To hold accountable senior officials of the Government of the People's Republic of China who are responsible for or have directly carried out, at any time, persecution of Christians or other religious minorities in China, and for other purposes.
Bill: H.R.4821 | Sponsor: Rep. Hartzler, Vicky (R-MO)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Combating the Persecution of Religious Groups in China Act
This bill expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should promote religious freedom in China and makes statements of policy related to such freedom. In particular, the bill states that it is U.S. policy to consider senior Chinese government officials who are responsible for the persecution of Christians or other religious minorities in China to have committed (1) a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights for the purpose of imposing certain sanctions, and (2) a particularly severe violation of religious freedom for the purpose of determining whether such an individual is admissible into the United States.

To hold accountable senior officials of the Government of the People's 
Republic of China who are responsible for or have directly carried out, 
at any time, persecution of Christians or other religious minorities in 
                     China, 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 ``Combating the Persecution of 
Religious Groups in China Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) According to the Department of State's International 
        Religious Freedom (IRF) report estimates, Buddhists comprise 
        18.2 percent of the country's total population, Christians, 5.1 
        percent, Muslims, 1.8 percent, followers of folk religions, 
        21.9 percent, and atheists or unaffiliated persons, 52.2 
        percent, with Hindus, Jews, and Taoists comprising less than 
        one percent.
            (2) The Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) 
        recognizes five official religions, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, 
        Protestantism, and Catholicism (according to the State 
        Department's IRF report) and only religious groups belonging to 
        one of the five sanctioned ``patriotic religious associations'' 
        representing these religions are permitted to register with the 
        government and hold worship service, excluding all other faiths 
        and denying the ability to worship without being registered 
        with the government.
            (3) The activities of state-sanctioned religious 
        organizations are regulated by the Chinese Communist Party, 
        which manages all aspects of religious life.
            (4) The Chinese Communist Party is actively seeking to 
        control, govern, and manipulate all aspects of faith through 
        the ``Sinicization of Religion'', a process intended to shape 
        religious traditions and doctrines so they conform with the 
        objectives of the Chinese Communist Party.
            (5) On February 1, 2018, the PRC Government implemented new 
        religious regulations that imposed restrictions on Chinese 
        contacts with overseas religious organizations, required 
        government approval for religious schools, websites, and any 
        online religious service, and effectively banned unauthorized 
        religious gatherings and teachings.
            (6) There are numerous reports that authorities forced 
        closures of Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, and Taoist houses of 
        worship and destroyed public displays of religious symbols 
        throughout the country.
            (7) Authorities arrested and detained religious leaders 
        trying to hold services online.
            (8) There are credible reports of Chinese authorities 
        raiding house churches and other places of religious worship, 
        removing and confiscating religious paraphernalia, installing 
        surveillance cameras on religious property, pressuring 
        congregations to sing songs of the Chinese Communist Party and 
        display the national flag during worship, forcing churches to 
        replace images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary with pictures 
        of General Secretary Xi Jinping, and banning children and 
        students from attending religious services.
            (9) It has been reported that the PRC is rewriting and will 
        issue a version of the Bible with the ``correct understanding'' 
        of the text according to the Chinese Communist Party. 
        Authorities continued to restrict the printing and distribution 
        of the Bible, Quran, and other religious literature, and 
        penalized publishing and copying businesses that handled 
        religious materials.
            (10) According to the Department of State's IRF reports, 
        the PRC Government has imprisoned thousands of individuals of 
        all faiths for practicing their religious beliefs and often 
        labels them as ``cults''.
            (11) The Political Prisoner Database maintained by the 
        human rights NGO Dui Hua Foundation counted 3,492 individuals 
        imprisoned for ``organizing or using a `cult' to undermine 
        implementation of the law.'' Prisoners include--
                    (A) the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedun Choekyi Nyima, who 
                has been held captive along with his parents since May 
                17, 1995;
                    (B) Pastor Zhang Shaojie, a Three-Self church 
                pastor from Nanle County in central Henan was sentenced 
                in July 2014 to 12 years in prison for ``gathering a 
                crowd to disrupt the public order'';
                    (C) Pastor John Cao, a United States permanent 
                resident from Greensboro, North Carolina, who was 
                sentenced for 7 years in prison in March 2018 under 
                contrived charges of organizing illegal border 
                crossings; and
                    (D) Pastor Wang Yi of the Early Rain Covenant 
                Church who was arrested and sentenced to 9 years in 
                prison for ``inciting to subvert state power'' and 
                ``illegal business operations''.
            (12) Authorities continue to detain Falun Gong 
        practitioners and subject them to harsh and inhumane treatment.
            (13) Since 1999, the Department of State has designated the 
        PRC as a country of particular concern under the International 
        Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
            (14) The National Security Strategy of the United States, 
        issued in 2017, 2015, 2006, 2002, 1999, 1998, and 1997, 
        committed the United States to promoting international 
        religious freedom to advance the security, economic, and other 
        national interests of the United States.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    (a) Holding PRC Officials Responsible for Religious Freedom Abuses 
Targeting Chinese Christians or Other Religious Minorities.--It is the 
policy of the United States to consider senior officials of the 
Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) who are responsible 
for or have directly carried out, at any time, persecution of 
Christians or other religious minorities in the PRC to have committed--
            (1) a gross violation of internationally recognized human 
        rights for purposes of imposing sanctions with respect to such 
        officials under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
        Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note); and
            (2) a particularly severe violation of religious freedom 
        for purposes of applying section 212(a)(2)(G) of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(G)) with 
        respect to such officials.
    (b) Department of State Programming to Promote Religious Freedom in 
the People's Republic of China.--The Ambassador-at-Large for 
International Religious Freedom should support efforts to protect and 
promote international religious freedom in the PRC and for programs to 
protect Christians and other religious minorities in the PRC.
    (c) Designation of the People's Republic of China as a Country of 
Particular Concern.--It is the policy of the United States to continue 
to designate the PRC as a ``country of particular concern'', as long as 
the PRC continues to engage in systematic and egregious religious 
freedom violations, as defined by the International Religious Freedom 
Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-292).

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the United States should promote 
religious freedom in the PRC by--
            (1) strengthening religious freedom diplomacy on behalf of 
        Christians and other religious minorities facing restrictions 
        in the PRC;
            (2) raising cases relating to religious or political 
        prisoners at the highest levels with PRC officials because 
        experience demonstrates that consistently raising prisoner 
        cases can result in improved treatment, reduced sentences, or 
        in some cases, release from custody, detention, or 
        imprisonment;
            (3) encouraging Members of Congress to ``adopt'' a prisoner 
        of conscience in the PRC through the Tom Lantos Human Rights 
        Commission's ``Defending Freedom Project'', raise the case with 
        PRC officials, and work publicly for their release;
            (4) calling on the PRC Government to unconditionally 
        release religious and political prisoners or, at the very 
        least, ensure that detainees are treated humanely with access 
        to family, the lawyer of their choice, independent medical 
        care, and the ability to practice their faith while in 
        detention;
            (5) encouraging the global faith community to speak in 
        solidarity with the persecuted religious groups in the PRC; and
            (6) hosting, once every two years, the Ministerial to 
        Advance Religious Freedom organized by the Department of State 
        in order to bring together leaders from around the world to 
        discuss the challenges facing religious freedom, identify means 
        to address religious persecution and discrimination worldwide, 
        and promote great respect for and preservation of religious 
        liberty.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ACTIONS AT UNITED NATIONS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the United Nations Human Rights 
Council should issue a formal condemnation of the People's Republic of 
China for the ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other religious and 
ethnic minority groups, as well as for its persecution of Christians, 
Falun Gong, and other religious groups.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 29, 2022.

            Attest:

                                             CHERYL L. JOHNSON,

                                                                 Clerk.