[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1872 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.1872

                     One Hundred Fifteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
           the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen


                                 An Act


 
   To promote access for United States diplomats and other officials, 
    journalists, and other citizens to Tibetan areas of the People's 
               Republic of 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 ``Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 
2018''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    Congress finds the following:
        (1) The Government of the People's Republic of China does not 
    grant United States diplomats and other officials, journalists, and 
    other citizens access to China on a basis that is reciprocal to the 
    access that the Government of the United States grants Chinese 
    diplomats and other officials, journalists, and citizens.
        (2) The Government of China imposes greater restrictions on 
    travel to Tibetan areas than to other areas of China.
        (3) Officials of China have stated that Tibet is open to 
    foreign visitors.
        (4) The Government of China is promoting tourism in Tibetan 
    areas, and at the Sixth Tibet Work Forum in August 2015, Premier Li 
    Keqiang called for Tibet to build ``major world tourism 
    destinations''.
        (5) The Government of China requires foreigners to obtain 
    permission from the Tibet Foreign and Overseas Affairs Office or 
    from the Tibet Tourism Bureau to enter the Tibet Autonomous Region, 
    a restriction that is not imposed on travel to any other 
    provincial-level jurisdiction in China.
        (6) The Department of State reports that--
            (A) officials of the Government of the United States 
        submitted 39 requests for diplomatic access to the Tibet 
        Autonomous Region between May 2011 and July 2015, but only four 
        were granted; and
            (B) when such requests are granted, diplomatic personnel 
        are closely supervised and given few opportunities to meet 
        local residents not approved by authorities.
        (7) The Government of China delayed United States consular 
    access for more than 48 hours after an October 28, 2013, bus crash 
    in the Tibet Autonomous Region, in which three citizens of the 
    United States died and more than a dozen others, all from Walnut, 
    California, were injured, undermining the ability of the Government 
    of the United States to provide consular services to the victims 
    and their families, and failing to meet China's obligations under 
    the Convention on Consular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963 
    (21 UST 77).
        (8) Following a 2015 earthquake that trapped dozens of citizens 
    of the United States in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the United 
    States Consulate General in Chengdu faced significant challenges in 
    providing emergency consular assistance due to a lack of consular 
    access.
        (9) The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2015 of 
    the Department of State stated ``With the exception of a few highly 
    controlled trips, the Chinese government also denied multiple 
    requests by foreign diplomats for permission to visit the TAR.''.
        (10) Tibetan-Americans, attempting to visit their homeland, 
    report having to undergo a discriminatory visa application process, 
    different from what is typically required, at the Chinese embassy 
    and consulates in the United States, and often find their requests 
    to travel denied.
        (11) The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016 of 
    the Department of State stated ``The few visits to the TAR by 
    diplomats and journalists that were allowed were tightly controlled 
    by local authorities.''.
        (12) A September 2016 article in the Washington Post reported 
    that ``The Tibet Autonomous Region . . . is harder to visit as a 
    journalist than North Korea.''.
        (13) The Government of China has failed to respond positively 
    to requests from the Government of the United States to open a 
    consulate in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region.
        (14) The Foreign Correspondents Club of China reports that--
            (A) 2008 rules prevent foreign reporters from visiting the 
        Tibet Autonomous Region without prior permission from the 
        Government of such Region;
            (B) such permission has only rarely been granted; and
            (C) although the 2008 rules allow journalists to travel 
        freely in other parts of China, Tibetan areas outside such 
        Region remain ``effectively off-limits to foreign reporters''.
        (15) The Department of State reports that in addition to having 
    to obtain permission to enter the Tibet Autonomous Region, foreign 
    tourists--
            (A) must be accompanied at all times by a government-
        designated tour guide;
            (B) are rarely granted permission to enter the region by 
        road;
            (C) are largely barred from visiting around the March 
        anniversary of a 1959 Tibetan uprising; and
            (D) are banned from visiting the area where Larung Gar, the 
        world's largest center for the study of Tibetan Buddhism, and 
        the site of a large-scale campaign to expel students and 
        demolish living quarters, is located.
        (16) Foreign visitors also face restrictions in their ability 
    to travel freely in Tibetan areas outside the Tibet Autonomous 
    Region.
        (17) The Government of the United States generally allows 
    journalists and other citizens of China to travel freely within the 
    United States. The Government of the United States requires 
    diplomats from China to notify the Department of State of their 
    travel plans, and in certain situations, the Government of the 
    United States requires such diplomats to obtain approval from the 
    Department of State before travel. However, where approval is 
    required, it is almost always granted expeditiously.
        (18) The United States regularly grants visas to Chinese 
    diplomats and other officials, scholars, and others who travel to 
    the United States to discuss, promote, and display the perspective 
    of the Government of China on the situation in Tibetan areas, even 
    as the Government of China restricts the ability of citizens of the 
    United States to travel to Tibetan areas to gain their own 
    perspective.
        (19) Chinese diplomats based in the United States generally 
    avail themselves of the freedom to travel to United States cities 
    and lobby city councils, mayors, and governors to refrain from 
    passing resolutions, issuing proclamations, or making statements of 
    concern on Tibet.
        (20) The Government of China characterizes statements made by 
    officials of the United States about the situation in Tibetan areas 
    as inappropriate interference in the internal affairs of China.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
    In this Act:
        (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
    ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
        the Judiciary of the Senate; and
            (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
        the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
        (2) Tibetan areas.--The term ``Tibetan areas'' includes--
            (A) the Tibet Autonomous Region; and
            (B) the areas that the Chinese Government designates as 
        Tibetan Autonomous, as follows:
                (i) Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and 
            Pari (Tianzhu) Tibetan Autonomous County located in Gansu 
            Province.
                (ii) Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 
            Malho (Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Tsojang 
            (Haibei) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Tsolho (Hainan) 
            Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Tsonub (Haixi) Mongolian and 
            Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and Yulshul (Yushu) Tibetan 
            Autonomous Prefecture, located in Qinghai Province.
                (iii) Garze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 
            Ngawa (Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, and 
            Muli (Mili) Tibetan Autonomous County, located in Sichuan 
            Province.
                (iv) Dechen (Diqing) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, 
            located in Yunnan Province.
SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT ON ACCESS TO TIBETAN AREAS.
    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the following five 
years, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees, and make available to the public on the 
website of the Department of State, a report that includes an 
assessment of the level of access Chinese authorities granted diplomats 
and other officials, journalists, and tourists from the United States 
to Tibetan areas, including--
        (1) a comparison with the level of access granted to other 
    areas of China;
        (2) a comparison between the levels of access granted to 
    Tibetan and non-Tibetan areas in relevant provinces;
        (3) a comparison of the level of access in the reporting year 
    and the previous reporting year; and
        (4) a description of the required permits and other measures 
    that impede the freedom to travel in Tibetan areas.
    (b) Consolidation.--After the issuance of the first report required 
by subsection (a), the Secretary of State is authorized to incorporate 
subsequent reports required by subsection (a) into other publicly 
available, annual reports produced by the Department of State, provided 
they are submitted to the appropriate congressional committees in a 
manner specifying that they are being submitted in fulfillment of the 
requirements of this Act.
SEC. 5. INADMISSIBILITY OF CERTAIN ALIENS.
    (a) Ineligibility for Visas.--No individual whom the Secretary of 
State has determined to be substantially involved in the formulation or 
execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas 
may be eligible to receive a visa to enter the United States or be 
admitted to the United States if the Secretary of State determines 
that--
        (1)(A) the requirement for specific official permission for 
    foreigners to enter the Tibetan Autonomous Region remains in 
    effect; or
        (B) such requirement has been replaced by a regulation that has 
    a similar effect and requires foreign travelers to gain a level of 
    permission to enter the Tibet Autonomous Region that is not 
    required for travel to other provinces in China; and
        (2) restrictions on travel by diplomats and other officials, 
    journalists, and citizens of the United States to areas designated 
    as ``Tibetan Autonomous'' in the provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai, 
    Yunnan, and Gansu of China are greater than any restrictions on 
    travel by such officials and citizens to areas in such provinces 
    that are not so designated.
    (b) Current Visas Revoked.--The Secretary of State shall revoke, in 
accordance with section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), the visa or other documentation to enter or be 
present in the United States issued for an alien who would be 
ineligible to receive such a visa or documentation under subsection 
(a).
    (c) Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the following 
five years, the Secretary of State shall provide to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report identifying the individuals who have 
had visas denied or revoked pursuant to this section during the 
preceding year and, to the extent practicable, a list of Chinese 
officials who were substantially involved in the formulation or 
execution of policies to restrict access of United States diplomats and 
other officials, journalists, and citizens of the United States to 
Tibetan areas. The report required by this subsection shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
    (d) Waiver for National Interest.--
        (1) In general.--The Secretary of State may waive the 
    application of subsection (a) or (b) in the case of an alien if the 
    Secretary determines that such a waiver--
            (A) 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 (TIAS 1676), or any other applicable 
        international obligation of the United States; or
            (B) is in the national interest of the United States.
        (2) Notification.--Upon granting a waiver under paragraph (1), 
    the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate 
    congressional committees a document detailing the evidence and 
    justification for the necessity of such waiver, including, if such 
    waiver is granted pursuant to paragraph (1)(B), how such waiver 
    relates to the national interest of the United States.
SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
    It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State, when 
granting diplomats and other officials from China access to parts of 
the United States, including consular access, should take into account 
the extent to which the Government of China grants diplomats and other 
officials from the United States access to parts of China, including 
the level of access afforded to such diplomats and other officials to 
Tibetan areas.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.