H.R. 6877 — Southern Mongolian Human Rights Policy Act

This section states congressional findings on the People's Republic of China's policies in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, including the suppression of the Mongolian language in schools (e.g., replacing it with Chinese for certain subjects as of 2020 and phasing out instruction by September 2023), protests by tens of thousands involving a boycott by some 300,000 students and arrests of an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 individuals, government control of the Chinggis Khan Mausoleum, restrictions on Tibetan Buddhism and cultural ties, forced resettlement of more than 246,000 nomadic households ending traditional pastoralism, environmental degradation from mining at Bayan Obo (holding 70% of global rare earth reserves), and detention of activists.

This section declares it to be the policy of the United States (1) to support and promote the human rights of Southern Mongolians in the People's Republic of China, including freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and religion or belief, as well as rights related to arbitrary detention, discrimination, and other abuses; (2) to support the aspirations of the Southern Mongolian people to safeguard their cultural and linguistic heritage—including the use and promotion of their spoken and written language—and to protect their traditional pastoralist way of life; and (3) to press the government of the People's Republic of China to allow Southern Mongolians to enjoy the autonomy guaranteed to them by the Chinese Constitution and 1984 Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law, including in education.

This section expresses the sense of Congress that (1) the United States supports the Southern Mongolian people's aspirations to safeguard their cultural and linguistic heritage and traditional way of life without forced assimilation by the People's Republic of China (PRC) or Chinese Communist Party; (2) the President should condemn human rights abuses against Southern Mongolians by PRC authorities and call on such authorities to allow autonomy guaranteed under PRC law, including education in the Mongolian language; (3) the Secretary of State should work with U.S. allies, partners, and multilateral institutions to advocate for Southern Mongolian human rights, urge the UN Human Rights Council to prioritize assessments of PRC compliance (including via Universal Periodic Review and UN official visits), promote Mongolian language rights and freedom of religion or belief, collaborate with UNESCO to protect Mongolian cultural heritage sites, and coordinate international sanctions and visa restrictions; (4) U.S. companies and individuals operating in PRC-designated Mongolian autonomous areas should ensure their activities do not contribute to human rights violations, undermine autonomy, or cause environmental degradation or nomad resettlement, consistent with UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; and (5) the U.S. Ambassador to the PRC should meet expeditiously with dissident Hada and family members, as well as other Southern Mongolian activists, writers, and lawyers in prison, detention, or home confinement.

This section directs the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom to assist the Secretary of State, consistent with existing duties under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), in assessing the impact of restrictions on Tibetan Buddhism imposed by the People's Republic of China on the religious freedom of (1) non-Tibetan practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism in China and (2) practitioners outside China, including their ability to travel to and share information with those inside China, for inclusion in human rights reports. The section further requires the Secretary of State, with assistance from the Ambassador at Large, to ensure that the IRFA's annual report on international religious freedom assesses those same impacts, as appropriate.

This section requires the President, not later than 180 days after enactment and annually thereafter, to submit to specified congressional committees (i.e., Senate Foreign Relations and Banking Committees; House Foreign Affairs and Financial Services Committees) an unclassified report—with a possible classified annex—identifying each foreign person (i.e., non-U.S. person) determined responsible for gross human rights violations against Southern Mongolians in China, including torture, cruel or inhuman treatment, prolonged arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and other specified abuses. The section directs the President to impose sanctions on each identified person under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, Section 7031(c)(1)(A) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024, or INA §212(a)(2)(G) (visa ineligibility); and the section, along with any such sanctions, sunsets five years after enactment.

This section directs the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Agency for Global Media to establish, through the Voice of America, a Mongolian-language broadcasting service targeting speakers in Mongolia, China, and Russia not later than 180 days after enactment of this Act. The section also (1) requires a report on implementation—including programming details and broadcast hours—to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and House Committee on Foreign Affairs not later than 270 days after enactment; and (2) authorizes $2 million for the Voice of America for each of FY2026 and FY2027.

This section states the sense of Congress that (1) the Smithsonian Institution should fund activities through its World Cultures Center and other programs to preserve cultures endangered by repressive policies of the People's Republic of China, including those of Southern Mongolians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers, via research, exhibitions, and education programming; and (2) the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services should establish a grant program, or use an existing one, to support U.S. diaspora communities' efforts to preserve such cultural heritage. The section further directs (1) the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to submit a report to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the House Committee on House Administration within 180 days of enactment detailing plans to preserve those cultures; and (2) the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services to submit a report to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce within 180 days assessing the feasibility of such a grant program, including engagement with relevant diaspora communities.

This section declares it U.S. policy to support Southern Mongolians' right to autonomous decision-making on economic development—including traditional livelihoods such as pastoralism, cultural preservation, environmental sustainability, and resource extraction—in designated autonomous areas in China. It further directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct U.S. executive directors at international financial institutions to support financing for projects in those areas that (1) provide no incentives for non-Mongolian migration or settlement, or land/resource transfers to non-Mongolians; (2) are based on thorough needs assessments; (3) foster Southern Mongolian self-sufficiency; (4) respect Mongolian culture, traditions, and livelihoods; and (5) include effective monitoring. Additionally, it directs the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, to encourage U.S. businesses investing in those areas to follow the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights—including by creating a business advisory, developed in consultation with other relevant departments and focused on mining and extractive industries, that sets strict guidelines against contributing to human rights violations of local Mongolians, community harm, environmental destruction, or disruption of the traditional Mongolian way of life.

This section directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report, not later than 180 days after enactment of this Act, on the impact of large rare earth mineral mining operations in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region—particularly the Bayan-Obo mine—on the livelihoods of South Mongolian residents, including forced displacement and environmental degradation, and on U.S. national security interests related to such operations and their potential expansion. Subsection (b) defines appropriate congressional committees as provided in section 6(d)(1).