IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 821 

Condemning Communist China’s discrimination, harassment, imprisonment, 

torture, and execution of its prisoners of conscience. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 13, 2007 

Mr. MCCOTTER (for himself, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. KUHL

of New York, Mr. STEARNS, and Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning Communist China’s discrimination, harassment, 

imprisonment, torture, and execution of its prisoners of 

conscience. 

Whereas according to the United States Commission on 

International Religious Freedom’s (‘‘USCIRF’’) 2007 

Annual Report, ‘‘All religious groups in China face some 

restrictions, monitoring, and surveillance, . . . and religious freedom conditions deteriorated for communities 

not affiliated with one of the 7 government-approved religious organizations,. . . and those closely associated with 

ethnic minority groups. Religious communities particularly targeted include . . . ‘underground’ Roman Catholics, ‘house church’ Protestants, and various spiritual 

movements such as Falun Gong’’; 


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•HRES 821 IH 

Whereas according to the USCIRF 2007 Annual Report, in 

Communist China, ‘‘There continue to be reports that 

prominent religious leaders and laypersons alike are confined, tortured, ‘disappeared’, imprisoned, or subjected to 

other forms of ill treatment on account of their religion 

or belief’’; 

Whereas according the United States Congressional-Executive 

Commission on China’s 2007 Annual Report, ‘‘The Commission noted a more visible trend in harassment and repression of unregistered Protestants for alleged cult involvement starting in mid-2006 . . .’’ and ‘‘an increase in 

harassment against unregistered Catholics starting in 

2004 and an increase in pressure on registered clerics beginning in 2005’’; 

Whereas according to the United States Department of 

State’s 2006 Country Report on Human Rights practices 

in China, ‘‘Government officials continued to deny holding any political prisoners, asserting that authorities detained persons not for their political or religious views, 

but because they violated the law; however, the authorities continued to confine citizens for reasons related to 

politics and religion’’; 

Whereas according to Chapter II Article 36 of the constitution of Communist China, ‘‘No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, 

or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, 

any religion’’; 

Whereas according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration 

of Human Rights, ‘‘Everyone has the right to freedom of 

thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either 


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•HRES 821 IH 

alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance’’; 

Whereas Communist China is an original party to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; 

Whereas according to Human Rights Watch’s 2007 World 

Report, Communist Chinese authorities arrested ‘‘. . . as 

many as 1,958 [protestant Christians] in a one-year period ending in June 2006—for attending training sessions and Bible study meetings in unregistered 

venues . . .’’; 

Whereas according to Amnesty International’s 2007 Annual 

Report on China, ‘‘Thousands of members of underground protestant ‘house churches’ and unofficial Catholic churches were detained, many of whom were ill-treated 

or tortured in detention’’; 

Whereas on May 27, 2001, Christian journalist Li Ying was 

arrested by the Communist Chinese authorities for her 

involvement in publishing an ‘‘underground’’ Christian 

church magazine, and she is presently serving a 15-year 

prison sentence in Communist China’s Wuhan Female 

Prison in Hubei Province; 

Whereas on August 20, 2001, Sun Minghua was arrested by 

Communist Chinese authorities for her leadership position in the South China Church, and she is presently 

serving a 13-year prison sentence in Communist China’s 

Wuhan Female Prison in Hubei Province; 

Whereas on June 17, 2004, Jiang Zongxiu was arrested, in 

Guizhou Provence, by Communist Chinese authorities for 

distributing Christian literature and died the following 


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•HRES 821 IH 

day, June 18, 2004, after being beaten to death while in 

the custody of Communist Chinese authorities; 

Whereas on December 1, 2004, Pastor Zhang Rongliang was 

arrested in Xuzahi village by Communist Chinese authorities and sentenced to seven and one-half years in 

prison at the Third Detention Center in Zhengzhou City, 

Hennan Provence. Previously, Pastor Rongliang served a 

combined 12 years in Communist Chinese prisons where 

he has been tortured with electrical shocks; 

Whereas on September 9, 2007, ‘‘underground’’ Bishop Han 

Dingxiang of the Diocese of Yong Nian died in a Communist Chinese prison after being detained for nearly 

eight years. During his life, Bishop Dingxiang was arrested 11 times and spent roughly 35 years in either 

labor camps, prisons, or under house arrest; 

Whereas on September 22, 2007, Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng was secretly taken from his home after 

sending an open letter to the United States Congress recounting Communist China’s elimination of over 3,000 

Falun Gong practitioners over the past eight years; 

Whereas on October 1, 2007, Hua Huiqi was placed under 

house arrest in Beijing by Communist Chinese authorities for his role as a pastor of an ‘‘underground’’ house 

church. Subsequently, on October 17, 2007, Hua Huiqi 

was beaten by Communist Chinese authorities because he 

would not reveal names of other ‘‘underground’’ Christians. Presently, Communist Chinese authorities have imprisoned Hua Huiqi’s 76-year-old mother, Shuang 

Shuying; 

Whereas according to the Cardinal Kung Foundation, Bishop 

Lin Xili, Bishop Shi Enxiang, Bishop Su Zhimin, and 


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Bishop Yao Liang are being held in secret locations by 

the Communist Chinese government; and 

Whereas according to the Cardinal Kung Foundation, Father 

Huo Junlong, Father Liu Deli, Father Lu Genjun, Father Ma Shunbao, and Father Ma Wuyong are presently 

detained in Communist Chinese prisons and Father Guo 

Ergrang, Father Yen Shuangxi, and Father Zhang 

Zhenquian are also detained and locked in small cages 

for roughly ten hours per day by the Communist Chinese 

government: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) condemns Communist China’s discrimina3 tion, harassment, imprisonment, torture, and execu4 tion of its prisoners of conscience; 

5 (2) calls upon Communist China to imme6 diately— 

7 (A) cease harassment and discrimination 

8 against all unregistered religious organizations 

9 and individual religious practitioners; and 

10 (B) release its prisoners of conscience; 

11 (3) calls upon Communist China to publicly re12 lease information about— 

13 (A) the number of prisoners of conscience 

14 presently detained in Communist China (includ15 ing Communist China’s Laogai prison camp 

16 system); 


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1 (B) the extent of Communist China’s 

2 organ harvesting among its prisoners of con3 science; and 

4 (C) the number of prisoners of conscience 

5 executed in Communist China (including Com6 munist China’s Laogai prison camp system); 

7 (4) expresses sympathy and condolences to the 

8 families of prisoners of conscience who have been 

9 imprisoned, tortured, and murdered by the Com10 munist Chinese government; 

11 (5) calls upon Communist China to allow the 

12 USCIRF or international humanitarian organiza13 tions unrestricted access to current and former pris14 oners of conscience held in Communist China’s jails, 

15 prison, administrative detention centers, and Laogai 

16 prison camp system; and 

17 (6) urges the administration to raise the issue 

18 of Communist China’s prisoners of conscience in 

19 high-level diplomatic meetings with Communist Chi20 nese officials. 

Æ 


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