[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2829 Introduced in House (IH)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 2829

    To prohibit funding by United States Government agencies of the 
    participation of certain officials of the Chinese Government in 
 international conferences, programs, and activities until the Chinese 
   Government releases certain individuals imprisoned or detained on 
                           religious grounds.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 22, 1995

 Mr. Gilman (for himself, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Solomon, Mr. 
Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Royce, 
  Mr. Porter, and Mr. Wolf) introduced the following bill; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To prohibit funding by United States Government agencies of the 
    participation of certain officials of the Chinese Government in 
 international conferences, programs, and activities until the Chinese 
   Government releases certain individuals imprisoned or detained on 
                           religious grounds.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) It has been reported that at an internal Central 
        Communist Party meeting in 1994, Chinese President Jiang Zemin 
        asserted that religion is one of the biggest threats to 
        Communist Party rule in China.
            (2) On January 31, 1994, Premier Li Ping signed decrees 
        number 144 and 145 which restrict worship, religious education, 
        distribution of bibles and other religious literature, and 
        contact with foreign coreligionists.
            (3) The Chinese Government has created organizations that 
        have as their purpose controlling all religious worship, 
        activity, and association in China and supplanting the Roman 
        Catholic Church, independent Protestant churches and 
        independent Buddhist, Taoist, and Islamic associations.
            (4) In July 1995 Ye Xiaowen, a reputed atheist and rigid 
        communist, was appointed to head the Bureau of Religious 
        Affairs, an agency controlled by the United Front Work 
        Department of the Chinese Government, that has administrative 
        control over all religious worship and activity in China 
        through an official system of registering or denying rights and 
        privileges to religious congregations and leaders.
            (5) In the past year, the Chinese Government has expressed 
        great concern over the spread of Christianity and particularly 
        over the rapid growth of Christian religious institutions other 
        than those controlled by the government, including the Roman 
        Catholic Church and the evangelical Christian ``house 
        churches''.
            (6) Soon after the establishment of the People's Republic 
        of China in 1949, the Chinese Government imprisoned Christians 
        who refused to relinquish their faith to become servants of 
        Communism, charging them as ``counter-revolutionaries'' and 
        sentencing them to 20 years or more in labor camps.
            (7) Hundreds of Chinese Protestants and Catholics are among 
        those now imprisoned at ``reeducation through labor'' camps 
        because of their religious beliefs.
            (8) The reeducation camps are run by the Ministry of Public 
        Security and the Ministry of Justice of the Chinese Government.
            (9) The Chinese Communist Government refuses to permit the 
        appointment by the Vatican of Catholic Bishops and ordination 
        of priests for China and insists on appointing its own 
        ``Catholic bishops''.
            (10) The Tenth Panchen Lama died in January 1989 at Tashi 
        Lhunpo Monastery, his traditional spiritual seat in Shigatze, 
        Tibet's second largest city.
            (11) The Dalai Lama has the right to recognize the 
        successor to the Panchen Lama, and has always done so.
            (12) On May 14, 1995, His Holiness the Dalai Lama announced 
        recognition of a 6-year-old boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the 
        Eleventh Panchen Lama, according to Tibetan tradition.
            (13) The young boy recognized by the Dalai Lama and his 
        family have been brought to Beijing by Chinese authorities and 
        have not been seen in several months.
            (14) Chatrel Rimpoche, abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery and 
        head of the original search committee for the Eleventh Panchen 
        Lama, and his assistant, Champa Chung, are believed to have 
        been seized and detained by Chinese authorities in May of 1995.
            (15) Chinese Government authorities subsequently detained 
        other Tibetan Buddhists in connection with selection of the 
        Eleventh Panchen Lama, including Gyatrol Rimpoche, Shepa 
        Kelsang, Lhakpa Tsering, and Ringkar Ngawang.
            (16) The Chinese Government convened a conference in 
        Beijing of Tibetan Lamas who were forcibly brought to Beijing 
        in order to select a rival candidate to the child selected by 
the Dalai Lama as the Eleventh Panchen Lama.
            (17) On November 29, 1995, Luo Gan, Secretary General of 
        the State Council, and Ye Xiaowen, Director of the Bureau of 
        Religious Affairs, orchestrated an elaborate ceremony 
        designating a 6-year-old boy selected by the Chinese Government 
        as the Eleventh Panchen Lama.
            (18) On December 8, 1995, State Councilor Li Tieying 
        presided over a ceremony in Shigatze, Tibet, in which the boy 
        selected by the Chinese Government as the Eleventh Panchen Lama 
        was enthroned.
            (19) By seeking to impose its own candidate as the Eleventh 
        Panchen Lama and detaining the 6-year-old boy recognized for 
        that position in accordance with Tibetan tradition, the Chinese 
        Government is inserting itself into a purely Tibetan religious 
        matter, in blatant violation of the fundamental human rights of 
        the Tibetan people.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    The Department of State should make the release of individuals 
imprisoned or detained on religious grounds a major objective of United 
States foreign policy with respect to China, and should raise this 
issue in every relevant bilateral and multilateral forum.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING BY AGENCIES OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE 
              PARTICIPATION OF CERTAIN CHINESE OFFICIALS IN 
              INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.

    (a) Restriction.--No funds available to the Department of State, 
the United States Information Agency, the Agency for International 
Development, or any other agency or entity of the United States 
Government may be obligated or expended for the participation of any of 
the following individuals in any conference, exchange program, or 
activity relating to education, culture, training, or any other 
purpose, until the President submits the certification described in 
subsection (b):
            (1) The head of any of the following Chinese Government-
        created and approved organizations:
                    (A) The Chinese Buddhist Association.
                    (B) The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
                    (C) The Chinese Catholic Religious Affairs 
                Committee.
                    (D) The Chinese Catholic Bishops' Conference.
                    (E) The Chinese Protestant ``Three-Self'' Patriotic 
                Movement.
                    (F) The China Christian Council.
                    (G) The Chinese Taoist Association.
                    (H) The Chinese Islamic Association.
            (2) Any official or employee of the United Front Work 
        Department of the Chinese Government.
            (3) Luo Gan, the Secretary General of the State Council, Li 
        Tieying, State Councilor, and any other official or employee of 
        the State Council.
            (4) Ye Xiaowen, Director of Bureau of Religious Affairs, 
        and any other official or employee of the Bureau of Religious 
        Affairs of the Chinese Government.
            (5) Any military or civilian official or employee of the 
        Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of Justice of the 
        Chinese Government.
    (b) Certification.--The certification referred to in subsection (a) 
is a certification by the President to the Congress that the following 
individuals have been released, unconditionally, by the Chinese 
Government:
            (1) Pei Zhongxun (whose Korean name is Chun Chul).
            (2) Dai Guillang.
            (3) Dai Lanmei.
            (4) Geng Minuan.
            (5) Wang Xincai.
            (6) Li Tianen.
            (7) Guo Mengshan.
            (8) Jiang Huaifeng.
            (9) Xu Funian.
            (10) Wang Yao Hua.
            (11) Chen Zhuman.
            (12) Bishop Zeng Jingmu.
            (13) Father Li Jian Jin.
            (14) Father Vincent Qin Guoliang.
            (15) Pan Kunming.
            (16) Rao Yangping.
            (17) Yu Qixing.
            (18) Yu Shuishen.
            (19) Li Qingming.
            (20) Zhang Zhiqiang.
            (21) Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family.
            (22) Chatrel Rimpoche.
            (23) Champa Chung.
            (24) Gyatrol Rimpoche.
            (25) Shepa Kelsang.
            (26) Lhakpa Tsering.
            (27) Ringkar Ngawang.
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