Bipartisan lawmakers in the US House of Representatives on 3 June 2025 introduced legislation that would require the State Department to formally determine whether China has committed genocide or crimes against humanity against Tibetans, intensifying congressional pressure on Beijing over its human rights record.

Representatives Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, and Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York, tabled the Tibet Atrocities Determination Act, mandating the Secretary of State to submit a report to Congress within one year of enactment assessing Beijing's conduct in Tibet.

What the bill mandates

The House measure is the companion to a Senate bill introduced by Republican Senator Rick Scott and Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley. If enacted, it would direct the State Department to investigate whether Chinese authorities subjected Tibetans to arbitrary killings, serious bodily or psychological harm, inhumane living conditions, forced displacement, mass detentions, coercive sterilisation and abortions, and the removal of Tibetan children from their families.

The legislation also calls for a review of Chinese government efforts to ‘sinicise' Tibetan Buddhism and suppress Tibetan language and culture. The mandated report would draw on State Department findings and third-party analyses, and recommend possible US responses, including sanctions, visa restrictions and diplomatic measures.

What the lawmakers said

‘For far too long, and with complete impunity, the Chinese Communist Party has been committing clear atrocities in Tibet against the Tibetan people,' Smith said in a statement announcing the legislation. ‘To marshal the clear and concrete actions needed to confront these crimes and hold the perpetrators accountable, we must disclose them by name, plainly and officially.'

He added that the United States ‘must stand alongside them as they fight to stop the erasure of their religion, language, culture, and identity.'

Suozzi framed the issue as a broader challenge to democratic values. ‘The Chinese Communist Party's brutal transnational repression campaign, which targets Tibetans and other ethnic minority groups, is a threat to democracy everywhere,' he said, adding that he stood with Tibetans ‘demanding independence and the freedom simply to be Tibetan — to speak their language, to practice their religion, and to live freely in their own country.'

Linking the cause to other rights battles, Suozzi said: ‘Whether it's Tibetan Buddhists, Uyghur Muslims, or democracy advocates in Hong Kong, we need to stand up to China for its failure to promote basic human rights.'

Scott, the Senate sponsor, accused Chinese authorities of carrying out ‘systematic killings, torture, forced sterilization, forced displacement, government sanctioned kidnapping, and a myriad of other crimes against humanity in its oppression of the Tibetan people.'

Scope of the proposed probe

The bill specifically directs the Secretary of State to examine evidence of systematic killings, torture, psychological intimidation, forced indoctrination, mass detention, deprivation of basic necessities, enforced sterilisation, coercive abortion practices and the transfer of Tibetan children through what the bill calls China's ‘colonial boarding school system'.

Why it matters

Tibet has long been a flashpoint between China and Western governments. A formal US genocide determination — as Washington issued for Beijing's treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang in 2021 — would carry significant diplomatic weight and could trigger fresh sanctions architecture. Beijing has consistently rejected such characterisations as interference in its internal affairs.

What's next

The House and Senate versions will move through their respective foreign affairs committees before any floor vote. Passage timelines remain uncertain given a crowded legislative calendar, but the bipartisan sponsorship signals durable congressional appetite for escalating scrutiny of China's rights record.