I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2829
To prohibit funding by United States Government agencies of the participa-
tion of certain officials of the Chinese Government in international con-
ferences, programs, and activities until the Chinese Government releases
certain individuals imprisoned or detained on religious grounds.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
DECEMBER 22, 1995
Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr.
SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr.
ROYCE, Mr. PORTER, and Mr. WOLF) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on International Relations
A BILL
To prohibit funding by United States Government agencies
of the participation of certain officials of the Chinese
Government in international conferences, programs, and
activities until the Chinese Government releases certain
individuals imprisoned or detained on religious grounds.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) It has been reported that at an internal
Central Communist Party meeting in 1994, Chinese
President Jiang Zemin asserted that religion is one
of the biggest threats to Communist Party rule in
China.
(2) On January 31, 1994, Premier Li Ping
signed decrees number 144 and 145 which restrict
worship, religious education, distribution of bibles
and other religious literature, and contact with for-
eign coreligionists.
(3) The Chinese Government has created orga-
nizations that have as their purpose controlling all
religious worship, activity, and association in China
and supplanting the Roman Catholic Church, inde-
pendent Protestant churches and independent Bud-
dhist, Taoist, and Islamic associations.
(4) In July 1995 Ye Xiaowen, a reputed atheist
and rigid communist, was appointed to head the Bu-
reau of Religious Affairs, an agency controlled by
the United Front Work Department of the Chinese
Government, that has administrative control over all
religious worship and activity in China through an
official system of registering or denying rights and
privileges to religious congregations and leaders.
(5) In the past year, the Chinese Government
has expressed great concern over the spread of
Christianity and particularly over the rapid growth
of Christian religious institutions other than those
controlled by the government, including the Roman
Catholic Church and the evangelical Christian
‘‘house churches’’.
(6) Soon after the establishment of the People’s
Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Government
imprisoned Christians who refused to relinquish
their faith to become servants of Communism,
charging them as ‘‘counter-revolutionaries’’ and sen-
tencing them to 20 years or more in labor camps.
(7) Hundreds of Chinese Protestants and
Catholics are among those now imprisoned at ‘‘re-
education through labor’’ camps because of their re-
ligious beliefs.
(8) The reeducation camps are run by the Min-
istry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice
of the Chinese Government.
(9) The Chinese Communist Government re-
fuses to permit the appointment by the Vatican of
Catholic Bishops and ordination of priests for China
and insists on appointing its own ‘‘Catholic bish-
ops’’.
(10) The Tenth Panchen Lama died in January
1989 at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, his traditional
spiritual seat in Shigatze, Tibet’s second largest city.
(11) The Dalai Lama has the right to recognize
the successor to the Panchen Lama, and has always
done so.
(12) On May 14, 1995, His Holiness the Dalai
Lama announced recognition of a 6-year-old boy,
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the Eleventh Panchen
Lama, according to Tibetan tradition.
(13) The young boy recognized by the Dalai
Lama and his family have been brought to Beijing
by Chinese authorities and have not been seen in
several months.
(14) Chatrel Rimpoche, abbot of Tashi Lhunpo
Monastery and head of the original search commit-
tee for the Eleventh Panchen Lama, and his assist-
ant, Champa Chung, are believed to have been
seized and detained by Chinese authorities in May of
1995.
(15) Chinese Government authorities subse-
quently detained other Tibetan Buddhists in connec-
tion with selection of the Eleventh Panchen Lama,
including Gyatrol Rimpoche, Shepa Kelsang, Lhakpa
Tsering, and Ringkar Ngawang.
(16) The Chinese Government convened a con-
ference in Beijing of Tibetan Lamas who were forc-
ibly brought to Beijing in order to select a rival can-
didate to the child selected by the Dalai Lama as
the Eleventh Panchen Lama.
(17) On November 29, 1995, Luo Gan, Sec-
retary General of the State Council, and Ye
Xiaowen, Director of the Bureau of Religious Af-
fairs, orchestrated an elaborate ceremony designat-
ing a 6-year-old boy selected by the Chinese Govern-
ment as the Eleventh Panchen Lama.
(18) On December 8, 1995, State Councilor Li
Tieying presided over a ceremony in Shigatze, Tibet,
in which the boy selected by the Chinese Govern-
ment as the Eleventh Panchen Lama was enthroned.
(19) By seeking to impose its own candidate as
the Eleventh Panchen Lama and detaining the 6-
year-old boy recognized for that position in accord-
ance with Tibetan tradition, the Chinese Govern-
ment is inserting itself into a purely Tibetan reli-
gious matter, in blatant violation of the fundamental
human rights of the Tibetan people.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
The Department of State should make the release of
individuals imprisoned or detained on religious grounds a
major objective of United States foreign policy with re-
spect to China, and should raise this issue in every rel-
evant bilateral and multilateral forum.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING BY AGENCIES OF THE
UNITED STATES FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF
CERTAIN 
CHINESE 
OFFICIALS 
IN 
INTER-
NATIONAL PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.
(a) RESTRICTION.—No funds available to the De-
partment of State, the United States Information Agency,
the Agency for International Development, or any other
agency or entity of the United States Government may
be obligated or expended for the participation of any of
the following individuals in any conference, exchange pro-
gram, or activity relating to education, culture, training,
or any other purpose, until the President submits the cer-
tification described in subsection (b):
(1) The head of any of the following Chinese
Government-created and approved organizations:
(A) The Chinese Buddhist Association.
(B) The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Asso-
ciation.
(C) The Chinese Catholic Religious Affairs
Committee.
(D) The Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Con-
ference.
(E) The Chinese Protestant ‘‘Three-Self’’
Patriotic Movement.
(F) The China Christian Council.
(G) The Chinese Taoist Association.
(H) The Chinese Islamic Association.
(2) Any official or employee of the United
Front Work Department of the Chinese Govern-
ment.
(3) Luo Gan, the Secretary General of the
State Council, Li Tieying, State Councilor, and any
other official or employee of the State Council.
(4) Ye Xiaowen, Director of Bureau of Reli-
gious Affairs, and any other official or employee of
the Bureau of Religious Affairs of the Chinese Gov-
ernment.
(5) Any military or civilian official or employee
of the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of
Justice of the Chinese Government.
(b) CERTIFICATION.—The certification referred to in
subsection (a) is a certification by the President to the
Congress that the following individuals have been released,
unconditionally, by the Chinese Government:
(1) Pei Zhongxun (whose Korean name is Chun
Chul).
(2) Dai Guillang.
(3) Dai Lanmei.
(4) Geng Minuan.
(5) Wang Xincai.
(6) Li Tianen.
(7) Guo Mengshan.
(8) Jiang Huaifeng.
(9) Xu Funian.
(10) Wang Yao Hua.
(11) Chen Zhuman.
(12) Bishop Zeng Jingmu.
(13) Father Li Jian Jin.
(14) Father Vincent Qin Guoliang.
(15) Pan Kunming.
(16) Rao Yangping.
(17) Yu Qixing.
(18) Yu Shuishen.
(19) Li Qingming.
(20) Zhang Zhiqiang.
(21) Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family.
(22) Chatrel Rimpoche.
(23) Champa Chung.
(24) Gyatrol Rimpoche.
(25) Shepa Kelsang.
(26) Lhakpa Tsering.
(27) Ringkar Ngawang.
Æ