S. 5370 — Combatting the Persecution of Religious Groups in the People’s Republic of China Act

This section states that the People’s Republic of China has been designated a country of particular concern for religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 since 1999 for engaging in particularly severe violations of religious freedom.

This section establishes United States policy to determine whether any PRC official responsible for abuses of international religious freedom—including arbitrary detention, forced sterilization, torture, forced labor, and restrictions on religion, expression, and movement targeting Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, Uyghur Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners—has committed a gross violation of human rights for sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. It further establishes policy that State Department bureaus and programs promote international religious freedom in China and monitor PRC transnational repression of ethnic and religious minority groups.

This section expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should promote international religious freedom in the People’s Republic of China by strengthening bilateral and multilateral diplomacy on behalf of ethnic and religious minority groups, raising political prisoner cases with senior officials, calling for an end to harassment and for unconditional releases with access to family, counsel, medical care, and faith practice in detention, encouraging global faith community solidarity, and expanding documentation of abuses and support for human rights defenders.

This section requires the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom to provide an annual briefing to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on sanctions imposed on Chinese government officials for gross human rights violations, efforts to strengthen diplomacy on international religious freedom, and plans to raise cases of political prisoners with senior Chinese officials.