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This bill declares U.S. policy opposing religious persecution in China and directs the government to take specific actions in response. The legislation documents extensive findings about restrictions China places on religious practice, including forced closures of houses of worship, detention of religious leaders, surveillance of religious sites, and imprisonment of thousands for practicing their faith—particularly affecting Christians, Muslims, Uyghurs, Buddhists, and Falun Gong practitioners. The bill establishes that senior Chinese officials responsible for religious freedom violations should be considered to have committed gross human rights violations subject to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act and bars to entry into the United States. It directs the State Department to support religious freedom efforts in China through its Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom and calls for programs to protect religious minorities and counter transnational repression. The legislation also expresses Congress's sense that the U.S. should strengthen diplomatic efforts on behalf of persecuted religious groups, raise cases of political and religious prisoners with Chinese officials, and call for the United Nations Human Rights Council to formally condemn China's treatment of religious and ethnic minorities.

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