II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 860 

To develop and deploy firewall circumvention tools for the people of Hong 

Kong after the People’s Republic of China violated its agreement under 

the Joint Declaration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To develop and deploy firewall circumvention tools for the 

people of Hong Kong after the People’s Republic of 

China violated its agreement under the Joint Declaration, 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 ‘‘Safeguarding Internet 

5 Freedom in Hong Kong Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The People’s Republic of China has repeat2 edly violated its obligations under the Joint Declara3 tion by suppressing the basic rights and freedoms of 

4 Hongkongers. 

5 (2) On June 30, 2020 the National People’s 

6 Congress passed a ‘‘National Security Law’’ that 

7 further erodes Hong Kong’s autonomy and enables 

8 authorities to suppress dissent. 

9 (3) The Government of the People’s Republic of 

10 China continues to utilize the National Security Law 

11 to undermine the fundamental rights of the Hong 

12 Kong people through suppression of the freedom of 

13 speech, assembly, religion, and the press. 

14 (4) Article 9 of the National Security Law au15 thorizes unprecedented regulation and supervision of 

16 internet activity in Hong Kong, including expanded 

17 police powers to force internet service providers to 

18 censor content, hand over user information, and 

19 block access to platforms. 

20 (5) On January 13, 2021, the Hong Kong 

21 Broadband Network blocked public access to 

22 HKChronicles, a website promoting pro-democracy 

23 viewpoints, under the authorities of the National Se24 curity Law. 


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1 (6) On January 28, 2021, the Hong Kong 

2 Internet Registration Corporation Limited enacted a 

3 revised ‘‘acceptable use’’ policy that enables authori4 ties to require the rejection of website registration 

5 requests that may ‘‘incite ‘illegal acts’ ’’. 

6 (7) On February 4, 2021, Carrie Lam ex7 pressed support for implementing additional laws to 

8 increase internet censorship. 

9 (8) On February 12, 2021, internet service pro10 viders blocked access to the Taiwan Transitional 

11 Justice Commission website in Hong Kong. 

12 (9) Major tech companies including Facebook, 

13 Twitter, WhatsApp and Google have stopped review14 ing requests for user data from Hong Kong authori15 ties. 

16 (10) On February 28, 2021, 47 pro-democracy 

17 activists in Hong Kong were arrested charged under 

18 the National Security Law on the charge of ‘‘con19 spiracy to commit subversion’’. 

20 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

21 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

22 should— 

23 (1) support the ability of the people of Hong 

24 Kong to maintain their freedom to access informa25 tion online; and 


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1 (2) focus on investments in technologies that 

2 facilitate the unhindered exchange of information in 

3 Hong Kong in advance of any future efforts by the 

4 Chinese Communist Party— 

5 (A) to suppress internet access; 

6 (B) to increase online censorship; or 

7 (C) to inhibit online communication and 

8 content-sharing by the people of Hong Kong. 

9 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com13 mittees’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

15 the Senate; 

16 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

17 the Senate; 

18 (C) the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

19 the Senate; 

20 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

21 the House of Representatives; 

22 (E) the Committee on Appropriations of 

23 the House of Representatives; and 

24 (F) the Permanent Select Committee on 

25 Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 


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1 (2) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—The term 

2 ‘‘interagency working group’’ means— 

3 (A) the Under Secretary of State for Civil4 ian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights; 

5 (B) the Assistant Secretary of State for 

6 East Asian and Pacific Affairs; 

7 (C) the Chief Executive Officer of the 

8 Open Technology Fund; and 

9 (D) the Administrator of the United States 

10 Agency for International Development. 

11 (3) JOINT DECLARATION.—The term ‘‘Joint 

12 Declaration’’ means the Joint Declaration of the 

13 Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 

14 and Northern Ireland and the Government of the 

15 People’s Republic of China on the Question of Hong 

16 Kong, done at Beijing on December 19, 1984. 

17 SEC. 5. HONG KONG INTERNET FREEDOM PROGRAM. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State is author19 ized to establish an interagency working group to develop 

20 a strategy to bolster internet resiliency and online access 

21 in Hong Kong. The Secretary shall establish a Hong Kong 

22 Internet Freedom Program in the Bureau of Democracy, 

23 Human Rights, and Labor at the Department of State. 

24 Additionally, the Chief Executive Officer of the Open 

25 Technology Fund is authorized to establish a Hong Kong 


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1 Internet Freedom Program. These programs shall operate 

2 independently, but in strategic coordination with other en3 tities in the interagency working group. 

4 (b) INDEPENDENCE.—During the period beginning 

5 on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on 

6 September 30, 2023, the Program shall be carried out 

7 independent from the mainland China internet freedom 

8 portfolios in order to focus on supporting liberties pres9 ently enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong. 

10 (c) CONSOLIDATION OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE

11 PROGRAM.—Beginning on October 1, 2023, the Secretary 

12 of State may— 

13 (1) consolidate the Program with the mainland 

14 China initiatives in the Bureau of Democracy, 

15 Human Rights, and Labor; or 

16 (2) continue to carry out the Program in ac17 cordance with subsection (b). 

18 (d) CONSOLIDATION OF OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND

19 PROGRAM.—Beginning on October 1, 2023, the CEO of 

20 the Open Technology Fund may— 

21 (1) consolidate the Program with the mainland 

22 China initiatives in the Open Technology Fund; or 

23 (2) continue to carry out the Program in ac24 cordance with subsection (b). 


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1 SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR INFORMATION PROGRAMS. 

2 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, 

4 working through the Open Technology Fund and the 

5 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, is 

6 authorized to award grants to private organizations 

7 to support and develop programs in Hong Kong that 

8 promote or expand— 

9 (A) online information access; 

10 (B) freedom of the press; 

11 (C) disruptive technologies that bypass 

12 internet blocking, filtering, and other censorship 

13 techniques; 

14 (D) virtual private networks; 

15 (E) firewall circumvention tools; 

16 (F) distributed denial of service mitigation 

17 techniques; 

18 (G) digital security capacity building for 

19 internet users; or 

20 (H) digital resiliency for international or21 ganizations, pro-democracy activists, and other 

22 civil society actors in Hong Kong, including 

23 emergency support. 

24 (2) GOALS.—The goals of the programs devel25 oped with grants authorized under paragraph (1) 

26 should be— 


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1 (A) to make the technologies described in 

2 paragraph (1) available in Hong Kong; 

3 (B) to increase the number of the tools in 

4 the circumvention technology portfolio; 

5 (C) to promote the availability of such 

6 technologies and tools in Hong Kong; 

7 (D) to encourage the adoption of such 

8 technologies and tools by the people of Hong 

9 Kong; 

10 (E) to scale up the distribution of such 

11 technologies and tools throughout Hong Kong; 

12 (F) to prioritize the development of tools, 

13 components, code, and technologies that are 

14 fully open source, to the extent practicable; 

15 (G) to conduct research on repressive tac16 tics that undermine internet freedom in Hong 

17 Kong; and 

18 (H) to engage American private industry, 

19 including e-commerce firms and social net20 working companies, on the importance of pre21 serving internet access in Hong Kong. 

22 (3) GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Grants authorized 

23 under this subsection shall be distributed to multiple 

24 vendors and suppliers through an open, fair, com25 petitive, and evidence-based decision process— 


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1 (A) to diversify the technical base; and 

2 (B) to reduce the risk of mitigation by bad 

3 actors. 

4 (4) SECURITY AUDITS.—New technologies de5 veloped using grants from this subsection shall un6 dergo comprehensive security audits to ensure that 

7 such technologies are secure and have not been com8 promised in a manner detrimental to the interests of 

9 the United States or to individuals or organizations 

10 benefitting from programs supported by the Open 

11 Technology Fund. 

12 (b) FUNDING SOURCE.—The Secretary of State is 

13 authorized to expend funds from the Human Rights and 

14 Democracy Fund of the Bureau of Democracy, Human 

15 Rights, and Labor of the Department of State during fis16 cal year 2020 for grants authorized under subsection (a) 

17 at any entity in the interagency working group. 

18 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 (1) OPEN TECHNOLOGY FUND.—In addition to 

20 the funds authorized to be expended pursuant to 

21 subsection (b), there are authorized to be appro22 priated to the Open Technology Fund $5,000,000 

23 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2023 to 

24 carry out this section. 


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1 (2) BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, 

2 AND LABOR.—In addition to the funds authorized to 

3 be expended pursuant to subsection (b), there are 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Office of Inter5 net Freedom Programs in the Bureau of Democracy, 

6 Human Rights, and Labor of the Department of 

7 State $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 

8 through 2023 to carry out this section. 

9 (3) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pur10 suant to paragraphs (1) and (2) shall remain avail11 able until expended. 

12 SEC. 7. STRATEGIC PLANNING REPORT. 

13 Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the inter15 agency working group shall submit a classified report to 

16 the appropriate congressional committees that— 

17 (1) describes the Federal Government’s plan to 

18 bolster and increase the availability of firewall cir19 cumvention technology in Hong Kong during fiscal 

20 year 2021, including— 

21 (A) secure private messaging tools; 

22 (B) secure file storage and sharing plat23 forms; 

24 (C) virtual private networks; 

25 (D) satellite internet; 


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1 (E) proxies; 

2 (F) refraction routing; 

3 (G) pluggable transports; and 

4 (H) other secure communication mecha5 nisms and anti-censorship technologies; 

6 (2) outlines a plan for— 

7 (A) supporting the preservation of an 

8 open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet 

9 in Hong Kong; 

10 (B) increasing the supply of the technology 

11 referred to in paragraph (1); 

12 (C) accelerating the dissemination of such 

13 technology; 

14 (D) promoting the availability of such 

15 technology in Hong Kong; 

16 (E) utilizing presently available tools in the 

17 mainland China portfolio for further use in the 

18 unique context of Hong Kong; 

19 (F) expanding the portfolio of tools in 

20 order to diversify and strengthen the effective21 ness and resiliency of the circumvention efforts; 

22 and 

23 (G) providing training for high-risk groups 

24 and individuals in Hong Kong; 


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1 (3) includes a detailed description of the tech2 nical and fiscal steps necessary to implement the 

3 plans referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2), includ4 ing an analysis of the market conditions in Hong 

5 Kong; 

6 (4) describes the Federal Government’s plans 

7 for awarding grants to private organizations for the 

8 purposes described in section 6(a)(1); 

9 (5) outlines the interagency working group’s 

10 consultations regarding the implementation of this 

11 Act to ensure that all Federal efforts are aligned 

12 and well coordinated; and 

13 (6) outlines the Department of State’s strategy 

14 to influence global internet legal standards at inter15 national organizations and multilateral fora. 

Æ 


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