[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 43 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

  1st Session
S. J. RES. 43

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of Congress regarding Wei Jingsheng; Gedhun 
  Choekyi Nyima, the next Panchen Lama of Tibet; and the human rights 
     practices of the Government of the People's Republic of China.

Whereas on November 21, 1995, the Government of the People's Republic of China 
        formally arrested Wei Jingsheng, who is known internationally as the 
        father of the democracy movement in China;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China has held Wei Jingsheng 
        incommunicado and without charge since April 1994 and has rebuffed 
        international calls to release him;
Whereas Wei Jingsheng has spent all but 6 months of the last 16 years in 
        detention because of his unwavering support for freedom of speech and 
        the development of democracy in China;
Whereas at an October 1995 meeting in New York between President Clinton and 
        President Jiang Zemin of China, the Administration urged the Government 
        of the People's Republic of China to release political prisoners and 
        specifically included Wei Jingsheng and others among such prisoners;
Whereas the treatment of Wei Jingsheng by the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China raises concern over the future of other jailed 
        dissidents in China, including Wang Dan, a student leader in the 1989 
        pro-democracy movement in China;
Whereas on May 14, 1995, His Holiness the Dalai Lama announced recognition of 6-
        year old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the next Panchen Lama;
Whereas recognition of the successor to the Panchen Lama in Tibet has always 
        been within the authority of the Dalai Lama;
Whereas for the first time in Tibetan history, the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China has imposed on Tibet its own candidate for a new 
        Panchen Lama and has rejected the new Panchen Lama selected by the Dalai 
        Lama;
Whereas Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family have been missing for 6 months and 
        are reportedly being held by authorities of the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China;
Whereas Chatrel Rinpoche, who is the head of the original search committee for 
        the new Panchen Lama and who refused to denounce the Dalai Lama's 
        selection of the new Panchen Lama, is also missing and believed to be 
        held by authorities of the Government of the People's Republic of China;
Whereas the Panchen Lama is one of the highest-ranking religious official of 
        Tibetan Buddhism;
Whereas the rejection of the Dalai Lama's selection of Panchen Lama by the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China, and the selection of its 
        own candidate for Panchen Lama, is seen by many Tibetans as politicizing 
        a purely religious affair and as a violation of fundamental Tibetan 
        human rights;
Whereas since the invasion of Tibet in 1949, the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China has taken any expression by the Tibetan people of 
        their distinct religious or cultural identity as a direct challenge to 
        that government's political control of Tibet;
Whereas Chinese officials have repeatedly maintained that the Tibet Autonomous 
        Region is entitled to manage its own cultural and religious affairs, and 
        the intervention of Chinese government authorities in the selection of 
        the next Panchen Lama is a clear violation of that principle;
Whereas for 3 consecutive years, the United States has been a primary sponsor of 
        resolutions criticizing the human rights practices of the Government of 
        the People's Republic of China in China and Tibet at the annual meetings 
        of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva;
Whereas these resolutions call upon the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China to take measures to ensure the observance of all human rights, 
        invite that government to cooperate with all special rapporteurs and 
        working groups, and request the Secretary General of the United Nations 
        to prepare a report for the United Nations Human Rights Commission on 
        the human rights situation in China and Tibet;
Whereas at the March 1995 meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Commission 
        in Geneva, the resolution lost by only 1 vote;
Whereas it is important to maintain international pressure on the Government of 
        the People's Republic of China in order to induce that government to 
        respect internationally-recognized standards of human rights; and
Whereas in May 1994, the President of the United States pledged strong support 
        for efforts at international forums to criticize the human rights 
        practices of the Government of the People's Republic of China: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the United States 
Government should--
            (1) press for the immediate and unconditional release of 
        Wei Jingsheng and other political prisoners by the Government 
        of the People's Republic of China;
            (2) urge the Government of the People's Republic of China 
        to respect the wishes of the Tibetan people by supporting the 
        selection of the new Panchen Lama by His Holiness the Dalai 
        Lama;
            (3) work to ensure the safety of the new Panchen Lama as 
        selected by the Dalai Lama; and
            (4) sponsor and aggressively push for the passage of a 
        resolution regarding the human rights situation in China at the 
        annual meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 
        Geneva scheduled for March 1996.

            Passed the Senate December 13, 1995.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
104th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                             S. J. RES. 43

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION

   Expressing the sense of Congress regarding Wei Jingsheng; Gedhun 
  Choekyi Nyima, the next Panchen Lama of Tibet; and the human rights 
     practices of the Government of the People's Republic of China.