II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 429 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2021 

Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Countering Chinese 

5 Propaganda Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) The U.S.-China Economic and Security Re4 view Commission has noted that ‘‘China uses what 

5 it calls United Front [Work Department] of the Chi6 nese Communist Party to co-opt and neutralize 

7 sources of potential opposition to the policies and 

8 authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party 

9 (CCP)’’. 

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

11 the United Front Work Department as a ‘‘magic 

12 weapon’’ in the victory of the communist revolution 

13 along with ‘‘armed struggle’’. 

14 (3) Chinese President Xi Jinping has also re15 ferred to the United Front Work Department with 

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

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

18 rejuvenation. 

19 (4) According to a report by Alex Joske for20 merly of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 

21 the United Front Work Department has doubled in 

22 size since 2015. 

23 (5) The United Front Work Department is in24 volved in espionage campaigns, political warfare ef25 forts, malign disinformation, utilizing the Chinese 

26 diaspora abroad, and infiltration of educational instiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S429.IS S429

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1 tutions all with the goal of softening opposition to 

2 the Chinese Communist Party and its policies 

3 throughout the world. 

4 (6) The United Front Work Department played 

5 a seminal role in coordinating multifaceted 

6 disinformation campaigns to blame the United 

7 States for the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 

8 2019 (commonly referred to as ‘‘COVID–19’’) pan9 demic and coverup the People’s Republic of China’s 

10 negligent response to the pandemic. 

11 (7) An investigation by ProPublica released on 

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

13 Department was connected to a network of fake and 

14 hijacked Twitter accounts that were covertly spread15 ing Chinese Government propaganda about COVID– 

16 19 to global audiences. 

17 (8) The United Front Work Department uti18 lized Chinese diaspora community associations under 

19 its control to purchase personal protective equipment 

20 as the COVID–19 outbreak troubled China from 

21 mid-January 2020 on. 

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

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

24 Daily newspaper, alleged that COVID–19 was 

25 brought to the People’s Republic of China from a 


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1 United States military base during the World 

2 Games. 

3 (10) As Sheridan Prasso of Bloomberg has re4 ported, the United Front Work Department has ac5 tively worked to undermine democracy in Hong 

6 Kong under the umbrella of the People’s Republic of 

7 China’s State Council’s Liaison Office by spreading 

8 disinformation and activating a network of media 

9 outlets, and diaspora organizations and pressuring 

10 businesses in the city to support the People’s Repub11 lic of China’s national security laws. 

12 (11) The United Front Work Department has 

13 played an integral role in the People’s Republic of 

14 China’s war on religion by leading efforts to publish 

15 a new edition of the Bible with Chinese Communist 

16 characteristics, actively running internment camps 

17 and carrying out anti-religion campaigns against 

18 Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and severe religious re19 pression of Buddhists in Tibet. 

20 (12) Recognizing the threat of the United 

21 Front Work Department, on December 4, 2020, 

22 former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo imposed 

23 visa restrictions on individuals activated in United 

24 Front Work Department activities under section 

25 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality 


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1 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(C)). Furthermore, on Jan2 uary 15, 2021, the Department of the Treasury im3 posed sanctions on You Quan, the head of the 

4 United Front Work Department of the Central Com5 mittee of the Chinese Communist Party, placing him 

6 on the list of specially designated nationals and 

7 blocked persons maintained by the Office of Foreign 

8 Assets Control for his role in the crackdown on pro9 democracy protesters in Hong Kong. 

10 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOR11 EIGN PERSONS THAT KNOWINGLY SPREAD 

12 MALIGN DISINFORMATION AS PART OF OR 

13 ON BEHALF OF A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OR 

14 POLITICAL PARTY FOR PURPOSES OF POLIT15 ICAL WARFARE. 

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

17 impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with re18 spect to any foreign person that the President determines 

19 knowingly commits a significant act of malign 

20 disinformation on behalf of the government of a foreign 

21 country or foreign political party that has the direct pur22 pose or effect of influencing political, diplomatic, or edu23 cational activities in the United States for the purpose of 

24 harming— 


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1 (1) the national security or defense of the 

2 United States; or 

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

4 citizen or alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi5 dence. 

6 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 

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

8 this subsection with respect to a foreign person de9 termined by the President to be subject to sub10 section (a) are the following: 

11 (A) ASSET BLOCKING.—The President 

12 shall exercise of all powers granted to the Presi13 dent by the International Emergency Economic 

14 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the ex15 tent necessary to block and prohibit all trans16 actions in property and interests in property of 

17 the foreign person if such property and inter18 ests in property are in the United States, come 

19 within the United States, or are or come within 

20 the possession or control of a United States 

21 person. 

22 (B) INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN INDI23 VIDUALS.— 

24 (i) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMIS25 SION, OR PAROLE.—In the case of a forVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S429.IS S429

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1 eign person who is an individual, the for2 eign person is— 

3 (I) inadmissible to the United 

4 States; 

5 (II) ineligible to receive a visa or 

6 other documentation to enter the 

7 United States; and 

8 (III) otherwise ineligible to be 

9 admitted or paroled into the United 

10 States or to receive any other benefit 

11 under the Immigration and Nation12 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 

13 (ii) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

14 (I) IN GENERAL.—In the case of 

15 a foreign person who is an individual, 

16 the visa or other documentation 

17 issued to the person shall be revoked, 

18 regardless of when such visa or other 

19 documentation is or was issued. 

20 (II) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.— 

21 A revocation under subclause (I) 

22 shall— 

23 (aa) take effect immediately; 

24 and 


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1 (bb) automatically cancel 

2 any other valid visa or entry doc3 umentation that is in the per4 son’s possession. 

5 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at6 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

7 violation of any regulation, license, or order issued 

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

9 penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of sec10 tion 206 of the International Emergency Economic 

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

12 a person that commits an unlawful act described in 

13 subsection (a) of that section. 

14 (3) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA15 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions 

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

17 person who is an individual if admitting the person 

18 into the United States is necessary to permit the 

19 United States to comply with the Agreement regard20 ing the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 

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

22 force November 21, 1947, between the United Na23 tions and the United States, or other applicable 

24 international obligations. 


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

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

3 application of sanctions imposed with respect to a foreign 

4 person under this section if the President certifies to the 

5 appropriate congressional committees not later than 15 

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

7 is vital to the national security interests of the United 

8 States. 

9 (d) IMPLEMENTATION AUTHORITY.—The President 

10 may exercise all authorities provided to the President 

11 under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emer12 gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) 

13 for purposes of carrying out this section. 

14 (e) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

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

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

17 shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary 

18 for the implementation of this section. 

19 (2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not less 

20 than 10 days before the promulgation of regulations 

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

22 provide to the appropriate congressional committees 

23 the proposed regulations and an identification of the 

24 provisions of this section that the regulations are im25 plementing. 


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1 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

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

4 section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

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

6 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com8 mittees’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

10 Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on 

11 Ways and Means, and the Committee on Finan12 cial Services of the House of Representatives; 

13 and 

14 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

15 the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee 

16 on Finance, and the Committee on Banking, 

17 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

18 (3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per19 son’’ means a person that is not a United States 

20 person. 

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

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

23 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 

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

25 result. 


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1 (5) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in2 dividual or entity. 

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

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

5 the meanings given the terms ‘‘property’’ and ‘‘prop6 erty interest’’, respectively, in section 576.312 of 

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

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

9 (7) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

10 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

11 (A) an individual who is a United States 

12 citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for perma13 nent residence to the United States; 

14 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

15 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

16 United States, including a foreign branch of 

17 such an entity; or 

18 (C) any person in the United States. 

19 (g) SUNSET.— 

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

21 be effective beginning on January 1, 2025. 

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

23 apply with respect to sanctions imposed with respect 

24 to a foreign person under this section before Janu25 ary 1, 2025. 


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1 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION WITH RESPECT TO THE IMPOSI2 TION OF SANCTIONS ON THE UNITED FRONT 

3 WORK DEPARTMENT OF THE CHINESE COM4 MUNIST PARTY. 

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

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

7 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

8 a determination, including a detailed justification, on 

9 whether the United Front Work Department of the Chi10 nese Communist Party, or any component or official there11 of, meets the criteria for the application of sanctions pur12 suant to— 

13 (1) section 3 of this Act; 

14 (2) section 1263 of the Global Magnitsky 

15 Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title 

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

17 (3) section 6 of the Uyghur Human Rights Pol18 icy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–145; 22 U.S.C. 

19 6901 note); or 

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

21 note; relating to blocking property of certain persons 

22 engaged in significant malicious cyber-enabled activi23 ties). 

24 (b) FORM.—The determination required by sub25 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may 

26 contain a classified annex. 


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1 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE2 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres3 sional committees’’ means— 

4 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

5 Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Select 

6 Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Finan7 cial Services, and the Committee on the Judiciary of 

8 the House of Representatives; and 

9 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

10 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Select Com11 mittee on Intelligence, the Committee on Banking, 

12 Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on 

13 the Judiciary of the Senate. 

Æ 


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