[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 160 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 160

    Calling on the Government of the People's Republic of China to 
   immediately and unconditionally release Li Shaomin and all other 
American scholars of Chinese ancestry being held in detention, calling 
on the President of the United States to continue working on behalf of 
 Li Shaomin and the other detained scholars for their release, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 8, 2001

Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Lantos, and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                       on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Calling on the Government of the People's Republic of China to 
   immediately and unconditionally release Li Shaomin and all other 
American scholars of Chinese ancestry being held in detention, calling 
on the President of the United States to continue working on behalf of 
 Li Shaomin and the other detained scholars for their release, and for 
                            other purposes.

Whereas in recent months the Government of the People's Republic of China has 
        targeted, arrested, and detained several scholars and intellectuals of 
        Chinese ancestry with ties to the United States, including at least 2 
        United States citizens and 3 permanent residents of the United States;
Whereas according to the Department of State's 2000 Country Reports on Human 
        Rights Practices in China, and international human rights organizations, 
        the Government of the People's Republic of China ``has continued to 
        commit widespread and well-documented human rights abuses, in violation 
        of internationally accepted norms'';
Whereas the targeting of intellectuals and scholars for harassment, arbitrary 
        arrest, detention, and criminal charges has created a chilling effect on 
        the freedom of expression, in contravention of internationally accepted 
        norms, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
        Rights, which the People's Republic of China signed in October 1998;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China frequently uses torture 
        and other human rights violations to produce coerced ``confessions'' 
        from detainees;
Whereas the Department of State's 2000 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
        in China has extensively documented that human rights abuses in the 
        People's Republic of China ``included instances of extrajudicial 
        killings, the use of torture, forced confessions, arbitrary arrest and 
        detention, the mistreatment of prisoners, lengthy incommunicado 
        detention, and denial of due process'', and also found that ``[p]olice 
        and prosecutorial officials often ignore the due process provisions of 
        the law and of the Constitution . . . [f]or example, police and 
        prosecutors can subject prisoners to severe psychological pressure to 
        confess, and coerced confessions frequently are introduced as 
        evidence'';
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China has reported that some 
        of the scholar detainees have ``confessed'' to their ``crimes'' of 
        ``spying'', but it has yet to produce any evidence of spying, and has 
        refused to permit the detainees to confer with their families or 
        lawyers;
Whereas the Department of State's 2000 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
        in China also found that ``police continue to hold individuals without 
        granting access to family or a lawyer, and trials continue to be 
        conducted in secret'';
Whereas Dr. Li Shaomin is a United States citizen and scholar who has been 
        detained by the Government of the People's Republic of China for more 
        than 100 days, and was formally charged with spying for Taiwan on May 
        15, 2001;
Whereas Dr. Li Shaomin has been deprived of his basic human rights by arbitrary 
        arrest and detention, and has not been allowed to contact his wife and 
        child (both United States citizens), or his lawyer;
Whereas Dr. Gao Zhan is a permanent resident of the United States and scholar 
        who has been detained by the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China for more than 114 days, and was formally charged with ``accepting 
        money from a foreign intelligence agency'' on April 4, 2001;
Whereas Dr. Gao Zhan has been deprived of her basic human rights by arbitrary 
        arrest and detention, and has not been allowed to contact her husband 
        and child (both United States citizens), her lawyer, or Department of 
        State consular personnel in China;
Whereas Wu Jianmin is a United States citizen and author who has been detained 
        by the Government of the People's Republic of China, has been deprived 
        of his basic human rights by arbitrary arrest and detention, has been 
        denied access to lawyers and family members, and has yet to be formally 
        charged with any crimes;
Whereas Tan Guangguang is a permanent resident of the United States and 
        researcher who has been detained by the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China on suspicions of ``leaking state secrets'', has been 
        deprived of his basic human rights by arbitrary arrest and detention, 
        has been denied access to lawyers and family members, and has yet to be 
        formally charged with any crimes;
Whereas Teng Chunyan is a permanent resident of the United States, Falun Gong 
        practitioner, and researcher who has been sentenced to three years in 
        prison for spying by the Government of the People's Republic of China, 
        apparently for conducting research which documented violations of the 
        human rights of Falun Gong adherents in China, has been deprived of her 
        basic human rights by being placed on trial in secret, and by being 
        forced to undergo three months of ``thought re-education'' while she 
        awaited an appeal to the Beijing Higher People's Court, which was denied 
        on May 11, 2001;
Whereas Liu Yaping is a permanent resident of the United States and a 
        businessman who was arrested and detained in Inner Mongolia in March 
        2001 by the Government of the People's Republic of China for alleged 
        failure to pay income taxes, has been deprived of his basic human rights 
        by being denied any access to family members, by being denied regular 
        access to lawyers, is reported to be suffering from severe health 
        problems, and has yet to be formally charged with any crimes;
Whereas because there is documented evidence that the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China uses torture to coerce confessions from suspects, and 
        because there is no evidence that any of the detained scholars and 
        intellectuals are spies, there is reason to believe that the 
        ``confessions'' of Dr. Li Shaomin and Dr. Gao Zhan may have been 
        coerced; and
Whereas the arbitrary imprisonment of United States citizens and residents by 
        the Government of the People's Republic of China, and the continuing 
        violations of their fundamental human rights, demands an immediate and 
        forceful response by Congress and the President of the United States: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) the House of Representatives--
                    (A) condemns and deplores the continued detention 
                of Li Shaomin, Gao Zhan, Wu Jianmin, Tan Guangguang, 
                Teng Chunyan, and other scholars detained on false 
                charges by the Government of the People's Republic of 
                China, and calls for their immediate and unconditional 
                release;
                    (B) condemns and deplores the lack of due process 
                afforded to these detainees, and the probable coercion 
                of confessions from some of them;
                    (C) condemns and deplores the ongoing and 
                systematic pattern of human rights violations by the 
                Government of the People's Republic of China, of which 
                the unjust detentions of Li Shaomin, Gao Zhan, Wu 
                Jianmin, Tan Guangguang, and Teng Chunyan, are only 
                important examples;
                    (D) strongly urges the Government of the People's 
                Republic of China to consider carefully the 
                implications to the broader United States-Chinese 
                relationship of detaining and coercing confessions from 
                United States citizens and permanent residents on 
                unsubstantiated spying charges or suspicions;
                    (E) urges the Government of the People's Republic 
                of China to consider releasing Liu Yaping on 
                humanitarian grounds; and
                    (F) believes that human rights violations inflicted 
                on United States citizens and residents by the 
                Government of the People's Republic of China will 
                reduce opportunities for United States-Chinese 
                cooperation on a wide range of issues; and
            (2) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
        the President--
                    (A) should make the immediate release of Li 
                Shaomin, Gao Zhan, Wu Jianmin, Tan Guangguang, and Teng 
                Chunyan a top priority of United States foreign policy 
                with the Government of the People's Republic of China;
                    (B) should continue to make every effort to assist 
                Li Shaomin, Gao Zhan, Wu Jianmin, Tan Guangguang, and 
                Teng Chunyan, and their families, while discussions of 
                their release are ongoing;
                    (C) should make it clear to the Government of the 
                People's Republic of China, that the detention of 
                United States citizens and residents on unsubstantiated 
                charges or suspicions of spying, and the infliction of 
                human rights violations upon United States citizens and 
                residents, is not in the interests of the Government of 
                the People's Republic of China because it will reduce 
                opportunities for United States-Chinese cooperation on 
                other matters; and
                    (D) should immediately send a special, high ranking 
                representative to the Government of the People's 
                Republic of China to reiterate the deep concern of the 
                United States regarding the continued imprisonment of 
                Li Shaomin, Gao Zhan, Wu Jianmin, Tan Guangguang, Teng 
                Chunyan, and Liu Yaping, and to discuss their legal 
                status and immediate humanitarian needs.
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