18 the United Front Work Department of the Chinese

19 Government, that has administrative control over all

20 religious worship and activity in China through an

21 official system of registering or denying rights and

22 privileges to religious congregations and leaders.

23 (5) In the past year, the Chinese Government

24 has expressed great concern over the spread of

25 Christianity and particularly over the rapid growth
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1 of Christian religious institutions other than those

2 controlled by the government, including the Roman

3 Catholic Church and the evangelical Christian

4 ‘‘house churches’’.

5 (6) Soon after the establishment of the People’s

6 Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Government

7 imprisoned Christians who refused to relinquish

8 their faith to become servants of Communism,

9 charging them as ‘‘counter-revolutionaries’’ and sen10 tencing them to 20 years or more in labor camps.

11 (7) Hundreds of Chinese Protestants and

12 Catholics are among those now imprisoned at ‘‘re13 education through labor’’ camps because of their re14 ligious beliefs.

15 (8) The reeducation camps are run by the Min16 istry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice

17 of the Chinese Government.

18 (9) The Chinese Communist Government re19 fuses to permit the appointment by the Vatican of

20 Catholic Bishops and ordination of priests for China

21 and insists on appointing its own ‘‘Catholic bish22 ops’’.

23 (10) The Tenth Panchen Lama died in January

24 1989 at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, his traditional

25 spiritual seat in Shigatze, Tibet’s second largest city.
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1 (11) The Dalai Lama has the right to recognize

2 the successor to the Panchen Lama, and has always

3 done so.

4 (12) On May 14, 1995, His Holiness the Dalai

5 Lama announced recognition of a 6-year-old boy,

6 Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the Eleventh Panchen

7 Lama, according to Tibetan tradition.

8 (13) The young boy recognized by the Dalai

9 Lama and his family have been brought to Beijing

10 by Chinese authorities and have not been seen in

11 several months.

12 (14) Chatrel Rimpoche, abbot of Tashi Lhunpo

13 Monastery and head of the original search commit14 tee for the Eleventh Panchen Lama, and his assist15 ant, Champa Chung, are believed to have been

16 seized and detained by Chinese authorities in May of

17 1995.

18 (15) Chinese Government authorities subse19 quently detained other Tibetan Buddhists in connec20 tion with selection of the Eleventh Panchen Lama,

21 including Gyatrol Rimpoche, Shepa Kelsang, Lhakpa

22 Tsering, and Ringkar Ngawang.

23 (16) The Chinese Government convened a con24 ference in Beijing of Tibetan Lamas who were forc25 ibly brought to Beijing in order to select a rival can-
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1 didate to the child selected by the Dalai Lama as

2 the Eleventh Panchen Lama.

3 (17) On November 29, 1995, Luo Gan, Sec4 retary General of the State Council, and Ye

5 Xiaowen, Director of the Bureau of Religious Af6 fairs, orchestrated an elaborate ceremony designat7 ing a 6-year-old boy selected by the Chinese Govern8 ment as the Eleventh Panchen Lama.

9 (18) On December 8, 1995, State Councilor Li

10 Tieying presided over a ceremony in Shigatze, Tibet,

11 in which the boy selected by the Chinese Govern12 ment as the Eleventh Panchen Lama was enthroned.

13 (19) By seeking to impose its own candidate as

14 the Eleventh Panchen Lama and detaining the 6-

15 year-old boy recognized for that position in accord16 ance with Tibetan tradition, the Chinese Govern17 ment is inserting itself into a purely Tibetan reli18 gious matter, in blatant violation of the fundamental

19 human rights of the Tibetan people.

20 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

21 The Department of State should make the release of

22 individuals imprisoned or detained on religious grounds a

23 major objective of United States foreign policy with re24 spect to China, and should raise this issue in every rel25 evant bilateral and multilateral forum.
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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING BY AGENCIES OF THE

2 UNITED STATES FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF

3 CERTAIN CHINESE OFFICIALS IN INTER4 NATIONAL PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.

5 (a) RESTRICTION.—No funds available to the De6 partment of State, the United States Information Agency,

7 the Agency for International Development, or any other

8 agency or entity of the United States Government may

9 be obligated or expended for the participation of any of

10 the following individuals in any conference, exchange pro11 gram, or activity relating to education, culture, training,

12 or any other purpose, until the President submits the cer13 tification described in subsection (b):

14 (1) The head of any of the following Chinese

15 Government-created and approved organizations:

16 (A) The Chinese Buddhist Association.

17 (B) The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Asso18 ciation.

19 (C) The Chinese Catholic Religious Affairs

20 Committee.

21 (D) The Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Con22 ference.

23 (E) The Chinese Protestant ‘‘Three-Self’’

24 Patriotic Movement.

25 (F) The China Christian Council.

26 (G) The Chinese Taoist Association.
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1 (H) The Chinese Islamic Association.

2 (2) Any official or employee of the United

3 Front Work Department of the Chinese Govern4 ment.

5 (3) Luo Gan, the Secretary General of the

6 State Council, Li Tieying, State Councilor, and any

7 other official or employee of the State Council.

8 (4) Ye Xiaowen, Director of Bureau of Reli9 gious Affairs, and any other official or employee of

10 the Bureau of Religious Affairs of the Chinese Gov11 ernment.

12 (5) Any military or civilian official or employee

13 of the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of

14 Justice of the Chinese Government.

15 (b) CERTIFICATION.—The certification referred to in

16 subsection (a) is a certification by the President to the

17 Congress that the following individuals have been released,

18 unconditionally, by the Chinese Government:

19 (1) Pei Zhongxun (whose Korean name is Chun

20 Chul).

21 (2) Dai Guillang.

22 (3) Dai Lanmei.

23 (4) Geng Minuan.

24 (5) Wang Xincai.

25 (6) Li Tianen.
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1 (7) Guo Mengshan.

2 (8) Jiang Huaifeng.

3 (9) Xu Funian.

4 (10) Wang Yao Hua.

5 (11) Chen Zhuman.

6 (12) Bishop Zeng Jingmu.

7 (13) Father Li Jian Jin.

8 (14) Father Vincent Qin Guoliang.

9 (15) Pan Kunming.

10 (16) Rao Yangping.

11 (17) Yu Qixing.

12 (18) Yu Shuishen.

13 (19) Li Qingming.

14 (20) Zhang Zhiqiang.

15 (21) Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family.

16 (22) Chatrel Rimpoche.

17 (23) Champa Chung.

18 (24) Gyatrol Rimpoche.

19 (25) Shepa Kelsang.

20 (26) Lhakpa Tsering.

21 (27) Ringkar Ngawang.

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