I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1214 
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 Chi-
nese Communist Party. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 23, 2021 
Mr. BANKS (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. JOHNSON of 
Louisiana, Mr. MANN, Mr. TURNER, and Mr. WALTZ) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 
in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
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 determina-
tion regarding the United Front Work Department of 
the Chinese Communist Party. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Countering Chinese 
Propaganda Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The U.S.-China Economic and Security Re-
view Commission has noted that ‘‘China uses what 
it calls United Front Work Department of the Chi-
nese Communist Party to co-opt and neutralize 
sources of potential opposition to the policies and 
authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party 
(CCP)’’. 
(2) In 1939, Chinese leader Mao Zedong hailed 
the United Front Work Department as a ‘‘magic 
weapon’’ in the victory of the communist revolution 
along with ‘‘armed struggle’’. 
(3) Chinese President Xi Jinping has also re-
ferred to the United Front Work Department with 
those words and given it a key role in what he calls 
achieving the People’s Republic of China’s national 
rejuvenation. 
(4) According to a report by Alex Joske for-
merly of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 
the United Front Work Department has doubled in 
size since 2015. 
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(5) The United Front Work Department is in-
volved in espionage campaigns, political warfare ef-
forts, malign disinformation, utilizing the Chinese 
diaspora abroad, and infiltration of educational insti-
tutions all with the goal of softening opposition to 
the Chinese Communist Party and its policies 
throughout the world. 
(6) The United Front Work Department played 
a seminal role in coordinating multifaceted disinfor-
mation campaigns to blame the United States for 
the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (com-
monly referred to as ‘‘COVID-19’’) pandemic and 
coverup China’s negligent response to the pandemic. 
(7) An investigation by ProPublica released on 
March 26, 2020, found that the United Front Work 
Department was connected to a network of fake and 
hijacked Twitter accounts that were covertly spread-
ing Chinese government propaganda about COVID- 
19 to global audiences. 
(8) The United Front Work Department uti-
lized Chinese diaspora community associations under 
its control to purchase personal protective equipment 
as the COVID-19 outbreak troubled China from 
mid-January 2020 on. 
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(9) In February 2020, The Global Times, a site 
run by the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s 
Daily newspaper, alleged that COVID-19 was 
brought to China from a United States military base 
during the World Games. 
(10) As Sheridan Prasso of Bloomberg has re-
ported, the United Front Work Department has ac-
tively worked to undermine democracy in Hong 
Kong under the umbrella of China’s State Council’s 
Liaison Office by spreading disinformation and acti-
vating a network of media outlets, and diaspora or-
ganizations and pressuring businesses in the city to 
support China’s national security laws. 
(11) The United Front Work Department has 
played an integral role in China’s war on religion by 
leading efforts to publish a new edition of the Bible 
with Chinese Communist characteristics, actively 
running internment camps and carrying out anti-re-
ligion campaigns against Uyghur Muslims in 
Xinjiang and severe religious repression of Bud-
dhists in Tibet. 
(12) Recognizing the threat of the United 
Front Work Department, on December 4, 2020, 
former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo imposed 
visa restrictions on individuals active in United 
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Front Work Department activities under section 
212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(C)). Furthermore, on Jan-
uary 15, 2021, the Department of the Treasury im-
posed sanctions on You Quan, the head of the 
United Front Work Department of the Central Com-
mittee of the Chinese Communist Party, placing him 
on the list of specially designated nationals and 
blocked persons maintained by the Office of Foreign 
Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury 
for his role in the crackdown on pro-democracy pro-
testers in Hong Kong. 
SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOR-
EIGN PERSONS THAT KNOWINGLY SPREAD 
MALIGN DISINFORMATION AS PART OF OR 
ON BEHALF OF A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OR 
POLITICAL PARTY FOR PURPOSES OF POLIT-
ICAL WARFARE. 
(a) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—The President shall 
impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with re-
spect to any foreign person that the President determines 
knowingly commits a significant act of malign disinforma-
tion on behalf of the government of a foreign country or 
foreign political party that has the direct purpose or effect 
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of influencing political, diplomatic, or educational activi-
ties in the United States for the purpose of harming— 
(1) the national security or defense of the 
United States; or 
(2) the safety and security of any United States 
citizen or alien lawfully admitted for permanent resi-
dence. 
(b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions described in 
this subsection with respect to a foreign person de-
termined by the President to be subject to sub-
section (a) are the following: 
(A) ASSET
BLOCKING.—The President 
shall exercise of all powers granted to the Presi-
dent by the International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the ex-
tent necessary to block and prohibit all trans-
actions in property and interests in property of 
the foreign person if such property and inter-
ests in property are in the United States, come 
within the United States, or are or come within 
the possession or control of a United States 
person. 
(B) INADMISSIBILITY
OF
CERTAIN
INDI-
VIDUALS.— 
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(i) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMIS-
SION, OR PAROLE.—In the case of a for-
eign person who is an individual, the for-
eign person is— 
(I) inadmissible to the United 
States; 
(II) ineligible to receive a visa or 
other documentation to enter the 
United States; and 
(III) otherwise ineligible to be 
admitted or paroled into the United 
States or to receive any other benefit 
under the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 
(ii) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 
(I) IN GENERAL.—In the case of 
a foreign person who is an individual, 
the visa or other documentation 
issued to the person shall be revoked, 
regardless of when such visa or other 
documentation is or was issued. 
(II) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.— 
A revocation under subclause (I) 
shall— 
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