119-hr5303

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5303 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5303

To encourage and support the Department of State's diplomatic advocacy 
efforts on behalf of Gao Zhisheng and other political prisoners in the 
 People's Republic of China, including in Hong Kong, and globally.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 September 11, 2025

 Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Suozzi, and Mr. Moolenaar) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, 
Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 
 determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To encourage and support the Department of State's diplomatic advocacy 
efforts on behalf of Gao Zhisheng and other political prisoners in the 
 People's Republic of China, including in Hong Kong, and globally.

 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 ``Framework for Responding to Enforced 
Exile and Detentions through Oversight and Mobilizing Diplomatic 
Support Act'' or ``FREEDOM for Gao Zhisheng and All Political Prisoners 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Prominent human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng disappeared 
 in August 2017, reportedly into state custody, and has been 
 subject to various forms of detention since 2006, including 
 severe torture, for his work defending religious minorities and 
 farmers facing land expropriations and for writing open letters 
 condemning the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and 
 Christians.

    (2) In 2023, lawyer Ding Jiaxi and legal scholar Xu Zhiyong 
 were sentenced to 12 and 14 years in prison, respectively, for 
 ``subversion of state power'' in connection with their advocacy 
 for constitutional reform. The United Nations Working Group on 
 Arbitrary Detention determined their detentions to be 
 arbitrary.

    (3) Hong Kong authorities detained Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in 
 August 2020 on the charges of ``conspiracy to fraud'' and 
 ``collusion with a foreign country'', an offense under the Law 
 of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National 
 Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

    (NSL) . 
 Lai is the founder of Apple Daily, a prodemocracy newspaper and 
 his detention is believed to be part of a government effort to 
 suppress free press and intimidate pro-democracy advocates.

    (4) Hong Kong barrister Tonyee Chow Hang-tung was sentenced 
 in 2023 to 4.5 months in jail for defying the demands of the 
 national security police for information on the disbanded civil 
 society group commonly known as Hong Kong Alliance, which 
 organized annual vigils to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen 
 Massacre. The recent sentence lengthened a 22-month prison term 
 Chow received for organizing vigils in 2020 and 2021.

    (5) Falun Gong practitioner Xu Na was detained in 2020 
 along with 12 others and later given an 8-year sentence for 
 allegedly sharing photos of Beijing street scenes during the 
 COVID-19 pandemic with an overseas publication and for 
 possession of Falun Gong materials at their homes. Xu 
 previously served two prison sentences in connection with her 
 practice of Falun Gong and in 2008 her husband Yu Zhou died in 
 police custody.

    (6) Zhou Deyong was detained in 2021 in Shandong Province 
 after police raided his home and confiscated Falun Gong 
 materials that reportedly belonged to his wife, who was 
 previously detained for her religious activities. Authorities 
 reportedly prevented Zhou from meeting with his lawyer and 
 failed to notify Zhou's family members of his detention 
 promptly, in violation of China's Criminal Procedure Law. In 
 2023, Zhou was sentenced to eight years in prison for 
 ``organizing and using a cult to undermine implementation of 
 the law''.

    (7) Niu Tengyu was detained in 2019 as part of a crackdown 
 on users of the internet site EsuWiki, following the alleged 
 publication of the personal information of relatives of 
 Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping. Niu was held in 
 ``residential surveillance at a designated location'', during 
 which time he was reportedly severely tortured. In late 2020, 
 Niu received a 14-year prison sentence.

    (8) Yang Chih-yuan was detained in 2022 and accused of 
 promoting Taiwan independence and engaging in ``separatist'' 
 activities. In 2024, authorities sentenced Yang to nine years 
 in prison. Yang's alleged ``separatist'' activities took place 
 between 2008 and 2020 while he was in Taiwan. He is the first 
 Taiwanese national to be charged with ``separatism'' under 
 Article 103 of the PRC Criminal Law.

    (9) Ruan Xiaohuan was detained in 2021 in connection with 
 his social media account and his blog, where he provided 
 anonymous guidance for circumventing government internet 
 censorship and wrote political analysis critical of Chinese 
 authorities, including coverage of the 1989 Tiananmen protests. 
 He also separately documented high-ranking officials' hidden 
 wealth. He was sentenced in 2023 to seven years in prison for 
 ``inciting subversion of state power''.

    (10) Tibetan community leader Anya Sengdra was initially 
 detained in 2018 in connection with his claims that local 
 officials had misappropriated poverty alleviation funds meant 
 for Tibetan nomads. In 2019 he was sentenced to 7 years in 
 prison, accused by officials of ``disturbing public order'' for 
 leading groups to discuss anti-corruption and environmental 
 advocacy. Authorities delayed his expected September 2025 
 release from prison.

    (11) Artist Gao Zhen remains detained for ``insulting or 
 slandering heroes and martyrs,'' reportedly in connection with 
 his artwork, including art with the theme of reassessing Mao 
 Zedong's rule. Gao is a lawful permanent resident of the United 
 States, and his seven-year-old son is an American citizen, who 
 is prevented, via an ``exit ban'' from leaving China along with 
 his mother.

    (12) Renagul Gheni, a Uyghur elementary school teacher, was 
 detained in 2018 and later given a 17-year sentence reportedly 
 for offering prayers at her father's funeral and her possession 
 of a Quran.

    (13) Uyghur ethnographer Rahile Dawut was reportedly 
 sentenced to life in prison on a charge related to 
 ``endangering state security''. Friends and other observers 
 suggested authorities may have detained her due to her efforts 
 to preserve Uyghur culture and heritage, or her foreign 
 connections. She formerly taught at Xinjiang University and is 
 well regarded for her scholarly research on Uyghur cultural 
 traditions.

    (14) Meryem Emet was detained in 2017 and later sentenced 
 to 20 years in prison on an unknown charge reportedly related 
 to her marriage to a Turkish national, and her having met and 
 spoken with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during 
 his 2012 visit to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

    (15) Lobsang Trinle, a monk at Kirti Monastery in Sichuan 
 Province, was detained by police in 2021 and sentenced to 5 
 years in prison reportedly for sharing the 14th Dalai Lama's 
 teachings and writings about the Dalai Lama with other 
 Tibetans.

    (16) A Tibetan writer known by the pen name Sabuche, 
 Thubten Lodroe was detained and later given a 4-year and 5-
 month sentence in 2021 reportedly for his writings on Tibetan 
 society, politics, and language rights. He was reportedly 
 subjected to abuse in prison, including forced labor, and in 
 2024 was hospitalized in serious condition.

    (17) Wang Yi, pastor of the unregistered Protestant ``Early 
 Rain Covenant Church'' was detained in 2018 after drafting an 
 open letter denouncing restrictions on religious freedom that 
 was signed by over 400 other Chinese church leaders and he was 
 later given a 9-year sentence for ``subversion of state 
 power''. The ``Early Rain'' church was forcibly closed as part 
 of a broader crackdown on unregistered churches and places of 
 worship in China.

    (18) Hao Zhiwei, a pastor at an unregistered Protestant 
 church was arrested and in 2022 given an 8-year sentence 
 because she refused to join the government-approved Protestant 
 Three-Self Patriotic Movement or Chinese Christian Council.

    (19) Peng Lifa was detained shortly after he hung banners 
 from Sitong Bridge in Beijing calling for the removal of Xi 
 Jinping, calling for elections, and criticizing China's harsh 
 zero-COVID policy measures. Peng's whereabouts and condition, 
 or any potential charges against him, remain unknown.

    (20) Li Kangmeng was detained in connection with her 
 participation in the ``white paper'' protests against harsh 
 zero-COVID policy measures. Multiple reports assert that Li 
 Kangmeng was the first to raise a sheet of white paper as a 
 form of protest. The legal basis for Li's detention and the 
 location of her detention site are unknown.

    (21) Dong Yuyu was detained in 2022 while at lunch with a 
 Japanese diplomat and placed in residential surveillance at a 
 designated location and later charged with ``espionage''. Dong 
 Yuyu is a well-known journalist, who had worked for the New 
 York Times and Chinese publications, and held academic 
 fellowship at various universities in Japan and at Harvard 
 University. His family has not been allowed to meet with him 
 since his detention.

    (22) The number of political prisoners in the People's 
 Republic of China remains unknown, given active digital 
 censorship and free speech restrictions.

    (23) The Political Prisoner Database of the Congressional-
 Executive Commission on China is a valuable source of 
 information on political prisoners in the People's Republic of 
 China and currently contains 2,506 active cases of detention, 
 referring to political and religious prisoners currently known 
 or believed to be detained or imprisoned, or under coercive 
 controls.

    (24) A bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers' 
 nominated a group of political prisoners in the People's 
 Republic of China, including Hong Kong for the 2023 Nobel Peace 
 Prize, including Hong Kong's Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, Joshua Wong 
 Chi-fung, Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, Gwyenth Ho Kwai.lam, and Lee 
 Cheuk-yan, and mainland China's Zhang Zhan, Peng Lifa, and Li 
 Kangmeng. The nominations honored these ardent champions of 
 peace, freedom and human rights and focus international 
 advocacy on efforts for their release.

    (25) The Chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission 
 on China nominated Xu Zhiyong, Ding Jiaxi, Ilham Tohti, and 
 Jimmy Lai for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

    (26) The People's Republic of China detains the family 
 members of United States citizens and permanent residents in 
 the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, including Gulshan Abbas, 
 Ekpar Aset, and the family members of former Radio Free Asia 
 employees, and uses these detentions and other forms of 
 intimidation and harassment to silence advocacy on behalf of 
 their loved ones.

    (27) The People's Republic of China detains more Americans 
 than any other country.

    (28) Repressive governments around the world continue to 
 detain an unknown number of individuals for their exercise of 
 internationally recognized human rights, including in Cuba, 
 Belarus, Hong Kong, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, 
 Turkey, and Vietnam, among others. It is a global problem in 
 need of a global response from the United States and its allies 
 and partners.

SEC. 3. STATEMENTS OF POLICY.

    (a) Use Available Diplomatic Tools To Seek the Release of Political 
Prisoners.--It is the policy of the United States to--

    (1) use all available diplomatic tools to press for the 
 release of political prisoners, including by submitting 
 prisoner lists at all appropriate bilateral meetings and 
 raising individual cases of concern with foreign officials, 
 because experience shows that consistently raising political 
 prisoner cases can lead to improved treatment in detention, 
 lighter sentences, and, in some cases, release from custody or 
 imprisonment;

    (2) seek the release of unjustly detained or wrongfully 
 detained Americans detained in the People's Republic of China;

    (3) end the use of ``exit bans'' by the Government of the 
 People's Republic of China that are used to pressure United 
 States citizens to get their relatives or associates to return 
 to China to face criminal charges or to settle commercial 
 disputes--such bans violate international norms, including 
 Article 35 of the U.S.-China Consular Convention; and

    (4) use the voice and vote and influence of the United 
 States at the United Nations and other multilateral 
 organizations to--
        (A) highlight the cases of political prisoners 
 worldwide;
        (B) document the human rights violations that lead 
 to the arrest and imprisonment of political prisoners 
 globally; and
            (C) support investigations by United Nations Human 
 Rights Experts into the case of political prisoners, 
 their treatment in detention, and harassment and 
 surveillance of their family members while they are 
 imprisoned.

    (b) Hold Government of the People's Republic of China Officials 
Responsible for Arbitrary Detention.--It is the policy of the United 
States to consider individuals who are responsible for, complicit in, 
or directly engaged in the arbitrary detention or torture of Gao 
Zhisheng and other political prisoners--or the wrongful detention of 
United States citizens--as having committed gross violations of human 
rights. Such individuals may be held accountable through the 
application of sanctions as described in--

    (1) the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 
 (22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.);

    (2) the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 
 (Public Law 116-76);

    (3) the Hong Kong Autonomy Act (Public Law 116-149);

    (4) the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (Public Law 
 116-145);

    (5) Executive Order No. 14078 of July 19, 2022, 
 ``Bolstering Efforts to Bring Hostages and Wrongfully Detained 
 United States Nationals Home;''; and

    (6) other applicable sanctions authorities of the United 
 States.
            (c) Actively Champion for the Release of Gao Zhisheng.--

    (1) In general.--It is the policy of the United States--
        (A) to seek the release of human rights lawyer Gao 
 Zhisheng; and
        (B) to hold accountable those officials of the 
 People's Republic of China who are responsible for Gao 
 Zhisheng's torture and arbitrary detention and seek to 
 reunify him with his family who are United States 
 citizens and residents.

    (2) Additional policy statement.--The United States is 
 committed to--
        (A) vigorously advocating for Gao Zhisheng at the 
 highest levels of government, including through 
 diplomacy conducted by relevant bureaus and offices 
 within the Department of State and other agencies 
 across the United States Government;
        (B) ensuring sustained advocacy over time across 
 bilateral and multilateral fora to secure Gao's 
 unconditional release, proof of life and whereabouts, 
 access to legal counsel, communication with family--
 including relatives in the United States--and, if 
 appropriate, humanitarian parole;
            (C) working in concert with United States allies 
 and partners, including through mechanisms at the 
 United Nations, to increase international pressure on 
 the People's Republic of China to release Gao Zhisheng 
 and uphold his human rights;
            (D) seeking concrete responses from officials of 
 the People's Republic of China to United States and 
 allied advocacy efforts, especially on matters related 
 to Gao's health, location, communication, and legal 
 status;
        (E) employing all appropriate diplomatic, legal, 
 and sanctions tools, including available human rights 
 sanctions authorities, to hold accountable officials of 
 the People's Republic of China complicit in the human 
 rights violations committed against Gao Zhisheng; and
        (F) maintaining transparency with Congress 
 regarding past and ongoing advocacy efforts by 
 submitting a timely report, in unclassified form (with 
 a classified annex as needed), detailing such efforts, 
 responses received, coordination with allies, and any 
 use of sanctions authorities to promote justice in this 
 case.

SEC. 4. DIPLOMATIC STRATEGY ON POLITICAL PRISONER ADVOCACY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, or the Secretary's 
designee, shall brief the appropriate congressional committees on a 
strategy to embed political prisoner advocacy into the critical mission 
plan of all United States Government agencies, diplomatic posts, and 
regional bureaus in the Department of State.

    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The strategy shall include the 
following matters:

    (1) Cases of concern involving individuals arbitrarily 
 detained for exercising internationally recognized human 
 rights.

    (2) Bilateral diplomatic efforts to secure the release of 
 Gao Zhisheng and other political prisoners, including a record 
 of cases raised and the relevant foreign government officials 
 engaged.

    (3) Multilateral diplomatic efforts to advocate for the 
 release of political prisoners, including engagement within the 
 United Nations system and coordination of diplomatic advocacy 
 and sanctions measures with allies and partners to maximize 
 international pressure.

    (4) Details on efforts to secure the release of Jimmy Lai 
 in Hong Kong.

    (5) Details on Department of State efforts to support human 
 rights defenders, independent media, and the families of 
 political prisoners and the resources needed to conduct such 
 support.

    (6) Use of accountability tools, including the Global 
 Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and other targeted 
 measures, to hold government officials accountable for 
 complicity in the arbitrary detention of political prisoners.

    (7) Public diplomacy efforts designed to frame advocacy for 
 political prisoners as a United States national interest and to 
 highlight human stories of political prisoners that evade 
 censorship and other digital restrictions put in place by 
 foreign governments to hide complicity in arbitrary detention, 
 torture, and other gross violations of universally recognized 
 human rights.

    (8) Progress on the preparation of a Global Prisoner 
 Registry as required by 

section 5 of this Act.

    (9) An assessment of resource gaps or institutional 
 deficiencies that adversely affect the Department of State's 
 ability to advocate effectively for political prisoners in the 
 People's Republic of China and globally.
            (c) Form.--The briefings required by subsection

    (a) shall be 
conducted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex if 
necessary to protect sources and methods used to acquire such 
information.

SEC. 5. GLOBAL POLITICAL PRISONER REGISTRY.

 

Section 873 of the Admiral James W. Nance and Meg Donovan Foreign 
Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001 (Appendix G to 
Public Law 106-113; 113 Stat. 1501A-474) is amended--

    (1) in the section heading to read as follows: ``global 
 political prisoner registry.'';

    (2) in subsection

    (a) --
        (A) by striking ``in the People's Republic of 
 China'' and inserting ``held by foreign governments 
 worldwide''; and
        (B) by striking ``Prisoner Information Registry for 
 the People's Republic of China'' and inserting ``Global 
 Political Prisoner Registry'';

    (3) in subsection

    (b) , by striking ``of prisoners in the 
 People's Republic of China'' and inserting ``of such 
 prisoners'';

    (4) in subsection
            (c) , by striking ``regarding political 
 prisoners in the People's Republic of China'' and inserting 
 ``regarding political prisoners and those detained for 
 exercising the rights to the freedom of religion around the 
 world''; and

    (5) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (d) Public Access.--To the extent practicable and consistent with 
the protection of sensitive information, the Secretary shall make 
information from the Global Political Prisoner Registry available for 
use in diplomatic advocacy by United States Government officials and 
Members of Congress.
 ``

    (e) 

=== Definition. ===
-In this section, the term `political prisoner' 
means an individual imprisoned or detained by a foreign government 
primarily for seeking to exercise internationally recognized human 
rights, including because of the individual's political or religious 
beliefs, peaceful expression, or opposition to that government; and''.

SEC. 6. POLITICAL PRISONER ISSUE BRIEFS.

    (a) In General.--The Congressional-Executive Commission on China 
shall prepare and make available issue briefs to Members of Congress, 
upon request, to facilitate discussions of political prisoner cases and 
unjustly detained Americans with officials from the Government of the 
People's Republic of China. Such issue briefs shall be available on the 
website of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, as 
appropriate, and subject to relevant privacy concerns.

    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section 
for each fiscal years 2026 through 2029.
            (c) Clarification.--The issue briefs required by subsection

    (a) shall be in addition to and not replace the information required by 

section 108
            (d) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 
U.S.C. 6417
            (d) ).

SEC. 7. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.

 In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means--

    (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
 Representatives; and

    (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
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