[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 127 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 127

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the planned state visit to 
 the United States by the President of the People's Republic of China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 25, 1997

 Mr. Feingold (for himself, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Helms, and Mr. Wellstone) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the planned state visit to 
 the United States by the President of the People's Republic of China.

Whereas the President of the People's Republic of China is tentatively scheduled 
        to begin a state visit in Washington, D.C., on October 29, 1997;
Whereas a state visit, unlike a working-level visit, involves the highest-level 
        protocol that can be afforded a foreign head of state;
Whereas on December 13, 1995, a Beijing court sentenced Wei Jingsheng to 14 
        years in prison for peacefully advocating democracy and political 
        reforms in China;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China had previously 
        imprisoned Wei Jingsheng from 1979 to 1993, also for peacefully 
        promoting human rights and democracy in China;
Whereas Wei Jingsheng is just one of hundreds, if not thousands, of other 
        political, religious, and labor dissidents who are imprisoned in China 
        and Tibet for peacefully expressing their beliefs and exercising their 
        internationally recognized rights of free association and expression;
Whereas like other prisoners, Wei Jingsheng is in poor health and Chinese 
        authorities refuse to provide him with proper medical care; and
Whereas the Department of State 1996 Human Rights Report states: ``[t]he 
        Government [of the People's Republic of China] continued to commit 
        widespread and well-documented human rights abuses, in violation of 
        internationally accepted norms, stemming from the authorities' 
        intolerance of dissent, fear of unrest, and the absence or inadequacy of 
        laws protecting basic freedoms.'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the President 
should not host a state visit by the President of the People's Republic 
of China until--
            (1) the Government of the People's Republic of China 
        immediately and unconditionally releases Wei Jingsheng, Wang 
        Dan, and a significant number of other prisoners of conscience 
        held in prison in China and Tibet;
            (2) the Government of the People's Republic of China takes 
        immediate steps toward improving the conditions under which 
        political, religious, and labor dissidents are imprisoned in 
        China and Tibet, including providing prisoners with adequate 
        medical care and allowing international humanitarian agencies 
        access to detention facilities; and
            (3) the Government of the People's Republic of China makes 
        significant progress toward improving overall human rights 
        conditions in China and Tibet, including taking concrete steps 
        to grant freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of 
        association in compliance with international human rights 
        standards.
                                 <all>