[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 591 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 591

 To impose sanctions with respect to the People's Republic of China in 
 relation to activities in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 1, 2023

 Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mr. Cardin) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To impose sanctions with respect to the People's Republic of China in 
 relation to activities in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, 
                        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 ``South China Sea and East China Sea 
Sanctions Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO CHINESE PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR 
              CHINA'S ACTIVITIES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AND THE EAST 
              CHINA SEA.

    (a) Initial Imposition of Sanctions.--On and after the date that is 
120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President may 
impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any 
Chinese person, including any senior official of the Government of the 
People's Republic of China, that the President determines--
            (1) is responsible for or significantly contributes to 
        large-scale reclamation, construction, militarization, or 
        ongoing supply of outposts in disputed areas of the South China 
        Sea;
            (2) is responsible for or significantly contributes to, or 
        has engaged in, directly or indirectly, actions, including the 
        use of coercion, to inhibit another country from protecting its 
        sovereign rights to access offshore resources in the South 
        China Sea, including in such country's exclusive economic zone, 
        consistent with such country's rights and obligations under 
        international law;
            (3) is responsible for or complicit in, or has engaged in, 
        directly or indirectly, actions that significantly threaten the 
        peace, security, or stability of disputed areas of the South 
        China Sea or areas of the East China Sea administered by Japan 
        or the Republic of Korea, including through the use of vessels 
        and aircraft by the People's Republic of China to occupy or 
        conduct extensive research or drilling activity in those areas;
            (4) has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided 
        financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or 
        services to, or in support of, any person subject to sanctions 
        pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3); or
            (5) is owned or controlled by, or has acted for or on 
        behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person subject to 
        sanctions pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3).
    (b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions that may be imposed with 
respect to a person described in subsection (a) are the following:
            (1) Blocking of property.--The President may, in accordance 
        with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 
        1701 et seq.), block and prohibit all transactions in all 
        property and interests in property of the person 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.
            (2) Ineligibility for visas, admission, or parole.--
                    (A) Visas, admission, or parole.--In the case of an 
                alien, the alien may be--
                            (i) inadmissible to the United States;
                            (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 
                        documentation to enter the United States; and
                            (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 
                        or paroled into the United States or to receive 
                        any other benefit under the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
                    (B) Current visas revoked.--
                            (i) In general.--An alien described in 
                        subparagraph (A) may be subject to revocation 
                        of any visa or other entry documentation 
                        regardless of when the visa or other entry 
                        documentation is or was issued.
                            (ii) Immediate effect.--A revocation under 
                        clause (i) may--
                                    (I) take effect immediately; and
                                    (II) cancel any other valid visa or 
                                entry documentation that is in the 
                                alien's possession.
            (3) Exclusion of corporate officers.--The President may 
        direct the Secretary of State to deny a visa to, and the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security to exclude from the United 
        States, any alien that the President determines is a corporate 
        officer or principal of, or a shareholder with a controlling 
        interest in, the person.
            (4) Export sanction.--The President may order the United 
        States Government not to issue any specific license and not to 
        grant any other specific permission or authority to export any 
        goods or technology to the person under--
                    (A) the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 
                U.S.C. 4801 et seq.); or
                    (B) any other statute that requires the prior 
                review and approval of the United States Government as 
                a condition for the export or reexport of goods or 
                services.
            (5) Inclusion on entity list.--The President may include 
        the entity on the entity list maintained by the Bureau of 
        Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce and set 
        forth in Supplement No. 4 to part 744 of the Export 
        Administration Regulations, for activities contrary to the 
        national security or foreign policy interests of the United 
        States.
            (6) Ban on investment in equity or debt of sanctioned 
        person.--The President may, pursuant to such regulations or 
        guidelines as the President may prescribe, prohibit any United 
        States person from investing in or purchasing equity or debt 
        instruments of the person.
            (7) Banking transactions.--The President may, pursuant to 
        such regulations as the President may prescribe, prohibit any 
        transfers of credit or payments between financial institutions 
        or by, through, or to any financial institution, to the extent 
        that such transfers or payments are subject to the jurisdiction 
        of the United States and involve any interest of the person.
            (8) Correspondent and payable-through accounts.--In the 
        case of a foreign financial institution, the President may 
        prohibit the opening, and prohibit or impose strict conditions 
        on the maintaining, in the United States of a correspondent 
        account or a payable-through account by the foreign financial 
        institution.
    (c) Exceptions.--
            (1) 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 subsection (b)(1).
            (2) Exception for intelligence, law enforcement, and 
        national security activities.--Sanctions under this section 
        shall not apply to any authorized intelligence, law 
        enforcement, or national security activities of the United 
        States.
            (3) Compliance with united nations headquarters 
        agreement.--Paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b) shall not 
        apply if admission of an alien to the United States 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, between the United Nations and the United 
        States.
            (4) Exception relating to importation of goods.--
                    (A) In general.--The authority or a requirement to 
                impose sanctions under this section shall not include 
                the authority or a requirement to impose sanctions on 
                the importation of goods.
                    (B) Good defined.--In this paragraph, 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) Implementation; Penalties.--
            (1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all 
        authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 
        1704) to carry out this section.
            (2) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in subsections 
        (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency 
        Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person 
        that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or 
        causes a violation of regulations prescribed under subsection 
        (b)(1) to the same extent that such penalties apply to a person 
        that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of 
        such section 206.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Account; correspondent account; payable-through 
        account.--The terms ``account'', ``correspondent account'', and 
        ``payable-through account'' have the meanings given those terms 
        in section 5318A of title 31, United States Code.
            (2) Alien.--The term ``alien'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
        (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)).
            (3) Chinese person.--The term ``Chinese person'' means--
                    (A) an individual who is a citizen or national of 
                the People's Republic of China; or
                    (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
                People's Republic of China or otherwise subject to the 
                jurisdiction of the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China.
            (4) Financial institution.--The term ``financial 
        institution'' means a financial institution specified in 
        subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (I), (J), 
        (K), (M), (N), (P), (R), (T), (Y), or (Z) of section 5312(a)(2) 
        of title 31, United States Code.
            (5) Foreign financial institution.--The term ``foreign 
        financial institution'' has the meaning given that term in 
        section 1010.605 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations (or 
        any corresponding similar regulation or ruling).
            (6) Person.--The term ``person'' means any individual or 
        entity.
            (7) 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.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING PORTRAYALS OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA 
              OR THE EAST CHINA SEA AS PART OF CHINA.

    It is the sense of Congress that the Government Publishing Office 
should not publish any map, document, record, electronic resource, or 
other paper of the United States (other than materials relating to 
hearings held by committees of Congress or internal work product of a 
Federal agency) portraying or otherwise indicating that it is the 
position of the United States that the territory or airspace in the 
South China Sea that is disputed among two or more parties or the 
territory or airspace of areas administered by Japan or the Republic of 
Korea, including in the East China Sea, is part of the territory or 
airspace of the People's Republic of China.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON 2016 PERMANENT COURT OF ARBITRATION'S 
              TRIBUNAL RULING ON ARBITRATION CASE BETWEEN PHILIPPINES 
              AND PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

    (a) Finding.--Congress finds that on July 12, 2016, a tribunal of 
the Permanent Court of Arbitration found in the arbitration case 
between the Philippines and the People's Republic of China under the 
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that the People's 
Republic of China's claims, including those to offshore resources and 
``historic rights'', were unlawful, and that the tribunal's ruling is 
final and legally binding on both parties.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the United States and the international community 
        should reject the unlawful claims of the People's Republic of 
        China within the exclusive economic zone or on the continental 
        shelf of the Philippines, as well as the maritime claims of the 
        People's Republic of China beyond a 12-nautical-mile 
        territorial sea from the islands it claims in the South China 
        Sea;
            (2) the provocative behavior of the People's Republic of 
        China, including coercing other countries with claims in the 
        South China Sea and preventing those countries from accessing 
        offshore resources, undermines peace and stability in the South 
        China Sea;
            (3) the international community should--
                    (A) support and adhere to the ruling described in 
                subsection (a) in compliance with international law; 
                and
                    (B) take all necessary steps to support the rules-
                based international order in the South China Sea; and
            (4) all claimants in the South China Sea should--
                    (A) refrain from engaging in destabilizing 
                activities, including illegal occupation or efforts to 
                unlawfully assert control over disputed claims;
                    (B) ensure that disputes are managed without 
                intimidation, coercion, or force;
                    (C) clarify or adjust claims in accordance with 
                international law; and
                    (D) uphold the principle that territorial and 
                maritime claims, including over territorial waters or 
                territorial seas, must be derived from land features 
                and otherwise comport with international law.

SEC. 5. REPORT ON COUNTRIES THAT RECOGNIZE CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE 
              SOUTH CHINA SEA OR THE EAST CHINA SEA.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the date that is 3 
years after such date of enactment, 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 identifying 
each country that the Secretary determines has taken an official and 
stated position to recognize, after such date of enactment, the 
sovereignty of the People's Republic of China over territory or 
airspace disputed by one or more countries in the South China Sea or 
the territory or airspace of areas of the East China Sea administered 
by Japan or the Republic of Korea.
    (b) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted 
in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex if the 
Secretary of State determines it is necessary for the national security 
interests of the United States to do so.
    (c) Public Availability.--The Secretary of State shall publish the 
unclassified part of the report required by subsection (a) on a 
publicly available website of the Department of State.
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