Southern Mongolian Human Rights Policy Act

Bill: 119-s-288
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]
Introduced: 2025-01-29
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2025-01-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 288 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES January 29, 2025 Mr. Merkley (for himself and Mr. Sullivan ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To support and promote the human rights of Southern Mongolians in the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Policy Act . 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) According to the China Statistical Yearbook for 2021, more than 6,000,000 ethnic Mongolians live in the People’s Republic of China, of which some two-thirds live in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and many others in three prefectures and eight counties designated as autonomous for Mongolians by the Government of the People’s Republic of China. (2) Over the centuries, successive central Chinese governments have promoted the migration of Chinese people into the area currently administered as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and today only about 18 percent of the population of the Region is counted as ethnically Mongolian. (3) In 2020, officials in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region announced a new policy to effectively replace Mongolian as the principal language of instruction with Chinese, in the subjects of history, politics, and literature, and shut down Bainu, the only Mongolian-language-based social media website based in the country. Beginning in September 2023, schools across the region largely removed Mongolian-language instruction from elementary and secondary schools throughout the region. Reports indicate that high school and college entrance exams will be conducted in Chinese exclusively starting in 2025 and 2028, respectively. The People’s Republic of China authorities have banned Mongolian language books from bookstores and removed signs in the unique, vertically-written Mongolian script from schools, buildings, streets, and parks. (4) The People’s Republic of China officials launched patriotic education campaigns at schools and universities throughout the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, designed to suppress manifestations of Mongolian identity in favor of the common Chinese national identity” and encourage all ethnic groups to accept the great mother country, Chinese nationality, Chinese culture, [and the] Chinese Communist Party. In response to the new education policy, tens of thousands of Southern Mongolians in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region launched protests, in which some 300,000 Southern Mongolian students boycotted school and teachers went on strike, and some individuals reportedly committed suicide in protest. Security authorities responded harshly by arresting, beating, detaining, jailing, and placing under home confinement some estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Southern Mongolians. (5) Chinese authorities now fully control all activities of the Chinggis Khan Mausoleum in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, including the schedule, scale, and ticketing of ritual ceremonies and approval and monitoring of gatherings, denying Southern Mongolians the ability to carry out traditional rituals and observances free of government interference and profiteering. This has broken an eight-century-long memorial tradition at the site, which has served as an historical and cultural representation of the Mongolian identity. (6) The People’s Republic of China policies have undermined the religious heritage of Southern Mongolians, many of whom follow Tibetan Buddhism, including through the destruction of monasteries and temples during the Cultural Revolution, and interference in the ability to choose their own religious leaders. Restrictions on travel and freedom of religion or belief inhibit the ability of Southern Mongolians to affiliate, engage, and communicate with Mongol communities around the world, especially those with cultural, linguistic and religious links to people in the country of Mongolia and the Buryatia, Kamykia, and Tuvan regions of the Russian Federation, resulting in a diminution of their common cultural heritage. (7) The People’s Republic of China policies have effectively ended the traditional Southern Mongolian economic livelihood of pastoralism, a key marker of Mongol identity, by forcibly resettling more than 246,000 nomadic households to urban and agricultural areas where Mandarin language and Chinese cultural elements dominate. These policies have cut off Southern Mongolians from their ancestral lands and increased their economic dependence on the state, eroding their social cohesion. This has led to severe social and psychological impacts, including mental illness and economic deprivation. (8) The environment of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has degraded under the People’s Republic of China policies that have removed nomads, ending traditional stewardship of grazing lands, and exploited natural resources through mining and heavy industry without sufficient stakeholder input from local inhabitants, resulting in air and water pollution and severe health problems among local Southern Mongolians. Bayan Obo, the largest rare earth mine in the world, is the source of toxic waste, including radioactive thorium that has been seeping into groundwater. (9) Southern Mongolian dissidents, activists, writers, bloggers, lawyers, and their family members who have attempted to exercise their freedom of expression and defend their legal rights have been detained, arrested, imprisoned, and placed under home confinement by the People’s Republic of China authorities. Activist Yanjindulam remains under home confinement after being released from prison, artist Ashidaa is still under home confinement, lawyer Huhbulag has been detained multiple times, and dissident Almaz has been frequently harassed and detained by the authorities. (10) Authorities detained rights activist Hada, who promoted self-determination and democracy for Southern Mongolians, in 1995 and sentenced him to 15 years in 1996. He was held without legal basis for an additional four years following the expiration of his sentence. Hada was subsequently placed under home confinement until his disappearance in September 2020. In 2011, Hada’s wife Xinna, an outspoken critic of human rights violations in Southern Mongolia, was arrested before being sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years. Their son Uiles was sentenced at the age of 17 to two years in prison on the basis of multiple fabricated charges. The family’s welfare and whereabouts have been unknown since September 2020. (11) Chinese authorities have subjected Southern Mongolians to transnational repression. Since 2009, at least five Southern Mongolian dissidents in exile have been forcibly returned to China, including from Mongolia. On May 3, 2023, Chinese police officers detained Lhamjab Borjigin, a long-time dissident writer and historian, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and forcibly returned him to China on the same day. Lhamjab Borjigin had escaped from home confinement on March 6, 2023, after he was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for writing a book entitled China’s Cultural Revolution . (12) The Congressional-Executive Commission on China reported that [d]uring the Commission’s 2023 reporting year, Chinese Communist Party and government authorities implemented policies that limited the freedom of ethnic minority groups to express their cultural and religious identities in contravention of the PRC Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law and international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . (13) The Government of the People’s Republic of China's policies have undermined the ability of Southern Mongolians to exercise their rights under international law to safeguard and develop their own language, culture, religion or belief, and economic livelihoods, as part of a deliberate effort to erase their distinct Mongolian culture and Sinicize the Southern Mongolian people. 3. Statement of policy It is the policy of the United States— (1) to support and promote human rights of Southern Mongolians in the People’s Republic of China, including the fundamental freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and religion or belief, and rights related to arbitrary detention, discrimination, and other abuses; (2) to support the aspirations of the Southern Mongolian people to safeguard their cultural and linguistic heritage, including the ability to use and promote their own spoken and written language, and protect their traditional pastoralist way of life that they have maintained for thousands of years; and (3) to press the Government of the People’s Republic of China to allow the Southern Mongolian people the ability to enjoy autonomy promised them. 4. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) the United States supports the liberty and legitimate aspirations of the Southern Mongolian people to safeguard their cultural and linguistic heritage and practice their traditional way of life without threat of forced assimilation policies of the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party; (2) the President should— (A) condemn human rights abuses against Southern Mongolians by authorities of the People’s Republic of China; and (B) call on such authorities to allow Southern Mongolians the ability to exercise the autonomy guaranteed by the People’s Republic of China, including to conduct their affairs and receive education in their own spoken and written language; (3) the Secretary of State should— (A) work with United States allies and partners and through multilateral institutions to advocate for the human rights of Southern Mongolians; (B) urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to prioritize assessment of the human rights of Southern Mongolians in its reviews of the People’s Republic of China compliance with international human rights law, including through the Universal Periodic Review process, and to request travel by United Nations officials to assess conditions of Southern Mongolians in the People’s Republic of China; (C) promote the right of Southern Mongolians to protect their spoken and written language; (D) promote the freedom of religion or belief of Southern Mongolians; (E) work with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to identify and protect world heritage sites in areas of traditional Mongolian culture in the People’s Republic of China; and (F) coordinate closely with the international community on targeted sanctions and visa restrictions; (4) the United States companies and individuals operating in areas designated as autonomous for Mongolians in the People’s Republic of China should take steps to ensure that their commercial activities do not contribute to human rights violations, undermine the autonomous rights of Southern Mongolians, or contribute to the environmental degradation or resettlement of nomads in those areas; and (5) the United States Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China should expeditiously seek to meet with Hada and his family members, as well as other Southern Mongolian dissidents, activists, writers, and lawyers who are either in prison or under detention or home confinement. 5. Diplomatic and consular matters (a) Inner Mongolia section in United States embassy in Beijing, China (1) In general The Secretary of State should consider establishing an Inner Mongolian team within the United States Embassy in Beijing, China, to follow political, economic, and social developments in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and other areas designated by the People’s Republic of China as autonomous for Mongolians, with due consideration given to hiring Southern Mongolians as Locally Employed Staff. (2) Responsibilities Responsibilities of a team devoted to Inner Mongolia should include reporting on human rights issues and access to areas designated as autonomous for Mongolians by United States Government officials, journalists, nongovernmental organizations, and the Southern Mongolian diaspora. (3) Language requirements The Secretary of State should ensure that the Department of State has sufficient proficiency in Mongolian language in order to carry out paragraph (1), and that the United States Embassy in Beijing, China, has sufficient resources to hire Local Employed Staff proficient in the Mongolian language, as appropriate. (b) Report Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the staffing described in subsection (a). 6. Religious freedom (a) Human Rights Reports The Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom shall, consistent with the duties under sections 101(c) and 102(a) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 ( 22 U.S.C. 6411(c) , 6412(a)), assist the Secretary of State to assess the impact of the restrictions on Tibetan Buddhism by the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the religious freedom of— (1) practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism in the People’s Republic of China who are not Tibetan; and (2) practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism outside the People’s Republic of China, including their ability to travel to and share information with practitioners inside the People’s Republic of China. (b) Annual Report on International Religious Freedom The Secretary of State, with the assistance of the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, shall ensure that the report required under sections 101(c) and 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 ( 22 U.S.C. 6411(c) , 6412(b)) assesses, as appropriate, the impact of the restrictions on Tibetan Buddhism by the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the religious freedom of — (1) practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism in the People’s Republic of China who are not Tibetan; and (2) practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism outside the People’s Republic of China, including their ability to travel to and share information with practitioners inside the People’s Republic of China. 7. Identification of persons responsible for human rights abuses against Southern Mongolians in the People's Republic of China; imposition of sanctions (a) Report required (1) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that identifies each foreign person, including any official of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, that the President determines is responsible for any of the following with respect to Southern Mongolians in the People’s Republic of China: (A) Torture. (B) Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. (C) Prolonged or arbitrary detention without charges and trial. (D) Causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons. (E) Other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons. (F) Other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against Southern Mongolians. (2) Form The report required by paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. (b) Imposition of sanctions The President should impose sanctions pursuant to one or more of the following authorities with respect to each foreign person identified in the report required by subsection (a): (1) The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act ( 22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq. ). (2) Section 7031(c)(1)(A) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024 (division F of Public Law 118–47 ; 8 U.S.C. 1182 note). (3) Section 212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(G) ). (c) Sunset This section, and any sanctions imposed under this section, shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. (d) Definitions In this section: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives. (2) Foreign person The term foreign person means an individual or entity that is not a United States person. (3) 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; (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; or (C) any person in the United States. 8. Voice of America Broadcasts in the Mongolian Language (a) Establishment of service Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Agency for Global Media shall establish, through the Voice of America, a service to provide Voice of America Mongolian language programming to Mongolian language speakers in Mongolia, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation. (b) Report Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Agency for Global Media shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report detailing the implementation of this section, including a description of programming and broadcast hours. (c) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to the Voice of America for purposes of carrying out this section $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 and 2026. 9. Support for Southern Mongolian Culture (a) Repressed cultures preservation (1) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should fund activities to help preserve cultures endangered by the repressive policies of the People’s Republic of China, including those of Southern Mongolians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers, through the World Cultures Center and other programs designed to promote preservation efforts, as well as research, exhibitions, and education programming. (2) Report Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution shall submit to the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate and the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives a report on its plans to help preserve cultures endangered by the policies of the People’s Republic of China, including those of Southern Mongolians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers. (b) Assistance for cultural organizations, museums, and libraries (1) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the Director of the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences should establish a grant program, or make available grants through an existing program, to support efforts by diaspora communities in the United States to preserve their cultural heritage that is threatened by the repressive policies of the People’s Republic of China, including the efforts of Southern Mongolians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers. (2) Report Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Workforce of the House of Representatives a report on the feasibility of establishing a grant program, or to otherwise make available grants through an existing program, to support efforts by diaspora communities in the United States to preserve their cultural heritage that is threatened by the repressive policies of the People’s Republic of China, including those of Southern Mongolians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers, including efforts to engage with such diaspora communities. 10. Sustainable Livelihoods in Southern Mongolia (a) Declaration of policy It is the policy of the United States to support the right of Southern Mongolians to make decisions in accordance with principles of autonomy regarding their economic development, including the ability to maintain traditional livelihoods, such as pastoralism, as well as cultural preservation, environmental sustainability, and resource extraction, in areas designated as autonomous for Southern Mongolians in the People’s Republic of China. (b) International financial institutions The Secretary of the Treasury should instruct the United States executive director of each international financial institution to use the voice and vote of the United States to support financing of projects in areas designated as autonomous for Southern Mongolians in the People’s Republic of China if such projects do not provide incentives for the migration and settlement of non-Mongolians into Southern Mongolian areas or facilitate the transfer of ownership of Southern Mongolian land and natural resources to non-Mongolians, are based on a thorough needs-assessment, foster self-sufficiency of the Southern Mongolian people, respect Mongolian culture, traditions, and traditional livelihoods, and are subject to effective monitoring.