[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 165 (Thursday, October 4, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6543-S6544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 667--CONDEMNING PERSECUTION OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES 
IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND ANY ACTIONS THAT LIMIT THEIR FREE 
                    EXPRESSION AND PRACTICE OF FAITH

  Mr. PERDUE (for himself, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Van Hollen, 
Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Daines, 
Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Moran, Mr. Rounds, Ms. 
Murkowski, and Mr. Wyden) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 667

       Whereas Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human 
     Rights states that ``everyone has the right to freedom of 
     thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom 
     to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone 
     or in community with others and in public or private, to 
     manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, 
     worship and observance'';
       Whereas Article 36 of the Constitution of the People's 
     Republic of China (PRC) of 1982 states, ``Citizens of the 
     People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. 
     No state organ, public organization or individual may compel 
     citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; 
     nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, 
     any religion.'';
       Whereas the United States Government estimates there are 
     658,000,000 religious believers in China, including 
     251,000,000 Buddhists, 70,000,000 Christians, 25,000,000 
     Muslims, 302,000,000 observers of folk religions, and 
     10,000,000 observers of other faiths, including Taoism;
       Whereas many members of religious minority groups in China, 
     including Uighurs, Hui, and Kazakh Muslims; Tibetan 
     Buddhists; Catholics; Protestants; and Falun Gong, face 
     severe repression and discrimination because of their 
     beliefs;
       Whereas Freedom House has labeled persecution of 
     Protestants in the People's Republic of China as ``high'' on 
     its spectrum of religious persecution;
       Whereas government regulations in China require religious 
     groups to register with the government through state-
     sanctioned patriotic religious associations, which regularly 
     review sermons and require church leaders to attend education 
     sessions with religious bureau officials;

[[Page S6544]]

       Whereas authorities continue to arrest and harass 
     Christians in Zhejiang Province, including by requiring 
     Christian churches to install surveillance cameras to enable 
     daily police monitoring of their activities;
       Whereas there is an ongoing campaign by the Government of 
     the People's Republic of China to remove crosses and demolish 
     churches;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     considers several Christian groups to be ``evil cults'';
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     restricts religious education in institutions across the 
     country, including the ability of Muslims and Christians to 
     speak about their faith among university students, as well as 
     strictly banning meetings of student religious organizations;
       Whereas national printing regulations restrict the 
     publication and distribution of literature with religious 
     content, allowing for religious texts published without 
     authorization, including Bibles and Qurans, to be 
     confiscated, and unauthorized publishing houses, closed;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     limits distribution of Bibles to patriotic religious 
     association entities, and because individuals cannot order 
     Bibles directly from publishing houses, unregistered churches 
     have reported that the supply and distribution of Bibles is 
     inadequate;
       Whereas authorities in China continue to limit the number 
     of Christian titles that can be published annually, with 
     draft manuscripts closely reviewed;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     continues to cite concerns over the ``three evils'' of 
     ``ethnic separatism, religious extremism, and violent 
     terrorism'' as grounds to enact and enforce restrictions on 
     religious practices of Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur 
     Autonomous Region (XUAR), including Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, 
     Hui, and Tajiks;
       Whereas it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of 
     Uighur Muslims and members of other Muslim minority groups 
     have been forcibly sent to reeducation centers, and extensive 
     and invasive security and surveillance practices have been 
     instituted by Chinese authorities against them;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     has sought the forcible repatriation of Uighur Muslims from 
     foreign countries and detained some of those who returned, 
     leading many to seek asylum overseas on the grounds of 
     religious persecution;
       Whereas, as part of the ongoing ``Three Illegals and One 
     Item'' campaign, international media has reported that 
     authorities in Xinjiang continue to confiscate Qurans and 
     prayer rugs as illegal religious items;
       Whereas Tibetan Buddhists, including those outside the 
     Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), are prevented from worshiping 
     the Dalai Lama openly, and authorities treat those seen as 
     loyal to the Dalai Lama as a separatist threat;
       Whereas authorities in China have evicted at least 11,500 
     monks and nuns from Tibetan Buddhist institutes at Larung Gar 
     and Yachen Gar since 2016;
       Whereas Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists have reported 
     severe societal discrimination in employment, housing, and 
     business opportunities;
       Whereas the Chinese Communist Party maintains an 
     extralegal, party-run security apparatus to eliminate the 
     Falun Gong movement and other such organizations;
       Whereas, in 2017, it was reported that Chinese authorities 
     sentenced almost 1,000 practitioners to imprisonment for 
     practicing Falun Dafa, and 42 practitioners died in custody 
     or following release from prison due to injuries sustained 
     while in custody;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     does not recognize Judaism as belonging to 1 of 5 state-
     sanctioned patriotic religious associations, and therefore 
     practitioners are not permitted to register with the 
     government and legally hold worship services or other 
     religious ceremonies and activities;
       Whereas Congress unanimously passed the International 
     Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-292), making it 
     the official policy of the United States ``to condemn 
     violations of religious freedom, and to promote, and to 
     assist other governments in the promotion of, the fundamental 
     right to freedom of religion'' and to ``[stand] for liberty 
     and [stand] with the persecuted, to use and implement 
     appropriate tools in the United States foreign policy 
     apparatus, including diplomatic, political, commercial, 
     charitable, educational, and cultural channels, to promote 
     respect for religious freedom by all governments and 
     peoples'';
       Whereas, under the International Religious Freedom Act, the 
     United States Commission on International Religious Freedom 
     has designated China as a ``country of particular concern'' 
     every year since 1999;
       Whereas Congress unanimously passed the Frank R. Wolf 
     International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281) in 
     2016 to amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
     to enhance the capabilities of the United States to advance 
     religious liberty globally through diplomacy, training, 
     counterterrorism, and foreign assistance;
       Whereas the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability 
     Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328), passed 
     by Congress in 2016, gives authority to the President to 
     impose targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for 
     committing human rights violations; and
       Whereas the United States must show strong international 
     leadership when it comes to the advancement of religious 
     freedoms, liberties, and protections: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) strongly condemns the persecution of religious 
     minorities in the People's Republic of China and any actions 
     that limit their free expression and practice of faith;
       (2) reaffirms the commitment of the United States in 
     promoting religious freedom and tolerance around the world 
     and helping to provide protection and relief to religious 
     minorities facing persecution and violence;
       (3) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of 
     China to uphold the Chinese Constitution in addition to the 
     internationally recognized human right to freedom from 
     religious persecution and to end all forms of violence and 
     discrimination against religious minorities;
       (4) strongly condemns the use of reeducation centers, 
     internment camps, and concentration camps as punishment for 
     religious practice and expression;
       (5) strongly condemns the restriction and censorship of 
     religious materials like the Bible, the Quran, and any other 
     religious articles or literature sacrosanct to religious 
     practice or expression; and
       (6) urges the President to take appropriate actions to 
     promote religious freedom of religious minorities in the 
     People's Republic of China, using the powers provided to the 
     President under the International Religious Freedom Act of 
     1998 (Public Law 105-292), the Frank R. Wolf International 
     Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281), and the Global 
     Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of 
     title XII of Public Law 114-328).

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