(A) officials of the Government of the 
United States submitted 39 requests for diplo-
matic access to the Tibet Autonomous Region 
between May 2011 and July 2015, but only 
four were granted; and 
(B) when such requests are granted, diplo-
matic personnel are closely supervised and given 
few opportunities to meet local residents not ap-
proved by authorities. 
(7) The Government of China delayed United 
States consular access for more than 48 hours after 
an October 28, 2013, bus crash in the Tibet Autono-
mous Region, in which three citizens of the United 
States died and more than a dozen others, all from 
Walnut, California, were injured, undermining the 
ability of the Government of the United States to 
provide consular services to the victims and their 
families, and failing to meet China’s obligations 
under the Convention on Consular Relations, done 
at Vienna April 24, 1963 (21 UST 77). 
(8) Following a 2015 earthquake that trapped 
dozens of citizens of the United States in the Tibet 
Autonomous Region, the United States Consulate 
General in Chengdu faced significant challenges in 
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providing emergency consular assistance due to a 
lack of consular access. 
(9) The Country Reports on Human Rights 
Practices for 2015 of the Department of State stat-
ed ‘‘With the exception of a few highly controlled 
trips, the Chinese government also denied multiple 
requests by foreign diplomats for permission to visit 
the TAR.’’. 
(10) Tibetan-Americans, attempting to visit 
their homeland, report having to undergo a discrimi-
natory visa application process, different from what 
is typically required, at the Chinese embassy and 
consulates in the United States, and often find their 
requests to travel denied. 
(11) The Country Reports on Human Rights 
Practices for 2016 of the Department of State stat-
ed ‘‘The few visits to the TAR by diplomats and 
journalists that were allowed were tightly controlled 
by local authorities.’’. 
(12) A September 2016 article in the Wash-
ington Post reported that ‘‘The Tibet Autonomous 
Region . . . is harder to visit as a journalist than 
North Korea.’’. 
(13) The Government of China has failed to re-
spond positively to requests from the Government of 
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the United States to open a consulate in Lhasa, 
Tibet Autonomous Region. 
(14) The Foreign Correspondents Club of 
China reports that— 
(A) 2008 rules prevent foreign reporters 
from visiting the Tibet Autonomous Region 
without prior permission from the Government 
of such Region; 
(B) such permission has only rarely been 
granted; and 
(C) although the 2008 rules allow journal-
ists to travel freely in other parts of China, Ti-
betan areas outside such Region remain ‘‘effec-
tively off-limits to foreign reporters’’. 
(15) The Department of State reports that in 
addition to having to obtain permission to enter the 
Tibet Autonomous Region, foreign tourists— 
(A) must be accompanied at all times by a 
government-designated tour guide; 
(B) are rarely granted permission to enter 
the region by road; 
(C) are largely barred from visiting around 
the March anniversary of a 1959 Tibetan upris-
ing; and 
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(D) are banned from visiting the area 
where Larung Gar, the world’s largest center 
for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, and the site 
of a large-scale campaign to expel students and 
demolish living quarters, is located. 
(16) Foreign visitors also face restrictions in 
their ability to travel freely in Tibetan areas outside 
the Tibet Autonomous Region. 
(17) The Government of the United States gen-
erally allows journalists and other citizens of China 
to travel freely within the United States. The Gov-
ernment of the United States requires diplomats 
from China to notify the Department of State of 
their travel plans, and in certain situations, the Gov-
ernment of the United States requires such dip-
lomats to obtain approval from the Department of 
State before travel. However, where approval is re-
quired, it is almost always granted expeditiously. 
(18) The United States regularly grants visas 
to Chinese diplomats and other officials, scholars, 
and others who travel to the United States to dis-
cuss, promote, and display the perspective of the 
Government of China on the situation in Tibetan 
areas, even as the Government of China restricts the 
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ability of citizens of the United States to travel to 
Tibetan areas to gain their own perspective. 
(19) Chinese diplomats based in the United 
States generally avail themselves of the freedom to 
travel to United States cities and lobby city councils, 
mayors, and governors to refrain from passing reso-
lutions, issuing proclamations, or making statements 
of concern on Tibet. 
(20) The Government of China characterizes 
statements made by officials of the United States 
about the situation in Tibetan areas as inappro-
priate interference in the internal affairs of China. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 
and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen-
ate; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 
the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives. 
(2) TIBETAN
AREAS.—The term ‘‘Tibetan 
areas’’ includes— 
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(A) the Tibet Autonomous Region; and 
(B) the areas that the Chinese Government 
designates as Tibetan Autonomous, as follows: 
(i) Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autono-
mous Prefecture, and Pari (Tianzhu) Ti-
betan Autonomous County located in 
Gansu Province. 
(ii) Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autono-
mous Prefecture, Malho (Huangnan) Ti-
betan Autonomous Prefecture, Tsojang 
(Haibei) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 
Tsolho (Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Pre-
fecture, Tsonub (Haixi) Mongolian and Ti-
betan Autonomous Prefecture, and Yulshul 
(Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 
located in Qinghai Province. 
(iii) Garze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autono-
mous Prefecture, Ngawa (Aba) Tibetan 
and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, and 
Muli (Mili) Tibetan Autonomous County, 
located in Sichuan Province. 
(iv) Dechen (Diqing) Tibetan Autono-
mous Prefecture, located in Yunnan Prov-
ince. 
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SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON ACCESS TO TIBETAN AREAS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 
for the following five years, the Secretary of State shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees, and 
make available to the public on the website of the Depart-
ment of State, a report that includes an assessment of 
the level of access Chinese authorities granted diplomats 
and other officials, journalists, and tourists from the 
United States to Tibetan areas, including— 
(1) a comparison with the level of access grant-
ed to other areas of China; 
(2) a comparison between the levels of access 
granted to Tibetan and non-Tibetan areas in rel-
evant provinces; 
(3) a comparison of the level of access in the 
reporting year and the previous reporting year; and 
(4) a description of the required permits and 
other measures that impede the freedom to travel in 
Tibetan areas. 
(b) CONSOLIDATION.—After the issuance of the first 
report required by subsection (a), the Secretary of State 
is authorized to incorporate subsequent reports required 
by subsection (a) into other publicly available, annual re-
ports produced by the Department of State, provided they 
are submitted to the appropriate congressional committees 
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in a manner specifying that they are being submitted in 
fulfillment of the requirements of this Act. 
SEC. 5. INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIENS. 
(a) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS.—No individual whom 
the Secretary of State has determined to be substantially 
involved in the formulation or execution of policies related 
to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas may be eligible 
to receive a visa to enter the United States or be admitted 
to the United States if the Secretary of State determines 
that— 
(1)(A) the requirement for specific official per-
mission for foreigners to enter the Tibetan Autono-
mous Region remains in effect; or 
(B) such requirement has been replaced by 
a regulation that has a similar effect and re-
quires foreign travelers to gain a level of per-
mission to enter the Tibet Autonomous Region 
that is not required for travel to other provinces 
in China; and 
(2) restrictions on travel by diplomats and 
other officials, journalists, and citizens of the United 
States to areas designated as ‘‘Tibetan Autono-
mous’’ in the provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai, 
Yunnan, and Gansu of China are greater than any 
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restrictions on travel by such officials and citizens to 
areas in such provinces that are not so designated. 
(b) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.—The Secretary of 
State shall revoke, in accordance with section 221(i) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), 
the visa or other documentation to enter or be present in 
the United States issued for an alien who would be ineli-
gible to receive such a visa or documentation under sub-
section (a). 
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter for the following five years, the Secretary of 
State shall provide to the appropriate congressional com-
mittees a report identifying the individuals who have had 
visas denied or revoked pursuant to this section during 
the preceding year and, to the extent practicable, a list 
of Chinese officials who were substantially involved in the 
formulation or execution of policies to restrict access of 
United States diplomats and other officials, journalists, 
and citizens of the United States to Tibetan areas. The 
report required by this subsection shall be submitted in 
unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. 
(d) WAIVER FOR NATIONAL INTEREST.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State may 
waive the application of subsection (a) or (b) in the 
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case of an alien if the Secretary determines that 
such a waiver— 
(A) is necessary to permit the United 
States to comply with the Agreement Regarding 
the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 
at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered 
into force November 21, 1947 (TIAS 1676), or 
any other applicable international obligation of 
the United States; or 
(B) is in the national interest of the 
United States. 
(2) NOTIFICATION.—Upon granting a waiver 
under paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees 
a document detailing the evidence and justification 
for the necessity of such waiver, including, if such 
waiver is granted pursuant to paragraph (1)(B), 
how such waiver relates to the national interest of 
the United States. 
SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of 
State, when granting diplomats and other officials from 
China access to parts of the United States, including con-
sular access, should take into account the extent to which 
the Government of China grants diplomats and other offi-
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cials from the United States access to parts of China, in-
cluding the level of access afforded to such diplomats and 
other officials to Tibetan areas. 
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Calendar No. 701 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1872 
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. 
NOVEMBER 29, 2018 
Reported without amendment 
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