H. Res. 1370 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

July 30, 2008. 

Whereas the relationship between the United States and the 

People’s Republic of China is one of the most important 

and complex in global affairs; 

Whereas in the context of this complex relationship, the promotion of human rights and political freedoms in the 

People’s Republic of China is a central goal of United 

States foreign policy towards China; 

Whereas increased protection and stronger guarantees of 

human rights and political freedoms in the People’s Republic of China would improve the relationship between 

the United States and the People’s Republic of China; 

Whereas the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be held from 

August 8, 2008, through August 24, 2008; 

Whereas the United States should continue to advance its 

policy goal of improved human rights and political freedoms in the People’s Republic of China in the context of 

the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games; 

Whereas all Olympic athletes deserve to participate in a competition that takes place in an atmosphere that honors 

the Olympic traditions of freedom and openness; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

committed to protect human rights, religious freedom, 
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freedom of movement, and freedom of the press as part 

of its conditions for being named to host the Beijing 

2008 Olympic Games; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

issued temporary regulations promising foreign media 

representatives covering the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games 

that they could travel freely, with the exception of in the 

Tibet Autonomous Region, and did not require advance 

permission before interviewing Chinese citizens during 

the period of January 1, 2007, to October 18, 2008; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

has failed to abide by many provisions of those regulations and has restricted foreign media by— 

(1) detaining 15 journalists in 2007 for activities 

permitted by the new regulations; 

(2) refusing to allow foreign media representatives 

access to Tibetan areas of China, including those areas 

outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region covered by the 

pledge of free access, to report on the March 2008 protests and the Government of the People’s Republic of 

China’s violent crackdown against Tibetans in those 

areas; and 

(3) interfering with foreign media representatives 

and their Chinese employees who were hired within 

China, such that 40 percent of foreign correspondents 

have reported government interference with their attempts to cover the news in China; 

Whereas in advance of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, 

there are widespread reports that the Government of the 

People’s Republic of China has refused to grant visas or 

entry to individuals because of their political views, beliefs, writings, association, religion, and ethnicity; 
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Whereas Chinese citizens and foreign visitors in China for the 

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will not have free access to 

information if the Government of the People’s Republic 

of China continues to engage in blocking of overseas 

websites and other forms of Internet filtering and censorship; 

Whereas the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will not take place 

in an atmosphere of freedom if the Government of the 

People’s Republic of China continues to limit the freedoms of speech, press, religion, movement, association, 

and assembly of its citizens and visitors, including political dissidents, protesters, petitioners, the disabled, religious activists, minorities, the homeless, and other people 

it considers undesirable; 

Whereas despite the Government of the People’s Republic of 

China’s repeated pledges to the international community 

that the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS are a 

national priority, HIV/AIDS activists and their organizations remain targets for repression and harassment by 

Chinese authorities; 

Whereas in the period preceding the Olympics Games, Chinese security forces have detained, threatened, and harassed HIV/AIDS and hepatitis advocates; shut down conferences and meetings of Chinese and foreign HIV/AIDS 

experts; and closed AIDS organizations; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

continues to ignore its international commitments to refugee protection, as evidenced by film footage recording 

the shooting death of a Tibetan nun by Chinese border 

guards in October of 2006 and human rights groups’ reports citing increased bounties offered for turning in 
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North Korean refugees in 2008 to discourage bordercrossing prior to the Olympic Games; 

Whereas workers in the People’s Republic of China are often 

exposed to exploitative and unsafe working conditions, including excessive exposure to dangerous machinery and 

chemicals; 

Whereas according to Amnesty International, some Chinese 

companies withhold wages from workers for months while 

retaining their ID cards to prevent them from securing 

other work and, in the city of Shenzhen alone, an average 

of 13 factory workers a day lose a finger or an arm, and 

every 41⁄2 days a worker dies in a workplace accident; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

has increased its persecution of the Falun Gong prior to 

the Olympic Games; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

remains unwilling to invite His Holiness the Dalai Lama 

to China to hold direct talks on a resolution on the issue 

of Tibet, despite calls from the international community 

to do so before the Olympic Games; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

has had discussions with the representatives of the Dalai 

Lama, but has been unwilling to engage in substantive 

discussions on the future of Tibet and Tibetans in China; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China’s 

continued economic and political support for foreign governments that commit gross human rights violations, including those of Sudan and Burma, contradicts the spirit 

of freedom and openness of the Olympic Games; 

Whereas it is the desire of the House of Representatives that 

the People’s Republic of China take the specific actions 
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set forth herein so that the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games 

are successful and reflect positively on its host country; 

Whereas the Chinese Government limits most women to having one child and strictly controls the reproductive lives 

of Chinese citizens by systematic means that include 

mandatory monitoring of women’s reproductive cycles, 

mandatory contraception or sterilization, mandatory birth 

permits, coercive fines for failure to comply, forced abortion, and involuntary sterilization, and this coercive policy 

adversely affects Chinese women and has led to widespread sex-selective abortion; and 

Whereas on June 26, 2008, the Congressional-Executive 

Commission on China published on its Web site a welldocumented list of 734 political prisoners detained by the 

Government of China for exercising rights pertaining to 

peaceful assembly, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and free expression, which are rights guaranteed 

to them by China’s law and Constitution, or by international law, or both: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately end abuses of the human 

rights of its citizens, to cease repression of Tibetan and 

Uighur people, and to end its support for the Governments of Sudan and Burma to ensure that the Beijing 

2008 Olympic Games take place in an atmosphere that 

honors the Olympic traditions of freedom and openness; 

(2) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately release all those imprisoned 
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or detained for nonviolently exercising their political and 

religious rights and their right to free expression, such 

as Hu Jia, who have been imprisoned, detained, or harassed for seeking to hold China accountable to commitments to improve human rights conditions announced 

when bidding to host the Olympic Games, embodied in 

China’s own laws and regulations, and in international 

agreements; 

(3) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to honor its commitment to freedom of the 

press for foreign reporters in China before and during 

the Olympic Games, to make those commitments permanent, and publicly to guarantee an immediate end to the 

detention, harassment, and intimidation of both foreign 

and domestic reporters; 

(4) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to permit visitors to China, including 

through the issuance of visas, for the period surrounding 

the Olympics, regardless of religious background, belief, 

or political opinion; 

(5) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to guarantee freedom of movement within 

China during the period surrounding the Olympics for 

all visitors, participants, and journalists visiting China 

for the Olympics, and such freedom of movement should 
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include the freedom to visit Tibet, Xinjiang, China’s border regions, and all other areas of China without restriction and without special permits or advance notice; 

(6) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to guarantee access to information by Chinese citizens and foreign visitors, including full access to 

domestic and overseas broadcasts, print media, and 

websites that in the past may have been excluded, 

censored, jammed, or blocked; 

(7) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to permit political dissidents, protesters, petitioners, religious activists, minorities, the disabled, the 

homeless, and others to maintain their homes, usual locations, jobs, freedom of movement, and freedom to engage in peaceful activities during the period surrounding 

the Olympics; 

(8) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to end the exploitative and dangerous conditions faced by Chinese workers in many state enterprises 

and other commercial entities; 

(9) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to begin earnest negotiations, without preconditions, directly with His Holiness the Dalai Lama or 

his representatives, on the future of Tibet to provide for 

a mutually agreeable solution that addresses the legiti-
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mate grievances of, and provides genuine autonomy for, 

the Tibetan people; 

(10) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to end its political, economic, and military support for the Government of Sudan until the violent attacks in Darfur have ceased and the Sudanese 

Government has allowed for the full deployment of the 

United Nations-African Union Mission peacekeeping 

force in Darfur; 

(11) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to end its political, economic, and military support for the Government of Burma until democracy is restored in Burma, human rights abuses have 

ceased, and Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners of conscience are released; 

(12) calls on the President to make a strong public 

statement on China’s human rights situation prior to his 

departure to Beijing for the Olympic Games, to make a 

similar statement in Beijing and meet with the families 

of jailed prisoners of conscience, and to seek to visit 

Tibet and Xinjiang while in China to attend the Olympic 

Games; 

(13) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to abandon its coercive population con-
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trol policy which includes forced abortion and involuntary sterilization; and 

(14) calls on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to review the political prisoner list published by the Congressional-Executive Commission on 

China with a view to releasing ill and aged prisoners on 

humanitarian grounds, and to releasing those imprisoned 

in violation of Chinese law or international human rights 

law. 

Attest: 

Clerk.