[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 128 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 128

    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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 11, 2001

  Mr. Torricelli (for himself, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Allen, Mr. 
   Wellstone, Mr. Thomas, and Mr. Brownback) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 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 
        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 harassment, arbitrary arrest, detention, and filing of criminal 
        charges against scholars and intellectuals has created a chilling effect 
        on freedom of expression in the People's Republic of China, 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, was formally charged with spying for Taiwan on May 15, 
        2001, and is expected to go on trial on July 14, 2001;
Whereas Dr. Li Shaomin has been deprived of his basic human rights by arbitrary 
        arrest and detention, has not been allowed to contact his wife and child 
        (both United States citizens), and was prevented from seeing his lawyer 
        for an unacceptably long period of time;
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, has not been allowed to contact her husband and 
        child (both United States citizens) or Department of State consular 
        personnel in China, and was prevented from seeing her lawyer for an 
        unacceptably long period of time;
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 Qin 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 her appeal to 
        the Beijing Higher People's Court 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, has been 
        deprived of his basic human rights by being denied any access to family 
        members and by being denied regular access to lawyers, is reported to be 
        suffering from severe health problems, was accused of tax evasion and 
        other economic crimes, and has been denied his request for medical 
        parole;
Whereas because there is documented evidence that the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China uses torture to coerce confessions from suspects, 
        because the Government has thus far presented no evidence to support its 
        claims that the detained scholars and intellectuals are spies, and 
        because spying is vaguely defined under Chinese law, 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 Senate--
                    (A) condemns and deplores the continued detention 
                of Li Shaomin, Gao Zhan, Wu Jianmin, Qin 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, Qin 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 medical 
                parole, as provided for under Chinese law; 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 Senate that the President--
                    (A) should make the immediate release of Li 
                Shaomin, Gao Zhan, Wu Jianmin, Qin 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, Qin 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, 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, Qin Guangguang, Teng 
                Chunyan, and Liu Yaping, and to discuss their legal 
                status and immediate humanitarian needs.
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