Title: Hong Kong Be Water Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Hong Kong Be Water Act
This bill directs the President to impose sanctions on, and freeze assets belonging to, individuals and entities responsible for suppression of freedoms in Hong Kong.
The President shall impose property- and visa-blocking sanctions on any foreign person who is an official of Hong Kong's government or China's government and who knowingly suppressed the freedom of speech, association, procession, or demonstration in Hong Kong. These sanctions shall also apply to foreign individuals or entities acting on behalf of or cooperating with such a government official.
The President shall also block property transactions involving a Chinese national, an entity owned or controlled by China's government, or an officer or senior official of such an entity, if that individual or entity has attempted to undermine the autonomy, basic liberties, and human rights of the people of Hong Kong.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2758 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2758

      To impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
Accountability Act to combat the suppression of the freedoms of speech, 
 association, assembly, procession, and demonstration of the people of 
                   Hong Kong, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 31, 2019

    Mr. Hawley (for himself, Mr. Scott of Florida, and Mr. Cornyn) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
            Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
Accountability Act to combat the suppression of the freedoms of speech, 
 association, assembly, procession, and demonstration of the people of 
                   Hong Kong, 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 ``Hong Kong Be Water Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
                Committee on Armed Services, the Select Committee on 
                Intelligence, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
                Urban Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 
                on Armed Services, the Permanent Select Committee on 
                Intelligence, the Committee on Financial Services, the 
                Committee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on 
                Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Basic law.--The term ``Basic Law'' means the Basic Law 
        of Hong Kong.
            (3) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means an 
        individual or entity that is not a United States person.
            (4) Hong kong.--The term ``Hong Kong'' means the Hong Kong 
        Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of 
        China.
            (5) Joint declaration.--The term ``Joint Declaration'' 
        means the Joint Declaration of the Government of the United 
        Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of 
        Hong Kong, done at Beijing December 19, 1984.
            (6) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'', with respect to 
        conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has 
        actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the 
        circumstance, or the result.
            (7) National.--The term ``national'' has the meaning given 
        that term in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 
        Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)).
            (8) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' means--
                    (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence to the United States; 
                or
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
                States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) In February 2019, the Government of Hong Kong proposed 
        the ``Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in 
        Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019'' (in this 
        section referred to as the ``extradition bill'').
            (2) The extradition bill would have allowed for the 
        extradition of individuals from Hong Kong to the mainland of 
        the People's Republic of China for the first time and offered 
        minimal if any legal recourse to those individuals identified 
        for extradition.
            (3) The extradition bill was but the latest example of the 
        steady encroachment of the Government of the People's Republic 
        of China on the freedoms guaranteed to the people of Hong Kong 
        under the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.
            (4) Millions of the people of Hong Kong have taken to the 
        streets in peaceful protests since the introduction of the 
        extradition bill in order to defend Hong Kong's democracy 
        against predations by the Government of the People's Republic 
        of China, as enabled by Government of Hong Kong.
            (5) The Government of Hong Kong has responded to those 
        peaceful protests with force and brutality, including by 
        authorizing the use by the police of tear gas, water cannons, 
        rubber bullets, and beatings, resulting in the arrests and 
        injuries of thousands of people.
            (6) On October 1, 2019, the Hong Kong police fired live 
        ammunition at a teenage protestor, marking a dangerous 
        escalation in the Hong Kong police force's use of force against 
        protestors.
            (7) The Government of Hong Kong has invoked the Emergency 
        Regulations Ordinance in order to expand the powers available 
        to Hong Kong's police as they suppress protesters.
            (8) The Government of Hong Kong has coopted or coerced 
        local companies like MTR Corporation Limited and Cathay Pacific 
        Airways Limited into facilitating the suppression of protests 
        by denying protestors' access to reliable train services and 
        terminating staff who support the pro-democracy movement.
            (9) The Government of Hong Kong continues to defy peaceful 
        protestors' rightful demands for the resignation of Chief 
        Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam, an impartial inquiry into 
        police brutality, and greater democratic freedoms, as 
        guaranteed to the people of Hong Kong by the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China.
            (10) The unwillingness of the Government of Hong Kong to 
        meet protestors' demands is a direct product of its role, not 
        as a representative or protector of the people of Hong Kong, 
        but rather as a proxy for the regime of the Communist Party of 
        China in Beijing, which has demonstrated its intent to impose 
        its will on Hong Kong, including through paramilitary or 
        military force.
            (11) The approach of that regime to Hong Kong is not 
        fundamentally dissimilar from the approach the regime has taken 
        elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, including by 
        using economic threats to compel Air Canada, Air France, Apple, 
        Audi, Blizzard Entertainment, British Airways, Calvin Klein, 
        Christian Dior, Coach, Dolce & Gabbana, Google, Malaysia 
        Airlines, Marriott Hotels, the National Basketball Association, 
        Qantas Airlines, Swarovski, Tiffany & Co., and Versace into 
        remaining silent in response to its treatment of protestors in 
        Hong Kong.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Government of the People's Republic of China has 
        willfully violated the terms of the Joint Declaration and the 
        Basic Law;
            (2) the steady encroachment of the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China on the freedoms and democracy of the 
        people of Hong Kong reflects the fundamentally totalitarian 
        nature of the regime of the Communist Party of China; and
            (3) the totalitarian ambitions of the Communist Party of 
        China do not end in the territory of the mainland of the 
        People's Republic of China, but rather extend to the remainder 
        of the Indo-Pacific region, as part of a broader hegemonic 
        vision that would see the Government of the People's Republic 
        of China exert domineering influence over the interests and 
        behavior of other countries in that region.

SEC. 5. GLOBAL MAGNITSKY SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN GOVERNMENT 
              OFFICIALS THAT ENGAGE IN SUPPRESSION OF FREEDOMS OF 
              SPEECH, ASSOCIATION, ASSEMBLY, PROCESSION, AND 
              DEMONSTRATION OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and as appropriate thereafter, the President 
shall impose the sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to 
each foreign person described in subsection (b) if the President has 
credible information that the foreign person has knowingly suppressed 
or facilitated the suppression of the freedoms of speech, association, 
assembly, procession, or demonstration of the people of Hong Kong, as 
guaranteed under Article 27 of the Basic Law.
    (b) Foreign Persons Described.--A foreign person described in this 
subsection is a foreign person who is--
            (1) a current or former official of the Government of Hong 
        Kong;
            (2) a current or former official of the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China; or
            (3) acting on behalf of, or in cooperation with, an 
        official of either such Government.
    (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection are the sanctions described in section 1263(b) of the Global 
Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of 
Public Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note).
    (d) Report on Implementation.--Not later than 15 days after 
imposing sanctions under subsection (a), the President shall submit to 
the appropriate congressional committees a report regarding measures 
taken to implement this section.
    (e) Termination.--This section shall terminate on the date on which 
the President determines and certifies to the appropriate congressional 
committees that the Government of Hong Kong is no longer suppressing, 
or complicit in the suppression of, the freedoms of speech, 
association, assembly, procession, and demonstration of the people of 
Hong Kong.

SEC. 6. FREEZING OF ASSETS OF CHINESE NATIONALS AND STATE-OWNED 
              ENTERPRISES UNDERMINING THE AUTONOMY, BASIC LIBERTIES, 
              AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and as appropriate thereafter, the President 
shall exercise all powers granted by the International Emergency 
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to 
block or prohibit all transactions in property and interests in 
property of each foreign person described in subsection (b) that the 
President determines has attempted to undermine the autonomy, basic 
liberties, and human rights of the people of Hong Kong, 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.
    (b) Foreign Persons Described.--A foreign person described in this 
subsection is--
            (1) a national of the People's Republic of China;
            (2) an entity owned or controlled by the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China; or
            (3) an individual who is a member of the board of 
        directors, an executive officer, or a senior official of an 
        entity described in paragraph (2).
    (c) Inapplicability of National Emergency Requirement.--The 
requirements of section 202 of the International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply for purposes of this 
section.

SEC. 7. EXCEPTIONS; WAIVERS.

    (a) Exception for Humanitarian Assistance.--The requirement to 
impose sanctions under sections 5 and 6 shall not apply with respect to 
activities to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Hong 
Kong.
    (b) Exception for Intelligence Activities.--The requirement to 
impose sanctions under sections 5 and 6 shall not apply with respect to 
activities subject to the reporting requirements under title V of the 
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.), or any 
authorized intelligence activities of the United States.
    (c) Exception Relating to Importation of Goods.--
            (1) In general.--The authorities and requirements to impose 
        sanctions authorized under this Act shall not include the 
        authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the importation 
        of goods.
            (2) Good defined.--In this subsection, the term ``good'' 
        means any article, natural or manmade substance, material, 
        supply or manufactured product, including inspection and test 
        equipment, and excluding technical data.
    (d) Waiver.--The President may waive the imposition of sanctions 
under section 5 or 6 with respect to a foreign person if the President 
determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees that 
the waiver is--
            (1) in the national security interests of the United 
        States; or
            (2) necessary to prevent undue economic harm to the people 
        of Hong Kong.

SEC. 8. IMPLEMENTATION; REGULATIONS; PENALTIES.

    (a) Implementation.--The President may exercise all authorities 
provided to the President under sections 203 and 205 of the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) 
to carry out this Act.
    (b) Regulatory Authority.--The President shall issue such 
regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this 
section.
    (c) Penalties.--A person that violates, attempts to violate, 
conspires to violate, or causes a violation of section 5 or 6 or any 
regulation, license, or order issued to carry out either such section 
shall be subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) 
of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that commits an unlawful 
act described in subsection (a) of that section.
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