Tibet Independence Act
Bill: H.R.4281 | Sponsor: Rep. Perry, Scott (R-PA)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Tibet Independence Act
This bill addresses and imposes sanctions relating to Tibet.
The bill states that it is U.S. policy to affirm that China's territorial claims over Tibet are invalid and without merit. It also authorizes the President to recognize Tibet as a separate and independent country.
The President must impose property- and visa-blocking sanctions on foreign persons that are knowingly responsible for or complicit in supporting the Chinese Communist Party's occupation of Tibet.

To impose sanctions on persons who are knowingly responsible for or 
complicit in, or have directly or indirectly engaged in, supporting the 
          illegal occupation of Tibet, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tibet Independence Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Congress listed Tibet as a separate country from the 
        People's Republic of China in the Export-Import Bank Act 
        Amendments of 1986.
            (2) The Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 
        1992 and 1993 declares that Congress views Tibet as an 
        ``occupied country'', and that China's control of Tibet remains 
        illegal under international law.
            (3) The Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 
        1992 and 1993 further establishes that ``it is the policy of 
        the United States to oppose aggression and other illegal uses 
        of force by one country against the sovereignty of another as a 
        manner of acquiring territory, and to condemn violations of 
        international law, including the illegal occupation of one 
        country by another''.
            (4) The Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 
        1994 and 1995 conveyed the Sense of Congress that ``the United 
        States should seek to establish a dialogue with those 
        recognized by Congress as the true representatives of the 
        Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama, his representatives and the 
        Tibetan Government in Exile''.
            (5) On November 18, 2020, the United States House of 
        Representatives approved without objection H. Res. 697, which 
        ``affirms the cultural and religious significance of the goal 
        of genuine autonomy for the people of Tibet and the deep bond 
        between the American and Tibetan people''.
            (6) In 1951, the People's Republic of China coerced Tibetan 
        representatives to sign, under duress, an unlawful settlement 
        known as the Seventeen Point Agreement. This agreement states 
        that ``the Tibetan people have the right to exercise national 
        regional autonomy under the unified leadership of the Central 
        People's Government'' and additionally, that ``the central 
        authorities will not alter the existing political system in 
        Tibet''.
            (7) The establishment of the independent state of Tibet 
        predates the 1951 Seventeen Point Agreement by many hundreds of 
        years.
            (8) In rejecting the seven-decade long illegal occupation 
        of Tibet by the forces of the Chinese Communist Party, the 
        United States of America would provide relief to a long-
        suffering people and reinforce its reputation as a strident 
        defender of global human rights.
            (9) It would benefit the national security of the United 
        States to recognize Tibet, which comprises the original three 
        Tibetan provinces of Amdo, Kham, and U-Tsang, as a separate, 
        independent country.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY; AUTHORIZATION; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) It is the policy of the United States to--
            (1) acknowledge that Tibet was an independent country prior 
        to the People's Republic of China's illegal occupation of 
        Tibet's sovereign territory in 1951;
            (2) affirm that all territorial claims by the People's 
        Republic of China over the area known as Tibet, which comprises 
        the original three Tibetan provinces of Amdo, Kham, and U-
        Tsang, are invalid and without merit; and
            (3) recognize that the democratically elected government of 
        Tibet, presently named as the Central Tibetan Administration, 
        is the only governing authority of Tibet.
    (b) Authorization.--The President is authorized to recognize Tibet, 
which comprises the original Tibetan provinces of Amdo, Kham, and U-
Tsang, as a separate, independent country, in accordance with 
subsection (a), immediately upon enactment of this Act.
    (c) Sense of Congress.--The President of the United States should 
invite the incumbent Sikyong (President) of Tibet to the United States 
for an official state visit no later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE CONTINUED ILLEGAL 
              OCCUPATION OF TIBET.

    (a) Imposition of Sanctions.--The President shall impose the 
sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to each foreign 
person included in the most recent list submitted pursuant to 
subsection (b).
    (b) List of Persons.--
            (1) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, the President shall submit to the appropriate 
        congressional committees a list of foreign persons, including 
        senior government officials, military leaders, and other 
        persons, who the President determines are knowingly responsible 
        for or complicit in, or have directly or indirectly engaged in, 
        supporting the Chinese Communist Party's illegal occupation of 
        Tibet.
            (2) Updates of lists.--The President shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees an updated list under 
        paragraph (1)--
                    (A) not later than 180 days after the date of the 
                enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for 5 
                years; or
                    (B) as new information becomes available.
            (3) Form.--The list required by paragraph (1) shall be 
        submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
        annex.
    (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection are the following:
            (1) Blocking of property.--The President shall exercise all 
        of the powers granted to the President by the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (except 
        that the requirements of section 202 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 
        1701) shall not apply) to the extent necessary to block and 
        prohibit all transactions in property and interests in property 
        of the person if such property and interests 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.
            (2) Inadmissibility of certain individuals.--
                    (A) Ineligibility for visas, admission, or 
                parole.--A foreign person included in the most recent 
                list submitted pursuant to subsection (b) 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 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
                    (B) Current visas revoked.--A foreign person 
                described in subparagraph (A) is also subject to the 
                following:
                            (i) Revocation of any visa or other entry 
                        documentation regardless of when the visa or 
                        other entry documentation is or was issued.
                            (ii) A revocation under clause (i) shall 
                        take effect immediately and automatically 
                        cancel any other valid visa or entry 
                        documentation that is in the foreign person's 
                        possession.
            (3) Exception.--Sanctions under paragraph (2) shall not 
        apply to an alien if admitting or paroling the alien into the 
        United States 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, between the United 
        Nations and the United States, or other applicable 
        international obligations of the United States.
    (d) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in subsections (b) and 
(c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person who violates, attempts to 
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of regulations 
promulgated to carry out subsection (a) to the same extent that such 
penalties apply to a person who commits an unlawful act described in 
section 206(a) of that Act.
    (e) Exception To Comply With National Security.--The following 
activities shall be exempt from sanctions under this section:
            (1) Activities subject to the reporting requirements under 
        title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et 
        seq.).
            (2) Any authorized intelligence or law enforcement 
        activities of the United States.
    (f) Waiver.--
            (1) In general.--The President may waive, for one or more 
        periods not to exceed 90 days, the application of sanctions 
        imposed on a foreign person under this section if the 
        President--
                    (A) determines that such a waiver is in the 
                national interest of the United States; and
                    (B) not later than the date on which such waiver 
                will take effect, submits to the appropriate 
                congressional committees a notice of and justification 
                for such waiver.

SEC. 5. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
        Financial Services of the House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
        Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
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