I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H.R. 967

To prohibit the use of United States funds to provide for the participation

of certain Chinese officials in international conferences, programs, and

activities and to provide that certain Chinese officials shall be ineligible

to receive visas and excluded from admission to the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 6, 1997

Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. HYDE, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. COX of California,

Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. ROHRABACHER,

Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. LANTOS) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on International Relations, 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 prohibit the use of United States funds to provide for

the participation of certain Chinese officials in international conferences, programs, and activities and to provide that certain Chinese officials shall be ineligible to

receive visas and excluded from admission to the United

States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) Despite public assurances by the Govern2 ment of the People’s Republic of China that it would

3 abide by the principles of the Universal Declaration

4 of Human Rights and despite the United Nations

5 Charter requirement that all members promote re6 spect for and observance of basic human rights, in7 cluding freedom of religion, the Chinese Government

8 continues to place severe restrictions on religious ex9 pression and practice.

10 (2) It has been reported that at an internal

11 Central Communist Party meeting in 1994, Presi12 dent Jiang Zemin asserted that religion is one of the

13 biggest threats to Communist Party rule in China

14 and Tibet.

15 (3) On January 31, 1994, Premier Li Peng

16 signed decrees number 144 and 145 which restrict

17 worship, religious education, distribution of Bibles

18 and other religious literature, and contact with for19 eign coreligionists.

20 (4) The Chinese Government has created offi21 cial religious organizations that control all religious

22 worship, activity, and association in China and Tibet

23 and supplant the independent authority of the

24 Roman Catholic Church, independent Protestant
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1 churches, and independent Buddhist, Taoist, and Is2 lamic associations.

3 (5) In July 1995, Ye Xiaowen, a rigid com4 munist hostile to religion, was appointed to head the

5 Bureau of Religious Affairs, a Chinese Government

6 agency controlled by the United Front Work Depart7 ment of the Chinese Communist Party. The Bureau

8 of Religious Affairs has administrative control over

9 all religious worship and activity in China and Tibet

10 through a system of granting or denying rights

11 through an official registration system. Those who

12 fail to or are not allowed to register are subject to

13 punitive measures.

14 (6) In the past year, the Chinese Government

15 has expressed great concern over the spread of

16 Christianity and particularly over the rapid growth

17 of Christian religious institutions other than those

18 controlled by the Chinese Government, including the

19 Roman Catholic Church and the evangelical Chris20 tian ‘‘house churches’’.

21 (7) Soon after the establishment of the People’s

22 Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Government

23 imprisoned Christians who refused to relinquish
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1 their faith to become servants of communism, charg2 ing them as ‘‘counter-revolutionaries’’ and sentenc3 ing them to 20 years or more in ‘‘reeducation

4 through labor camps’’.

5 (8) Hundreds of Chinese Protestants and

6 Catholics are among those now imprisoned, detained,

7 or continuously harassed because of their religious

8 beliefs or activities.

9 (9) The prisons and labor camps which hold

10 these religious prisoners are run by the Ministry of

11 Public Security and the Ministry of Justice of the

12 Chinese Government.

13 (10) Although some negotiations have taken

14 place, the Chinese Government refuses to permit the

15 appointment by the Vatican of Catholic bishops and

16 the ordination of priests not approved by the Gov17 ernment and insists on appointing its own ‘‘Catholic

18 bishops’’.

19 (11) The Tenth Panchen Lama died in January

20 1989 at Tashilhunpo Monastery, his traditional spir21 itual seat in Shigatze, Tibet’s second largest city.

22 (12) It has always been the right and the role

23 of the Dalai Lama to recognize the successor to the

24 Panchen Lama. On May 14, 1995, His Holiness the

25 Dalai Lama announced recognition of a six-year-old
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1 boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the Eleventh Pan2 chen Lama, according to Tibetan tradition.

3 (13) The young boy recognized by the Dalai

4 Lama and his family have been brought to Beijing

5 by Chinese authorities and have not been seen for

6 months. The Chinese authorities announced publicly

7 in June 1996 that they are holding Gedhun Choekyi

8 Nyima.

9 (14) Chadrel Rimpoche, abbot of Tashilhunpo

10 Monastery and head of the original search commit11 tee for the Eleventh Panchen Lama, and his assist12 ant, Champa Chung, are believed to have been

13 seized and detained by Chinese authorities in May of

14 1995.

15 (15) Chinese Government authorities subse16 quently detained other Tibetan Buddhists in connec17 tion with the selection of the Eleventh Panchen

18 Lama, including Gyatrol Rimposhe, Shepa Kelsang,

19 Lhakpa Tsering, and Ringkar Ngawang.

20 (16) The Chinese Government convened a con21 ference in Beijing where Tibetan monks were co22 erced to select a rival candidate to the child recog23 nized by the Dalai Lama as the Eleventh Panchen

24 Lama.
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1 (17) On November 29, 1995, officials of the

2 Chinese Government orchestrated an elaborate cere3 mony designating a six-year-old boy selected by the

4 Chinese Government as the Eleventh Panchen Lama

5 and on December 8, 1995, a Government-sponsored

6 ceremony was held in Shigatze, Tibet, where the boy

7 selected by the Government was enthroned as the

8 Eleventh Panchen Lama.

9 (18) By seeking to impose its own candidate as

10 the Eleventh Panchen Lama and detaining the six11 year-old boy recognized for that position in accord12 ance with Tibetan tradition, the Chinese Govern13 ment is infringing on a purely Tibetan religious mat14 ter, in blatant violation of the fundamental human

15 rights of the Tibetan people.

16 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL STATEMENT OF POLICY.

17 It is the sense of the Congress that the President

18 should make freedom of religion one of the major objec19 tives of United States foreign policy with respect to China.

20 As part of this policy, the Department of State should

21 raise in every relevant bilateral and multilateral forum the

22 issue of individuals imprisoned, detained, confined, or oth23 erwise harassed by the Chinese Government on religious

24 grounds. In its communications with the Chinese Govern25 ment, the Department of State should provide specific
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1 names of individuals of concern and request a complete

2 and timely response from the Chinese Government regard3 ing the individuals’ whereabouts and condition, the

4 charges against them, and sentence imposed. The goal of

5 these official communications should be the expeditious re6 lease of all religious prisoners in China and Tibet and the

7 end of the Chinese Government’s policy and practice of

8 harassing and repressing religious believers.

9 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS FOR THE PARTICI10 PATION OF CERTAIN CHINESE OFFICIALS IN

11 CONFERENCES, EXCHANGES, PROGRAMS,

12 AND ACTIVITIES.

13 (a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provi14 sion of law, for fiscal years after fiscal year 1997, no funds

15 appropriated or otherwise made available for the Depart16 ment of State, the United States Information Agency, and

17 the United States Agency for International Development

18 may be used for the purpose of providing travel expenses

19 and per diem for the participation of nationals of the Peo20 ple’s Republic of China described in paragraphs (1) and

21 (2) in conferences, exchanges, programs, and activities:

22 (1) The head or political secretary of any of the

23 following Chinese Government-created or approved

24 organizations:

25 (A) The Chinese Buddhist Association.
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1 (B) The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Asso2 ciation.

3 (C) The National Congress of Catholic

4 Representatives.

5 (D) The Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Con6 ference.

7 (E) The Chinese Protestant ‘‘Three Self’’

8 Patriotic Movement.

9 (F) The China Christian Council.

10 (G) The Chinese Taoist Association.

11 (H) The Chinese Islamic Association.

12 (2) Any military or civilian official or employee

13 of the Government of the People’s Republic of China

14 who is directly involved in any of the following poli15 cies or practices or who was responsible for the su16 pervision of persons directly involved in such policies

17 or practices:

18 (A) Formulating, drafting, or implement19 ing repressive religious policies.

20 (B) Imprisoning, detaining, or harassing

21 individuals on religious grounds.

22 (C) Promoting or participating in policies

23 or practices which hinder religious activities or

24 the free expression of religious beliefs.

25 (b) CERTIFICATION.—
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1 (1) Each Federal agency subject to the prohibi2 tion of subsection (a) shall certify in writing to the

3 appropriate congressional committees no later than

4 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act,

5 and every 90 days thereafter, that it did not pay, ei6 ther directly or through a contractor or grantee, for

7 travel expenses or per diem of any national of the

8 People’s Republic of China described in subsection

9 (a).

10 (2) Each certification under paragraph (1) shall

11 be supported by the following information:

12 (A) The name of each employee of any

13 agency of the Government of the People’s Re14 public of China whose travel expenses or per

15 diem were paid by funds of the reporting agen16 cy of the United States Government.

17 (B) The procedures employed by the re18 porting agency of the United States Govern19 ment to ascertain whether each individual

20 under subparagraph (A) did or did not partici21 pate in activities described in subsection (a)(2).

22 (C) The reporting agency’s basis for con23 cluding that each individual under subpara24 graph (A) did not participate in such activities.
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1 (c) DEFINITION OF APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL

2 COMMITTEES.—For purposes of this section the term ‘‘ap3 propriate congressional committees’’ means the Commit4 tee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee

5 on International Relations of the House of Representa6 tives.

7 SEC. 4. CERTAIN OFFICIALS OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC

8 OF CHINA INELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE VISAS

9 AND EXCLUDED FROM ADMISSION.

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any na11 tional of the People’s Republic of China described in para12 graphs (1) or (2) of section 3(a) shall be ineligible to re13 ceive visas and shall be excluded from admission into the

14 United States.

15 SEC. 5. SUNSET PROVISION.

16 Sections 3 and 4 shall cease to have effect 4 years

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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