IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1872 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To promote access for United States diplomats and other 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reciprocal Access to 

3 Tibet Act of 2018’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

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

7 China does not grant United States diplomats and 

8 other officials, journalists, and other citizens access 

9 to China on a basis that is reciprocal to the access 

10 that the Government of the United States grants 

11 Chinese diplomats and other officials, journalists, 

12 and citizens. 

13 (2) The Government of China imposes greater 

14 restrictions on travel to Tibetan areas than to other 

15 areas of China. 

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

17 open to foreign visitors. 

18 (4) The Government of China is promoting 

19 tourism in Tibetan areas, and at the Sixth Tibet 

20 Work Forum in August 2015, Premier Li Keqiang 

21 called for Tibet to build ‘‘major world tourism des22 tinations’’. 

23 (5) The Government of China requires for24 eigners to obtain permission from the Tibet Foreign 

25 and Overseas Affairs Office or from the Tibet Tour26 ism Bureau to enter the Tibet Autonomous Region, 


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1 a restriction that is not imposed on travel to any 

2 other provincial-level jurisdiction in China. 

3 (6) The Department of State reports that— 

4 (A) officials of the Government of the 

5 United States submitted 39 requests for diplo6 matic access to the Tibet Autonomous Region 

7 between May 2011 and July 2015, but only 

8 four were granted; and 

9 (B) when such requests are granted, diplo10 matic personnel are closely supervised and given 

11 few opportunities to meet local residents not ap12 proved by authorities. 

13 (7) The Government of China delayed United 

14 States consular access for more than 48 hours after 

15 an October 28, 2013, bus crash in the Tibet Autono16 mous Region, in which three citizens of the United 

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

18 Walnut, California, were injured, undermining the 

19 ability of the Government of the United States to 

20 provide consular services to the victims and their 

21 families, and failing to meet China’s obligations 

22 under the Convention on Consular Relations, done 

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

24 (8) Following a 2015 earthquake that trapped 

25 dozens of citizens of the United States in the Tibet 


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1 Autonomous Region, the United States Consulate 

2 General in Chengdu faced significant challenges in 

3 providing emergency consular assistance due to a 

4 lack of consular access. 

5 (9) The Country Reports on Human Rights 

6 Practices for 2015 of the Department of State stat7 ed ‘‘With the exception of a few highly controlled 

8 trips, the Chinese government also denied multiple 

9 requests by foreign diplomats for permission to visit 

10 the TAR.’’. 

11 (10) Tibetan-Americans, attempting to visit 

12 their homeland, report having to undergo a discrimi13 natory visa application process, different from what 

14 is typically required, at the Chinese embassy and 

15 consulates in the United States, and often find their 

16 requests to travel denied. 

17 (11) The Country Reports on Human Rights 

18 Practices for 2016 of the Department of State stat19 ed ‘‘The few visits to the TAR by diplomats and 

20 journalists that were allowed were tightly controlled 

21 by local authorities.’’. 

22 (12) A September 2016 article in the Wash23 ington Post reported that ‘‘The Tibet Autonomous 

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

25 North Korea.’’. 


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1 (13) The Government of China has failed to re2 spond positively to requests from the Government of 

3 the United States to open a consulate in Lhasa, 

4 Tibet Autonomous Region. 

5 (14) The Foreign Correspondents Club of 

6 China reports that— 

7 (A) 2008 rules prevent foreign reporters 

8 from visiting the Tibet Autonomous Region 

9 without prior permission from the Government 

10 of such Region; 

11 (B) such permission has only rarely been 

12 granted; and 

13 (C) although the 2008 rules allow journal14 ists to travel freely in other parts of China, Ti15 betan areas outside such Region remain ‘‘effec16 tively off-limits to foreign reporters’’. 

17 (15) The Department of State reports that in 

18 addition to having to obtain permission to enter the 

19 Tibet Autonomous Region, foreign tourists— 

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

21 government-designated tour guide; 

22 (B) are rarely granted permission to enter 

23 the region by road; 


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1 (C) are largely barred from visiting around 

2 the March anniversary of a 1959 Tibetan upris3 ing; and 

4 (D) are banned from visiting the area 

5 where Larung Gar, the world’s largest center 

6 for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, and the site 

7 of a large-scale campaign to expel students and 

8 demolish living quarters, is located. 

9 (16) Foreign visitors also face restrictions in 

10 their ability to travel freely in Tibetan areas outside 

11 the Tibet Autonomous Region. 

12 (17) The Government of the United States gen13 erally allows journalists and other citizens of China 

14 to travel freely within the United States. The Gov15 ernment of the United States requires diplomats 

16 from China to notify the Department of State of 

17 their travel plans, and in certain situations, the Gov18 ernment of the United States requires such dip19 lomats to obtain approval from the Department of 

20 State before travel. However, where approval is re21 quired, it is almost always granted expeditiously. 

22 (18) The United States regularly grants visas 

23 to Chinese diplomats and other officials, scholars, 

24 and others who travel to the United States to dis25 cuss, promote, and display the perspective of the 


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1 Government of China on the situation in Tibetan 

2 areas, even as the Government of China restricts the 

3 ability of citizens of the United States to travel to 

4 Tibetan areas to gain their own perspective. 

5 (19) Chinese diplomats based in the United 

6 States generally avail themselves of the freedom to 

7 travel to United States cities and lobby city councils, 

8 mayors, and governors to refrain from passing reso9 lutions, issuing proclamations, or making statements 

10 of concern on Tibet. 

11 (20) The Government of China characterizes 

12 statements made by officials of the United States 

13 about the situation in Tibetan areas as inappro14 priate interference in the internal affairs of China. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT18 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com19 mittees’’ means— 

20 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

21 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen22 ate; and 

23 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

24 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

25 Representatives. 


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1 (2) TIBETAN AREAS.—The term ‘‘Tibetan 

2 areas’’ includes— 

3 (A) the Tibet Autonomous Region; and 

4 (B) the areas that the Chinese Government 

5 designates as Tibetan Autonomous, as follows: 

6 (i) Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autono7 mous Prefecture, and Pari (Tianzhu) Ti8 betan Autonomous County located in 

9 Gansu Province. 

10 (ii) Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autono11 mous Prefecture, Malho (Huangnan) Ti12 betan Autonomous Prefecture, Tsojang 

13 (Haibei) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 

14 Tsolho (Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Pre15 fecture, Tsonub (Haixi) Mongolian and Ti16 betan Autonomous Prefecture, and Yulshul 

17 (Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 

18 located in Qinghai Province. 

19 (iii) Garze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autono20 mous Prefecture, Ngawa (Aba) Tibetan 

21 and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, and 

22 Muli (Mili) Tibetan Autonomous County, 

23 located in Sichuan Province. 


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1 (iv) Dechen (Diqing) Tibetan Autono2 mous Prefecture, located in Yunnan Prov3 ince. 

4 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON ACCESS TO TIBETAN AREAS. 

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

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

7 for the following five years, the Secretary of State shall 

8 submit to the appropriate congressional committees, and 

9 make available to the public on the website of the Depart10 ment of State, a report that includes an assessment of 

11 the level of access Chinese authorities granted diplomats 

12 and other officials, journalists, and tourists from the 

13 United States to Tibetan areas, including— 

14 (1) a comparison with the level of access grant15 ed to other areas of China; 

16 (2) a comparison between the levels of access 

17 granted to Tibetan and non-Tibetan areas in rel18 evant provinces; 

19 (3) a comparison of the level of access in the 

20 reporting year and the previous reporting year; and 

21 (4) a description of the required permits and 

22 other measures that impede the freedom to travel in 

23 Tibetan areas. 

24 (b) CONSOLIDATION.—After the issuance of the first 

25 report required by subsection (a), the Secretary of State 


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1 is authorized to incorporate subsequent reports required 

2 by subsection (a) into other publicly available, annual re3 ports produced by the Department of State, provided they 

4 are submitted to the appropriate congressional committees 

5 in a manner specifying that they are being submitted in 

6 fulfillment of the requirements of this Act. 

7 SEC. 5. INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIENS. 

8 (a) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS.—No individual whom 

9 the Secretary of State has determined to be substantially 

10 involved in the formulation or execution of policies related 

11 to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas may be eligible 

12 to receive a visa to enter the United States or be admitted 

13 to the United States if the Secretary of State determines 

14 that— 

15 (1)(A) the requirement for specific official per16 mission for foreigners to enter the Tibetan Autono17 mous Region remains in effect; or 

18 (B) such requirement has been replaced by 

19 a regulation that has a similar effect and re20 quires foreign travelers to gain a level of per21 mission to enter the Tibet Autonomous Region 

22 that is not required for travel to other provinces 

23 in China; and 

24 (2) restrictions on travel by diplomats and 

25 other officials, journalists, and citizens of the United 


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1 States to areas designated as ‘‘Tibetan Autono2 mous’’ in the provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai, 

3 Yunnan, and Gansu of China are greater than any 

4 restrictions on travel by such officials and citizens to 

5 areas in such provinces that are not so designated. 

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

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

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

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

10 the United States issued for an alien who would be ineli11 gible to receive such a visa or documentation under sub12 section (a). 

13 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one year 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

15 thereafter for the following five years, the Secretary of 

16 State shall provide to the appropriate congressional com17 mittees a report identifying the individuals who have had 

18 visas denied or revoked pursuant to this section during 

19 the preceding year and, to the extent practicable, a list 

20 of Chinese officials who were substantially involved in the 

21 formulation or execution of policies to restrict access of 

22 United States diplomats and other officials, journalists, 

23 and citizens of the United States to Tibetan areas. The 

24 report required by this subsection shall be submitted in 

25 unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. 


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1 (d) WAIVER FOR NATIONAL INTEREST.— 

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

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

4 case of an alien if the Secretary determines that 

5 such a waiver— 

6 (A) is necessary to permit the United 

7 States to comply with the Agreement Regarding 

8 the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 

9 at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered 

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

11 any other applicable international obligation of 

12 the United States; or 

13 (B) is in the national interest of the 

14 United States. 

15 (2) NOTIFICATION.—Upon granting a waiver 

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

17 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

18 a document detailing the evidence and justification 

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

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

21 how such waiver relates to the national interest of 

22 the United States. 

23 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

24 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of 

25 State, when granting diplomats and other officials from 


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1 China access to parts of the United States, including con2 sular access, should take into account the extent to which 

3 the Government of China grants diplomats and other offi4 cials from the United States access to parts of China, in5 cluding the level of access afforded to such diplomats and 

6 other officials to Tibetan areas. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 25, 

2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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