[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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