Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act of 2023”.
South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act of 2023
A BILL
To impose sanctions with respect to the People's Republic of China in relation to activities in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Sanctions with respect to Chinese persons responsible for China’s activities in the South China Sea and the East China Sea
Initial imposition of sanctions— On and after the date that is 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President may impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any Chinese person, including any senior official of the Government of the People's Republic of China, that the President determines—
is responsible for or significantly contributes to large-scale reclamation, construction, militarization, or ongoing supply of outposts in disputed areas of the South China Sea;
is responsible for or significantly contributes to, or has engaged in, directly or indirectly, actions, including the use of coercion, to inhibit another country from protecting its sovereign rights to access offshore resources in the South China Sea, including in such country’s exclusive economic zone, consistent with such country’s rights and obligations under international law;
is responsible for or complicit in, or has engaged in, directly or indirectly, actions that significantly threaten the peace, security, or stability of disputed areas of the South China Sea or areas of the East China Sea administered by Japan or the Republic of Korea, including through the use of vessels and aircraft by the People’s Republic of China to occupy or conduct extensive research or drilling activity in those areas;
has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to, or in support of, any person subject to sanctions pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3); or
is owned or controlled by, or has acted for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person subject to sanctions pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3).
Sanctions described— The sanctions that may be imposed with respect to a person described in subsection (a) are the following:
Blocking of property— The President may, in accordance with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), block and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property of the person if such property and interests in property are in the United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the possession or control of a United States person.
Ineligibility for visas, admission, or parole—
Visas, admission, or parole— In the case of an alien, the alien may be—
inadmissible to the United States;
ineligible to receive a visa or other documentation to enter the United States; and
otherwise ineligible to be admitted or paroled into the United States or to receive any other benefit under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
Current visas revoked—
In general— An alien described in subparagraph (A) may be subject to revocation of any visa or other entry documentation regardless of when the visa or other entry documentation is or was issued.
Immediate effect— A revocation under clause (i) may—
take effect immediately; and
cancel any other valid visa or entry documentation that is in the alien’s possession.
Exclusion of corporate officers— The President may direct the Secretary of State to deny a visa to, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to exclude from the United States, any alien that the President determines is a corporate officer or principal of, or a shareholder with a controlling interest in, the person.
Export sanction— The President may order the United States Government not to issue any specific license and not to grant any other specific permission or authority to export any goods or technology to the person under—
the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.); or
any other statute that requires the prior review and approval of the United States Government as a condition for the export or reexport of goods or services.
Inclusion on entity list— The President may include the entity on the entity list maintained by the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce and set forth in Supplement No. 4 to part 744 of the Export Administration Regulations, for activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.
Ban on investment in equity or debt of sanctioned person— The President may, pursuant to such regulations or guidelines as the President may prescribe, prohibit any United States person from investing in or purchasing equity or debt instruments of the person.
Banking transactions— The President may, pursuant to such regulations as the President may prescribe, prohibit any transfers of credit or payments between financial institutions or by, through, or to any financial institution, to the extent that such transfers or payments are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and involve any interest of the person.
Correspondent and payable-through accounts— In the case of a foreign financial institution, the President may prohibit the opening, and prohibit or impose strict conditions on the maintaining, in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by the foreign financial institution.
Exceptions—
Inapplicability of national emergency requirement— The requirements of section 202 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply for purposes of subsection (b)(1).
Exception for intelligence, law enforcement, and national security activities— Sanctions under this section shall not apply to any authorized intelligence, law enforcement, or national security activities of the United States.
Compliance with united nations headquarters agreement— Paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b) shall not apply if admission of an alien to the United States is necessary to permit the United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success, June 26, 1947, and entered into force, November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United States.
Exception relating to importation of goods—
In general— The authority or a requirement to impose sanctions under this section shall not include the authority or a requirement to impose sanctions on the importation of goods.
Good defined— In this paragraph, the term good means any article, natural or manmade substance, material, supply, or manufactured product, including inspection and test equipment, and excluding technical data.
Implementation; penalties—
Implementation— The President may exercise all authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out this section.
Penalties— The penalties provided for in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of regulations prescribed under subsection (b)(1) to the same extent that such penalties apply to a person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of such section 206.
Definitions— In this section:
Account; correspondent account; payable-through account— The terms “account”, “correspondent account”, and “payable-through account” have the meanings given those terms in section 5318A of title 31, United States Code.
Alien— The term alien has the meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)).
Chinese person— The term Chinese person means—
an individual who is a citizen or national of the People's Republic of China; or
an entity organized under the laws of the People's Republic of China or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction of the Government of the People's Republic of China.
Financial institution— The term financial institution means a financial institution specified in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (I), (J), (K), (M), (N), (P), (R), (T), (Y), or (Z) of section 5312(a)(2) of title 31, United States Code.
Foreign financial institution— The term foreign financial institution has the meaning given that term in section 1010.605 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations (or any corresponding similar regulation or ruling).
Person— The term person means any individual or entity.
United states person— The term United States person means—
a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States;
an entity organized under the laws of the United States or of any jurisdiction within the United States, including a foreign branch of such an entity; or
any person in the United States.
Sec. 3 Sense of Congress regarding portrayals of the South China Sea or the East China Sea as part of China
It is the sense of Congress that the Government Publishing Office should not publish any map, document, record, electronic resource, or other paper of the United States (other than materials relating to hearings held by committees of Congress or internal work product of a Federal agency) portraying or otherwise indicating that it is the position of the United States that the territory or airspace in the South China Sea that is disputed among two or more parties or the territory or airspace of areas administered by Japan or the Republic of Korea, including in the East China Sea, is part of the territory or airspace of the People’s Republic of China.
Sec. 4 Sense of Congress on 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration’s tribunal ruling on arbitration case between Philippines and People's Republic of China
Finding— Congress finds that on July 12, 2016, a tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration found in the arbitration case between the Philippines and the People's Republic of China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that the People’s Republic of China’s claims, including those to offshore resources and “historic rights”, were unlawful, and that the tribunal’s ruling is final and legally binding on both parties.
Sense of Congress— It is the sense of Congress that—
the United States and the international community should reject the unlawful claims of the People's Republic of China within the exclusive economic zone or on the continental shelf of the Philippines, as well as the maritime claims of the People's Republic of China beyond a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea from the islands it claims in the South China Sea;
the provocative behavior of the People's Republic of China, including coercing other countries with claims in the South China Sea and preventing those countries from accessing offshore resources, undermines peace and stability in the South China Sea;
the international community should—
support and adhere to the ruling described in subsection (a) in compliance with international law; and
take all necessary steps to support the rules-based international order in the South China Sea; and
all claimants in the South China Sea should—
refrain from engaging in destabilizing activities, including illegal occupation or efforts to unlawfully assert control over disputed claims;
ensure that disputes are managed without intimidation, coercion, or force;
clarify or adjust claims in accordance with international law; and
uphold the principle that territorial and maritime claims, including over territorial waters or territorial seas, must be derived from land features and otherwise comport with international law.
Sec. 5 Report on countries that recognize Chinese sovereignty over the South China Sea or the East China Sea
In general— Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the date that is 3 years after such date of enactment, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report identifying each country that the Secretary determines has taken an official and stated position to recognize, after such date of enactment, the sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China over territory or airspace disputed by one or more countries in the South China Sea or the territory or airspace of areas of the East China Sea administered by Japan or the Republic of Korea.
Form— The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex if the Secretary of State determines it is necessary for the national security interests of the United States to do so.
Public availability— The Secretary of State shall publish the unclassified part of the report required by subsection (a) on a publicly available website of the Department of State.