Urges the Chinese Government to consider: (1) the implications to the broader U.S.-Chinese relationship of detaining and coercing confessions from U.S. citizens and permanent residents on unsubstantiated spying charges or suspicions; and (2) releasing Liu Yaping on medical parole.
Expresses the Senate's belief that human rights violations inflicted on U.S. citizens and residents will reduce opportunities for U.S.-Chinese cooperation.
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should: (1) make release of the detained American scholars a top priority and continue to make every effort to assist such persons and their families while discussions are ongoing; (2) make it clear that the detention and violation of the human rights of U.S. citizens and residents is not in the Chinese Government's interests; and (3) send a special, high ranking representative to reiterate deep concern regarding continued imprisonment of such persons and to discuss their legal status and immediate humanitarian needs.
[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.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7519-7520)
Committee on Foreign Relations. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
Committee on Foreign Relations. Reported by Senator Biden without amendment and with a preamble. Without written report.
Committee on Foreign Relations. Reported by Senator Biden without amendment and with a preamble. Without written report.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 83.
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Resolution agreed to in Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title and an amended preamble by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S8141-8142; text: CR 7/30/2001 S8400-8401)
Resolution agreed to in Senate with an amendment and an amendment to the Title and an amended preamble by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S8141-8142; text: CR 7/30/2001 S8400-8401)
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