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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 124

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Olympic Summer Games in

the year 2000 should not be held in Beijing or elsewhere in the People’s

Republic of China.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 22, 1993

Mr. BRADLEY (for himself and Mr. LEAHY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

Transportation

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Olympic Summer

Games in the year 2000 should not be held in Beijing

or elsewhere in the People’s Republic of China.

Whereas opponents of the human rights policies of the People’s Republic of China should use a variety of vehicles,

including international organizations, international regimes, and international events to express concern about

China’s human rights practices;

Whereas the International Olympic Committee is currently

considering possible venues for the Olympic Summer

Games in the year 2000, and the governments of the city

of Beijing and of the People’s Republic of China have

submitted a proposal to the International Olympic Committee that such Olympic Games be held in Beijing;
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Whereas the State Department publication entitled ‘‘Country

Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1992’’ states

that—

(1) the government of China’s ‘‘human rights practices have remained repressive, falling far short of internationally accepted norms’’;

(2) ‘‘torture and degrading treatment of detained

and imprisoned persons’’ persists today in China;

(3) ‘‘conditions in all types of Chinese penal institutions are harsh and frequently degrading’’; and

(4) the government of China ‘‘still has not satisfactorily accounted for the thousands of persons throughout

the country who were arrested or held in ‘detention during the investigation’ or ‘administrative detention’ status

for activities related to the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations’’;

Whereas the government of China has consistently failed to

respect civil liberties and, according to the State Department’s ‘‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for

1992’’, freedom of speech and self-expression remain ‘‘severely restricted’’ in China;

Whereas the government of China has failed to accede to the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and

has questioned the universality of human rights;

Whereas the government of China uses torture, forced labor,

and physical isolation to punish political prisoners;

Whereas Chinese authorities have prohibited the establishment of independent Chinese organizations that monitor

or comment on human rights conditions in China, refused

requests by international human rights delegations to

meet with political prisoners and former detainees, and
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expelled foreign visitors indicating an interest in monitoring human rights conditions in China;

Whereas the government of China has engaged in transfers

of population in order to marginalize the Tibetans inside

Tibet and is engaged in the systematic suppression of the

Tibetan people, their culture, and their religion;

Whereas, in recent years, the government of China has imposed tighter control over religious practices and has engaged in greater repression of religion in China;

Whereas, due to the policies of the government of China, Chinese workers are denied the right to organize independent trade unions and to bargain collectively, and products

manufactured in China through the use of forced labor

have been exported to the United States;

Whereas the government of China is engaged in ongoing pervasive human rights abuses of women and children, including the use of forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations, in its enforcement of China’s one child per couple policy;

Whereas, in the spring of 1989, then mayor of Beijing, Chen

Xitong, called for a crackdown on the pro-democracy

demonstrators in Tiananmen Square and, on May 20,

1989, signed a martial law decree authorizing the entry

of armed troops into the city;

Whereas Chen Xitong, currently the Chairman of the Beijing

2000 Olympic Bid Committee, has assured the International Olympic Committee in China’s formal application that ‘‘neither now, nor in the future, will there

emerge in Beijing organizations opposing Beijing’s bid’’

to host the Olympic Games, thus boasting of the Chinese

regime’s determination to crush dissent; and
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Whereas holding the Olympic Games in countries such as the

People’s Republic of China shifts the focus of the Olympic Games away from the high ideals behind the Olympic

tradition and is counterproductive to the Olympic movement: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the Senate—

2 (1) strongly opposes the holding of the Olympic

3 Summer Games in the year 2000 in the city of

4 Beijing or elsewhere in the People’s Republic of

5 China and urges the International Olympic Commit6 tee to find a more suitable venue for the Games;

7 (2) urges the United States representative to

8 the International Olympic Committee to vote against

9 holding the Olympic Summer Games in the year

10 2000 in the city of Beijing or elsewhere in the Peo11 ple’s Republic of China; and

12 (3) directs the Secretary of the Senate to trans13 mit a copy of this resolution to the Chairman of the

14 International Olympic Committee and to the United

15 States representative to the International Olympic

16 Committee with the request that it be circulated to

17 all members of the Committee.

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