III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 667 

Condemning persecution of religious minorities in the People’s Republic of 

China and any actions that limit their free expression and practice of faith. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 4, 2018 

Mr. PERDUE (for himself, Mr. KAINE, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, 

Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. COTTON, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. 

DAINES, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. MORAN, 

Mr. ROUNDS, Ms. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. WYDEN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning persecution of religious minorities in the People’s Republic of China and any actions that limit their 

free expression and practice of faith. 

Whereas Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human 

Rights states that ‘‘everyone has the right to freedom of 

thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either 

alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance’’; 

Whereas Article 36 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) of 1982 states, ‘‘Citizens of the 

People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious beVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Oct 04, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR667.IS SR667

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•SRES 667 IS 

lief. No state organ, public organization or individual 

may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any 

religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who 

believe in, any religion.’’; 

Whereas the United States Government estimates there are 

658,000,000 religious believers in China, including 

251,000,000 Buddhists, 70,000,000 Christians, 

25,000,000 Muslims, 302,000,000 observers of folk religions, and 10,000,000 observers of other faiths, including 

Taoism; 

Whereas many members of religious minority groups in 

China, including Uighurs, Hui, and Kazakh Muslims; Tibetan Buddhists; Catholics; Protestants; and Falun 

Gong, face severe repression and discrimination because 

of their beliefs; 

Whereas Freedom House has labeled persecution of Protestants in the People’s Republic of China as ‘‘high’’ on its 

spectrum of religious persecution; 

Whereas government regulations in China require religious 

groups to register with the government through statesanctioned patriotic religious associations, which regularly review sermons and require church leaders to attend 

education sessions with religious bureau officials; 

Whereas authorities continue to arrest and harass Christians 

in Zhejiang Province, including by requiring Christian 

churches to install surveillance cameras to enable daily 

police monitoring of their activities; 

Whereas there is an ongoing campaign by the Government of 

the People’s Republic of China to remove crosses and demolish churches; 


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•SRES 667 IS 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

considers several Christian groups to be ‘‘evil cults’’; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

restricts religious education in institutions across the 

country, including the ability of Muslims and Christians 

to speak about their faith among university students, as 

well as strictly banning meetings of student religious organizations; 

Whereas national printing regulations restrict the publication 

and distribution of literature with religious content, allowing for religious texts published without authorization, 

including Bibles and Qurans, to be confiscated, and unauthorized publishing houses, closed; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

limits distribution of Bibles to patriotic religious association entities, and because individuals cannot order Bibles 

directly from publishing houses, unregistered churches 

have reported that the supply and distribution of Bibles 

is inadequate; 

Whereas authorities in China continue to limit the number of 

Christian titles that can be published annually, with draft 

manuscripts closely reviewed; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

continues to cite concerns over the ‘‘three evils’’ of ‘‘ethnic separatism, religious extremism, and violent terrorism’’ as grounds to enact and enforce restrictions on 

religious practices of Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), including Uighurs, Kazakhs, 

Kyrgyz, Hui, and Tajiks; 

Whereas it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of 

Uighur Muslims and members of other Muslim minority 


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groups have been forcibly sent to reeducation centers, 

and extensive and invasive security and surveillance practices have been instituted by Chinese authorities against 

them; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

has sought the forcible repatriation of Uighur Muslims 

from foreign countries and detained some of those who 

returned, leading many to seek asylum overseas on the 

grounds of religious persecution; 

Whereas, as part of the ongoing ‘‘Three Illegals and One 

Item’’ campaign, international media has reported that 

authorities in Xinjiang continue to confiscate Qurans and 

prayer rugs as illegal religious items; 

Whereas Tibetan Buddhists, including those outside the Tibet 

Autonomous Region (TAR), are prevented from worshiping the Dalai Lama openly, and authorities treat 

those seen as loyal to the Dalai Lama as a separatist 

threat; 

Whereas authorities in China have evicted at least 11,500 

monks and nuns from Tibetan Buddhist institutes at 

Larung Gar and Yachen Gar since 2016; 

Whereas Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists have reported severe societal discrimination in employment, 

housing, and business opportunities; 

Whereas the Chinese Communist Party maintains an extralegal, party-run security apparatus to eliminate the Falun 

Gong movement and other such organizations; 

Whereas, in 2017, it was reported that Chinese authorities 

sentenced almost 1,000 practitioners to imprisonment for 

practicing Falun Dafa, and 42 practitioners died in cusVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Oct 04, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR667.IS SR667

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tody or following release from prison due to injuries sustained while in custody; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

does not recognize Judaism as belonging to 1 of 5 statesanctioned patriotic religious associations, and therefore 

practitioners are not permitted to register with the government and legally hold worship services or other religious ceremonies and activities; 

Whereas Congress unanimously passed the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–292), making it the official policy of the United States ‘‘to condemn 

violations of religious freedom, and to promote, and to 

assist other governments in the promotion of, the fundamental right to freedom of religion’’ and to ‘‘[stand] for 

liberty and [stand] with the persecuted, to use and implement appropriate tools in the United States foreign policy 

apparatus, including diplomatic, political, commercial, 

charitable, educational, and cultural channels, to promote 

respect for religious freedom by all governments and peoples’’; 

Whereas, under the International Religious Freedom Act, the 

United States Commission on International Religious 

Freedom has designated China as a ‘‘country of particular concern’’ every year since 1999; 

Whereas Congress unanimously passed the Frank R. Wolf 

International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114– 

281) in 2016 to amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to enhance the capabilities of the 

United States to advance religious liberty globally 

through diplomacy, training, counterterrorism, and foreign assistance; 


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Whereas the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability 

Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114–328), 

passed by Congress in 2016, gives authority to the President to impose targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for committing human rights violations; and 

Whereas the United States must show strong international 

leadership when it comes to the advancement of religious 

freedoms, liberties, and protections: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) strongly condemns the persecution of reli3 gious minorities in the People’s Republic of China 

4 and any actions that limit their free expression and 

5 practice of faith; 

6 (2) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

7 States in promoting religious freedom and tolerance 

8 around the world and helping to provide protection 

9 and relief to religious minorities facing persecution 

10 and violence; 

11 (3) calls on the Government of the People’s Re12 public of China to uphold the Chinese Constitution 

13 in addition to the internationally recognized human 

14 right to freedom from religious persecution and to 

15 end all forms of violence and discrimination against 

16 religious minorities; 

17 (4) strongly condemns the use of reeducation 

18 centers, internment camps, and concentration camps 

19 as punishment for religious practice and expression; 


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1 (5) strongly condemns the restriction and cen2 sorship of religious materials like the Bible, the 

3 Quran, and any other religious articles or literature 

4 sacrosanct to religious practice or expression; and 

5 (6) urges the President to take appropriate ac6 tions to promote religious freedom of religious mi7 norities in the People’s Republic of China, using the 

8 powers provided to the President under the Inter9 national Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public 

10 Law 105–292), the Frank R. Wolf International Re11 ligious Freedom Act (Public Law 114–281), and the 

12 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 

13 (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114–328). 

Æ 


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