[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1717 Engrossed in House (EH)]

H. Res. 1717

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      December 8, 2010.
Whereas Liu Xiaobo played a leading role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square 
        demonstration for democratic reform, insisting on peaceful means and 
        democratic process;
Whereas since 1989, Liu Xiaobo has been a leading figure promoting democratic 
        reform and respect for human rights, including by writing hundreds of 
        notable essays on these subjects;
Whereas between June 6, 1989, and October 1999, Chinese officials detained Liu 
        Xiaobo 3 times, totaling over 4 years confinement for his role in 
        Tiananmen Square and continued promotion of political reform;
Whereas in 2008, Liu Xiaobo was one of the principal drafters and organizers as 
        well as one of the first signers of Charter 08, a manifesto that 
        proposed democratic reform in China;
Whereas, on December 8, 2008, Chinese officials detained Liu Xiaobo for his role 
        in Charter 08, and found him guilty of ``inciting subversion of state 
        power'' in 2009 and sentenced him to 11 years imprisonment;
Whereas since December 2008, thousands of Chinese citizens from all walks of 
        life have signed Charter 08, and Chinese officials have detained, placed 
        under house arrest, or harassed many of them;
Whereas in 2010, many persons from around the world nominated Liu Xiaobo for the 
        Nobel Peace Prize, including the 14th Dalai Lama, Bishop Desmond Tutu, 
        Vaclav Havel, and 7 members of the United States House of 
        Representatives;
Whereas, on October 8, 2010, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced its award 
        of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo for his ``long and non-
        violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China'';
Whereas the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted that, ``the campaign to establish 
        universal human rights also in China is being waged by many Chinese * * 
        * through the severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the 
        foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in 
        China'';
Whereas when on October 9, 2010, Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo's wife, notified her 
        husband that he had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, he responded by 
        dedicating the prize to ``the Tiananmen martyrs'';
Whereas Chinese officials responded to the award by placing Liu Xia under house 
        arrest, harassing and detaining Liu Xiaobo's friends and supporters, 
        censoring Internet Web sites and blacking out television broadcasts that 
        reported the award, and defaming Liu Xiaobo by describing him as a 
        ``criminal'', a ``political tool of the West'', and a ``traitorous 
        operative'';
Whereas Chinese officials have claimed that the imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo is an 
        internal matter and that the award constitutes meddling in China's 
        internal affairs; and
Whereas President Barack Obama, the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, has 
        congratulated Liu Xiaobo on the award and called on Chinese officials to 
        release him from prison: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) congratulates Liu Xiaobo on the award of the 2010 Nobel Peace 
        Prize;
            (2) honors Liu Xiaobo's promotion of democratic reform in China, and 
        the courage with which he has bore repeated imprisonment by Chinese 
        officials;
            (3) states that in honoring Liu Xiaobo, it also honors all those who 
        have promoted democratic reform in China, including all those who 
        participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstration for democratic 
        reform;
            (4) asserts that Liu Xiaobo is a political prisoner, and that Liu 
        Xia, Liu Xiaobo's supporters, and all signers of Charter 08 who have 
        been detained, placed under house arrest, or harassed, are the victims 
        of political persecution;
            (5) calls on Chinese officials to release Liu Xiaobo from prison, 
        and to release Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo's supporters, and all signers of 
        Charter 08 from detention, house arrest, and harassment;
            (6) calls on Chinese officials to cease censoring media and Internet 
        reporting of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo and to 
        cease their campaign of defamation against Liu Xiaobo;
            (7) urges President Barack Obama to continue to work for the release 
        of Liu Xiaobo from prison, as well as the release of Liu Xia, Liu 
        Xiaobo's supporters, and all signers of Charter 08 from detention, house 
        arrest, and harassment; and
            (8) emphasizes that violations of human rights in general, and the 
        persecution of Liu Xiaobo, Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo's supporters, and all 
        signers of Charter 08 specifically, are matters of legitimate concern to 
        other governments.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.