article: 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.
summary: Urges the Department of State to make the release of Chinese imprisoned or detained on religious grounds a major objective of U.S. foreign policy with China. Prohibits the Department of State, the U.S. Information Agency, the Agency for International Development, or any other Federal agency or entity from obligating or expending funds for the participation of certain Chinese individuals and organizations in any conference, exchange program, or activity relating to education, culture, training, or any other purpose, until the President certifies to the Congress that specified imprisoned or detained Chinese citizens have been unconditionally released by the Chinese Government.