III

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. RES. 238

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding human rights conditions in

China and Tibet.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 1, 1998

Mr. WELLSTONE (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. LEAHY) submitted the

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding human rights

conditions in China and Tibet.

Whereas President Clinton will be the first United States

head of state to visit China since the 1989 crackdown on

the pro-democracy movement at Tiananmen Square;

Whereas according to the State Department’s China Country

Report on Human Rights Practices for 1996, ‘‘The Government continues to commit widespread and well documented human rights abuses, in violation of internationally-accepted norms, stemming from the authorities’ intolerance of dissent, fear of unrest, and the absence or

inadequacy of laws protecting basic freedoms.’’;

Whereas the symbolism of the official arrival ceremony which

will take place in Tiananmen Square could be interpreted
2

•SRES 238 IS

as a message to the Chinese people that will override anything the President might say about human rights and

the rule of law;

Whereas specific human rights preconditions should have

been set forth before setting the date for the President’s

visit; and

Whereas the President can still make important human

rights points during his visit to Beijing: Now, therefore,

be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that—

2 (1) at the upcoming United States-China sum3 mit the President should—

4 (A) secure from China’s leaders a pledge

5 to remove by a certain date the names on an

6 official reentry blacklist, which now contains the

7 names of more than fifty Chinese citizens living

8 in the United States who cannot return to

9 China because of their peaceful advocacy of

10 greater rights and freedom; and

11 (B) visit family members of victims of the

12 1989 massacre, many of whom still suffer from

13 political harassment, discrimination or persecu14 tion; and

15 (2) in the context of the upcoming United

16 States-China summit, the President should urge the

17 Chinese leaders to—
3

•SRES 238 IS

1 (A) engage in a meaningful dialogue with

2 the Dalai Lama with the aim of establishing

3 genuine cultural and religious autonomy in

4 Tibet;

5 (B) revise China’s vague, draconian secu6 rity laws, including the provisions on ‘‘endan7 gering state security’’ added to the criminal

8 code in March 1997;

9 (C) release unconditionally all imprisoned

10 political, religious, and labor activists detained

11 for their peaceful, nonviolent involvement in

12 public protests;

13 (D) review the sentences of more than

14 2,000 convicted so-called ‘‘counterrevolution15 aries’’ with a view towards granting full am16 nesty and releasing those convicted solely for

17 exercising their internationally recognized rights

18 of free speech and association, especially since

19 the crime of ‘‘counterrevolution’’ has itself been

20 abolished;

21 (E) encourage greater cooperation by the

22 Chinese government with the United Nation’s

23 human rights mechanisms and greater trans24 parency in China’s legal and detention system;
4

•SRES 238 IS

1 (F) ease religious repression by abolishing

2 the requirement that all religious sites register

3 with the official Religious Affairs Bureau and

4 implementing the 1994 recommendations of the

5 United Nations Special Rapporteur on Reli6 gious Intolerance;

7 (G) lift government mandated quotas on

8 the number of monks and nuns in monasteries

9 and nunneries, end the government’s current

10 ‘‘reeducation’’ campaign, and immediately rein11 state all monks and nuns expelled from their

12 monasteries and nunneries for failing to de13 nounce the Dalai Lama;

14 (H) allow access by credible, independent

15 human rights or humanitarian organizations to

16 the nine-year-old boy recognized by the Dalai

17 Lama in 1995 as the reincarnation of the Pan18 chen Lama; and

19 (I) allow regular, unmonitored access to

20 Tibet and Xinjiiang province of China by inde21 pendent human rights monitors.

Æ