[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3262 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3262
To state the policy of the United States regarding the need for
reciprocity in the relationship between the United States and the
People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 10, 2020
Mr. Sullivan (for himself and Mr. Van Hollen) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To state the policy of the United States regarding the need for
reciprocity in the relationship between the United States and the
People's Republic of China, 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 ``True Reciprocity Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) In a number of areas, the relationship between the
United States and the People's Republic of China is not fair,
equal, or reciprocal.
(2) The Government of the People's Republic of China
requires diplomats, Members of Congress, and other officials of
the United States to obtain approval before admittance into the
People's Republic of China and sometimes denies the entry of
those individuals. Officials of the United States are very
restricted with respect to where they can travel and with whom
they can meet in the People's Republic of China.
(3) The Government of the United States requires diplomats
of the People's Republic of China to notify the Department of
State of their travel and meeting plans, and the Government of
the United States sometimes requires such diplomats to obtain
approval from the Department of State while traveling in the
United States. However, when such approval is required, it is
almost always granted expeditiously, and diplomats of the
People's Republic of China are not restricted with respect to
where they can travel or with whom they can meet in the United
States.
(4) Diplomats of the People's Republic of China based in
the United States generally avail themselves of the freedom to
travel to cities in the United States and lobby city councils,
mayors, and governors to refrain from passing resolutions,
issuing proclamations, or making statements critical of the
Government of the People's Republic of China.
(5) According to the 2018 Integrated Country Strategy of
the Department of State on the People's Republic of China,
``Chinese law enforcement and security services employ extra-
judicial means against U.S. citizens without regard to
international norms, including the Vienna Consular Convention
and the 1980 U.S.-China Bilateral Consular Convention. These
means include broad travel prohibitions, known as `exit bans,'
which are sometimes used to prevent U.S. citizens who are not
themselves suspected of a crime from leaving China as a means
to pressure their relatives or associates who are wanted by
Chinese law enforcement in the United States.''. The Department
of State also stated that Chinese officials arbitrarily detain
and interrogate United States citizens for reasons pertaining
to ``state security'' and often subject United States citizens
to lengthy pretrial detention in substandard conditions while
investigations are ongoing.
(6) The People's Republic of China is considered one of the
least free countries to operate in as a journalist, ranked 177
out of 180 in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index published by
Reporters Without Borders, above Eritrea, North Korea, and
Turkmenistan.
(7) According to Freedom House's 2019 ``Freedom of the
Net'' annual report, the People's Republic of China was ranked
the world's worst abuser of internet freedoms for the fourth
consecutive year with censorship reaching ``unprecedented
levels''.
(8) The Government of the People's Republic of China
restricts the movement of journalists from the United States
and journalists representing United States media outlets by
denying entry into the People's Republic of China, issuing
short visas, and restricting access to people and places unless
prior approval is received.
(9) The Government of the United States generally allows
journalists, diplomats, and other citizens of the People's
Republic of China to travel freely within the United States,
including on college and university campuses and in the halls
of Congress.
(10) The Government of the People's Republic of China
either directly or indirectly funds Confucius Institutes and
Confucius Classrooms operated on campuses of institutions of
higher education in the United States and in K-12 public school
districts, but similar institutes funded by the Government of
the United States are prohibited in the People's Republic of
China.
(11) In April 2016, the Government of the People's Republic
of China enacted legislation stating that foreign
nongovernmental organizations operating in the mainland of the
People's Republic of China and in special administrative
regions of the People's Republic of China would be subjected to
supervision by the Government of the People's Republic of
China, and, in December 2019, the Government of the People's
Republic of China announced that it would be imposing sanctions
on nonprofit organizations based in the United States,
including the National Endowment for Democracy, Human Rights
Watch, Freedom House, the National Democratic Institute, and
the International Republican Institute, even if those
organizations do not operate in the mainland of the People's
Republic of China or in special administrative regions of the
People's Republic of China.
(12) When the People's Republic of China joined the World
Trade Organization in 2001, the People's Republic of China
promised that it would liberalize economically, but, through
state mercantilism, has created a severely imbalanced trading
relationship with the United States, requiring forced transfers
of intellectual property and imposing joint venture
requirements and nontariff barriers.
(13) The People's Republic of China provides massive
subsidies for agriculture, fishery, aluminum and steel, and
technology manufacturing industries that distort domestic and
global competition in favor of Chinese businesses and at the
expense of market access for United States companies. These
distortionary policies harm United States companies, workers,
and consumers.
(14) The People's Republic of China uses multiple tools,
including caps on foreign equity ownership, data localization,
and other administrative procedures, to coerce foreign
companies to transfer technology as a precondition for market
access. These policies pose immediate and far-reaching
challenges for United States companies, and limit market access
for United States products and services.
(15) The People's Republic of China's internet and online
restrictions hamper the operations of United States businesses
in the People's Republic of China and certain United States
technology companies are effectively banned from doing business
in the People's Republic of China.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to clearly differentiate, in official statements, media
communications, and messaging, between--
(A) the people and culture of the People's Republic
of China; and
(B) the Government of the People's Republic of
China and the Communist Party of China;
(2) that ongoing negotiations toward a comprehensive trade
agreement should be concluded in a manner that addresses unfair
trading practices by the People's Republic of China;
(3) that such an agreement should, to the extent possible--
(A) ensure that the People's Republic of China
commits to structural changes in its trade and economic
policies;
(B) hold the People's Republic of China accountable
to those commitments; and
(C) promote access to reciprocal direct investment;
and
(4) to seek and develop a relationship with the People's
Republic of China that is founded on the principles of basic
reciprocity across sectors, including economic, diplomatic,
educational, and communications sectors.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
PERPETUATES NONRECIPROCAL RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED
STATES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the
Secretary of Commerce, the United States Trade Representative, and the
Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report on the manner in which the Government
of the People's Republic of China creates barriers to the work of
United States diplomats and other officials, journalists, and
businesses, and nongovernmental organizations based in the United
States, in the People's Republic of China.
(b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall include
the following:
(1) A summary of obstacles that United States diplomats and
other officials, journalists, and businesses encounter when
attempting to work in the People's Republic of China.
(2) A summary of the obstacles Chinese diplomats and other
officials, journalists, and businesses encounter while working
in the United States.
(3) A description of the efforts that officials of the
United States have made to rectify any differences in the
treatment of diplomats and other officials, journalists, and
businesses by the United States and by the People's Republic of
China, and the results of those efforts.
(4) An assessment of the impact of the sanctions announced
by the Government of the People's Republic of China in December
2019 on nonprofit organizations based in the United States,
including the National Endowment for Democracy, Human Rights
Watch, Freedom House, the National Democratic Institute, and
the International Republican Institute, even if those
organizations do not operate in the mainland of the People's
Republic of China or in special administrative regions of the
People's Republic of China.
(5) An assessment of the adherence of the Government of the
People's Republic of China, in its treatment of United States
citizens, to due process and the norms of--
(A) the Convention on Consular Relations, done at
Vienna April 24, 1963, and entered into force March 19,
1967 (21 UST 77); and
(B) the Consular Convention, signed at Washington
September 17, 1980, and entered into force February 19,
1982, between the United States and the People's
Republic of China.
(6) A summary of the adherence of the People's Republic of
China to its international commitments to the World Trade
Organization.
(7) An assessment of lack of reciprocity between the United
States and the People's Republic of China with respect to
market access and the impacts of the People's Republic of
China's internet restrictions.
(8) Recommendations on efforts that the Government of the
United States could undertake to improve reciprocity in the
relationship between the United States and the People's
Republic of China, specifically regarding parity in the areas
of diplomatic and market access.
(c) Form of Report; Availability.--
(1) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified
index.
(2) Availability.--The unclassified portion of the report
required by subsection (a) shall be posted on a publicly
available internet website of the Department of State.
(d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee
on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs
of the House of Representatives.
SEC. 5. RECIPROCITY DEFINED.
In this Act, the term ``reciprocity'' means the mutual exchange of
privileges between governments, countries, businesses, or individuals.
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