[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 96 (Monday, June 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3699-S3700]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2704. Mr. RUBIO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr. McCain)
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. ___. RECIPROCAL ACCESS TO TIBET ACT OF 2018.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018''.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Government of the People's Republic of China does
not grant United States 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 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 4
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 3 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 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 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 2016 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 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 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
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 regarding 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.
(c) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
(C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives; and
(D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Senior leadership positions.--The term ``senior
leadership positions'' means--
(A) at the national level, the Chairperson of the National
Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference and the Head and Deputy Heads of the United Front
Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist
Party of China;
(B) at the subnational level--
(i) members of the Communist Party Standing Committee of
the Tibet Autonomous Region;
(ii) the Director of the Tibet Autonomous Region Tourism
Bureau;
(iii) the heads of United Front Work Departments of
Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu, and Yunnan Provinces; and
[[Page S3700]]
(iv) members of the Communist Party Standing Committees of
the areas listed under paragraph (3)(B); and
(C) any other individual determined by the Secretary of
State to be personally and substantially involved in the
formulation or execution of policies related to access for
foreigners to Tibetan areas.
(3) Tibetan areas.--The term ``Tibetan areas'' includes--
(A) the Tibet Autonomous Region; and
(B) the areas that the Government of China 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.
(d) Annual Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report that includes--
(A) an assessment of the level of access to Tibetan areas
that Chinese authorities have granted to diplomats,
journalists, and tourists from the United States, including--
(i) a comparison with the level of access granted to other
areas of China;
(ii) a comparison between the levels of access granted to
Tibetan and non-Tibetan areas in relevant provinces;
(iii) a comparison of the level of access in the reporting
year to the level of access in the previous reporting year;
and
(iv) a description of the required permits and other
measures that impede the freedom to travel in Tibetan areas;
and
(B) a list of all the individuals who hold a senior
leadership position.
(2) Public availability.--The report required under
paragraph (1) shall be made available to the public on the
website of the Department of State.
(e) Inadmissibility of Certain Aliens.--
(1) Ineligibility for visas.--An individual whose name
appears on the most recent list submitted by the Secretary of
State pursuant to subsection (d)(1)(B) is not eligible to
receive a visa to enter the United States or to be admitted
to the United States if the Secretary of State determines
that--
(A) the requirement for specific official permission for
foreigners to enter the Tibetan Autonomous Region--
(i) remains in effect; or
(ii) 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
(B) restrictions on travel by officials, journalists, and
citizens of the United States to areas designated as
``Tibetan Autonomous'' in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan,
Qinghai, Yunnan, and Gansu are greater than any restrictions
on travel by such officials and citizens to areas in such
provinces that are not so designated.
(2) 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 paragraph (1).
(3) Waiver for national interests.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary of State may waive the
application of paragraph (1) or (2) in the case of an alien
if the Secretary determines that such a waiver--
(i) 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
(ii) is in the national interests of the United States.
(B) Notification.--Upon granting a waiver under
subparagraph (A), 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 subparagraph
(A)(ii), how such waiver relates to the national interests of
the United States.
(f) Sense of Congress on Visa Policy.--
(1) Finding.--Congress finds that reciprocity forms the
basis of diplomatic law and the practice of mutual exchanges
between countries.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(A) a country should give equivalent consular access to the
nationals of a foreign country in a manner that is reciprocal
to the consular access granted by such foreign country to
citizens of the country; and
(B) the Secretary of State, when granting diplomats from
China access to parts of the United States, should take into
account the extent to which the Government of China grants
diplomats from the United States access to parts of China,
including the level of access afforded to such diplomats to
Tibetan areas.
(g) Sunset.--The authorities under this section shall
terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
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