I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1214 

To impose sanctions with respect to foreign persons that knowingly spread 

malign disinformation as part of or on behalf of a foreign government 

or political party for purposes of political warfare and to require a 

determination regarding the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2021 

Mr. BANKS (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Louisiana, Mr. MANN, Mr. TURNER, and Mr. WALTZ) 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 with respect to foreign persons that 

knowingly spread malign disinformation as part of or 

on behalf of a foreign government or political party for 

purposes of political warfare and to require a determination regarding the United Front Work Department of 

the Chinese Communist Party. 

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 ‘‘Countering Chinese 

3 Propaganda Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) The U.S.-China Economic and Security Re7 view Commission has noted that ‘‘China uses what 

8 it calls United Front Work Department of the Chi9 nese Communist Party to co-opt and neutralize 

10 sources of potential opposition to the policies and 

11 authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party 

12 (CCP)’’. 

13 (2) In 1939, Chinese leader Mao Zedong hailed 

14 the United Front Work Department as a ‘‘magic 

15 weapon’’ in the victory of the communist revolution 

16 along with ‘‘armed struggle’’. 

17 (3) Chinese President Xi Jinping has also re18 ferred to the United Front Work Department with 

19 those words and given it a key role in what he calls 

20 achieving the People’s Republic of China’s national 

21 rejuvenation. 

22 (4) According to a report by Alex Joske for23 merly of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 

24 the United Front Work Department has doubled in 

25 size since 2015. 


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1 (5) The United Front Work Department is in2 volved in espionage campaigns, political warfare ef3 forts, malign disinformation, utilizing the Chinese 

4 diaspora abroad, and infiltration of educational insti5 tutions all with the goal of softening opposition to 

6 the Chinese Communist Party and its policies 

7 throughout the world. 

8 (6) The United Front Work Department played 

9 a seminal role in coordinating multifaceted disinfor10 mation campaigns to blame the United States for 

11 the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (com12 monly referred to as ‘‘COVID-19’’) pandemic and 

13 coverup China’s negligent response to the pandemic. 

14 (7) An investigation by ProPublica released on 

15 March 26, 2020, found that the United Front Work 

16 Department was connected to a network of fake and 

17 hijacked Twitter accounts that were covertly spread18 ing Chinese government propaganda about COVID19 19 to global audiences. 

20 (8) The United Front Work Department uti21 lized Chinese diaspora community associations under 

22 its control to purchase personal protective equipment 

23 as the COVID-19 outbreak troubled China from 

24 mid-January 2020 on. 


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1 (9) In February 2020, The Global Times, a site 

2 run by the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s 

3 Daily newspaper, alleged that COVID-19 was 

4 brought to China from a United States military base 

5 during the World Games. 

6 (10) As Sheridan Prasso of Bloomberg has re7 ported, the United Front Work Department has ac8 tively worked to undermine democracy in Hong 

9 Kong under the umbrella of China’s State Council’s 

10 Liaison Office by spreading disinformation and acti11 vating a network of media outlets, and diaspora or12 ganizations and pressuring businesses in the city to 

13 support China’s national security laws. 

14 (11) The United Front Work Department has 

15 played an integral role in China’s war on religion by 

16 leading efforts to publish a new edition of the Bible 

17 with Chinese Communist characteristics, actively 

18 running internment camps and carrying out anti-re19 ligion campaigns against Uyghur Muslims in 

20 Xinjiang and severe religious repression of Bud21 dhists in Tibet. 

22 (12) Recognizing the threat of the United 

23 Front Work Department, on December 4, 2020, 

24 former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo imposed 

25 visa restrictions on individuals active in United 


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1 Front Work Department activities under section 

2 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality 

3 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(C)). Furthermore, on Jan4 uary 15, 2021, the Department of the Treasury im5 posed sanctions on You Quan, the head of the 

6 United Front Work Department of the Central Com7 mittee of the Chinese Communist Party, placing him 

8 on the list of specially designated nationals and 

9 blocked persons maintained by the Office of Foreign 

10 Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury 

11 for his role in the crackdown on pro-democracy pro12 testers in Hong Kong. 

13 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOR14 EIGN PERSONS THAT KNOWINGLY SPREAD 

15 MALIGN DISINFORMATION AS PART OF OR 

16 ON BEHALF OF A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OR 

17 POLITICAL PARTY FOR PURPOSES OF POLIT18 ICAL WARFARE. 

19 (a) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The President shall 

20 impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with re21 spect to any foreign person that the President determines 

22 knowingly commits a significant act of malign disinforma23 tion on behalf of the government of a foreign country or 

24 foreign political party that has the direct purpose or effect 


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1 of influencing political, diplomatic, or educational activi2 ties in the United States for the purpose of harming— 

3 (1) the national security or defense of the 

4 United States; or 

5 (2) the safety and security of any United States 

6 citizen or alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi7 dence. 

8 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions described in 

10 this subsection with respect to a foreign person de11 termined by the President to be subject to sub12 section (a) are the following: 

13 (A) ASSET BLOCKING.—The President 

14 shall exercise of all powers granted to the Presi15 dent by the International Emergency Economic 

16 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the ex17 tent necessary to block and prohibit all trans18 actions in property and interests in property of 

19 the foreign person if such property and inter20 ests in property are in the United States, come 

21 within the United States, or are or come within 

22 the possession or control of a United States 

23 person. 

24 (B) INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN INDI25 VIDUALS.— 


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1 (i) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMIS2 SION, OR PAROLE.—In the case of a for3 eign person who is an individual, the for4 eign person is— 

5 (I) inadmissible to the United 

6 States; 

7 (II) ineligible to receive a visa or 

8 other documentation to enter the 

9 United States; and 

10 (III) otherwise ineligible to be 

11 admitted or paroled into the United 

12 States or to receive any other benefit 

13 under the Immigration and Nation14 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

15 (ii) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

16 (I) IN GENERAL.—In the case of 

17 a foreign person who is an individual, 

18 the visa or other documentation 

19 issued to the person shall be revoked, 

20 regardless of when such visa or other 

21 documentation is or was issued. 

22 (II) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.— 

23 A revocation under subclause (I) 

24 shall— 


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1 (aa) take effect immediately; 

2 and 

3 (bb) automatically cancel 

4 any other valid visa or entry doc5 umentation that is in the per6 son’s possession. 

7 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at8 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

9 violation of any regulation, license, or order issued 

10 to carry out paragraph (1)(A) shall be subject to the 

11 penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of sec12 tion 206 of the International Emergency Economic 

13 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as 

14 a person that commits an unlawful act described in 

15 subsection (a) of that section. 

16 (3) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA17 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions 

18 under paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply to a foreign 

19 person who is an individual if admitting the person 

20 into the United States is necessary to permit the 

21 United States to comply with the Agreement regard22 ing the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 

23 at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into 

24 force November 21, 1947, between the United NaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1214.IH H1214

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1 tions and the United States, or other applicable 

2 international obligations. 

3 (c) WAIVER.—The President may, on a case-by-case 

4 basis and for periods not to exceed 180 days, waive the 

5 application of sanctions imposed with respect to a foreign 

6 person under this section if the President certifies to the 

7 appropriate congressional committees not later than 15 

8 days before such waiver is to take effect that the waiver 

9 is vital to the national security interests of the United 

10 States. 

11 (d) IMPLEMENTATION AUTHORITY.—The President 

12 may exercise all authorities provided to the President 

13 under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emer14 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) 

15 for purposes of carrying out this section. 

16 (e) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

19 shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary 

20 for the implementation of this section. 

21 (2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not less 

22 than 10 days before the promulgation of regulations 

23 under paragraph (1), the President shall notify and 

24 provide to the appropriate congressional committees 

25 the proposed regulations and an identification of the 


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1 provisions of this section that the regulations are im2 plementing. 

3 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ 

5 and ‘‘alien’’ have the meanings given those terms in 

6 section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

7 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)). 

8 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com10 mittees’’ means— 

11 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

12 Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on 

13 Ways and Means, and the Committee on Finan14 cial Services of the House of Representatives; 

15 and 

16 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

17 the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee 

18 on Finance, and the Committee on Banking, 

19 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

20 (3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per21 son’’ means a person that is not a United States 

22 person. 

23 (4) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 

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

25 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 


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

2 result. 

3 (5) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in4 dividual or entity. 

5 (6) PROPERTY; INTEREST IN PROPERTY.—The 

6 terms ‘‘property’’ and ‘‘interest in property’’ have 

7 the meanings given the terms ‘‘property’’ and ‘‘prop8 erty interest’’, respectively, in section 576.312 of 

9 title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on 

10 the day before the date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 (7) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

12 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

13 (A) an individual who is a United States 

14 citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for perma15 nent residence to the United States; 

16 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

17 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

18 United States, including a foreign branch of 

19 such an entity; or 

20 (C) any person in the United States. 

21 (g) SUNSET.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall cease to 

23 be effective beginning on January 1, 2025. 

24 (2) INAPPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

25 apply with respect to sanctions imposed with respect 


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1 to a foreign person under this section before Janu2 ary 1, 2025. 

3 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION WITH RESPECT TO THE IMPOSI4 TION OF SANCTIONS ON THE UNITED FRONT 

5 WORK DEPARTMENT OF THE CHINESE COM6 MUNIST PARTY. 

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

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

9 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

10 a determination, including a detailed justification, on 

11 whether the United Front Work Department of the Chi12 nese Communist Party, or any component or official there13 of, meets the criteria for the application of sanctions pur14 suant to— 

15 (1) section 3 of this Act; 

16 (2) section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky 

17 Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title 

18 XII of Public Law 114–328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note); 

19 (3) section 6 of the Uyghur Human Rights Pol20 icy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–145; 22 U.S.C. 

21 6901 note); or 

22 (4) Executive Order 13694 (50 U.S.C. 1701 

23 note; relating to blocking property of certain persons 

24 engaged in significant malicious cyber-enabled activi25 ties). 


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1 (b) FORM.—The determination required by sub2 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may 

3 contain a classified annex. 

4 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE5 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres6 sional committees’’ means— 

7 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

8 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Select 

9 Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Finan10 cial Services, and the Committee on the Judiciary of 

11 the House of Representatives; and 

12 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

13 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Select Com14 mittee on Intelligence, the Committee on Banking, 

15 Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on 

16 the Judiciary of the Senate. 

Æ 


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