III 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 88 

Urging the Government of China to reinstate all licenses of Gao Zhisheng 

and his law firm, remove all legal and political obstacles for lawyers 

attempting to defend criminal cases in China, including politically sensitive cases, and revise law and practice in China so that it conforms 

to international standards. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 7, 2006 

Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself and Mr. BROWNBACK) submitted the following 

concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Relations 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Urging the Government of China to reinstate all licenses 

of Gao Zhisheng and his law firm, remove all legal and 

political obstacles for lawyers attempting to defend criminal cases in China, including politically sensitive cases, 

and revise law and practice in China so that it conforms 

to international standards. 

Whereas, since November 2005, the Beijing Judicial Bureau 

has shut down the law firm and suspended the license of 

Mr. Gao Zhisheng, one of China’s best known lawyers 

and legal rights defenders; 

Whereas Mr. Gao has represented citizens of China in lawsuits against various local and administrative governVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:04 Apr 11, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SC88.IS SC88

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mental bodies of the People’s Republic of China over corruption, land seizures, police abuse, and violations of religious freedom; 

Whereas Mr. Gao wrote 3 open letters to President Hu 

Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao condemning the methods 

employed by the Government of China in implementing 

its ban on ‘‘evil cults’’, such as the Falun Gong and an 

additional letter documenting severe persecution of Christians in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region; 

Whereas Mr. Gao’s law practice filed a petition to appeal the 

verdict against Cai Zhuohua, who was found guilty of ‘‘illegal business practices’’ based upon his distribution of 

Bibles and religious material; 

Whereas Mr. Gao’s home has been constantly monitored by 

agents from the Ministry of State Security and Mr. Gao 

was prevented by the Public Security Ministry from 

meeting with the representatives of the United Nations 

Special Rapporteur on Torture during his November 

2005 visit to Beijing; 

Whereas agents of the Public Security Bureau of China, 

numbering between 10 and 20, have consistently monitored the activities and whereabouts of Mr. Gao, his 

wife, and his daughter since late November 2005; 

Whereas, on November 10, 2005, an open letter, signed by 

138 organizations worldwide, was submitted to President 

Bush calling on him to voice support of Mr. Gao and his 

legal practice during the President’s November 2005 visit 

to China; 

Whereas other human rights lawyers, collectively known as 

‘‘rights defenders’’, or Wei Quan, have also faced harassment, arrest, and detention for their consistent and vigVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:04 Apr 11, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SC88.IS SC88

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orous activities to defend the fundamental rights of the 

people of China, contrary to measures within the law of 

China protecting human rights and rights of lawyers; 

Whereas Mr. Chen Guangcheng, a blind human rights lawyer 

who has exposed cases of violence against women, including forced abortion and forced sterilization perpetrated 

by authorities of China under the 1-child policy, was 

beaten on October 10, 2005, and currently remains under 

house arrest; 

Whereas law professor and People’s Political Consultative 

Congress Delegate, Xu Zhiyong, who advocates on behalf 

of petitioners filing grievances with the Central government in Beijing, was also beaten on October 10, 2005, 

when meeting with Chen Guangcheng; 

Whereas Mr. Yang Maodong (also known as Guo Feixiong), 

a lawyer representing villagers in Taishi village who attempted to oust their village head in peaceful elections, 

has been arbitrarily detained repeatedly and remains 

under consistent surveillance by security agents; 

Whereas Mr. Tang Jingling, a Guangdong based lawyer also 

working on the Taishi village elections case, has been 

fired from his law firm and was beaten on February 2, 

2006, after attempting to meet with Yang Maodong; 

Whereas, according to the Department of State 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, lawyers who aggressively tried to defend their clients continued to face 

serious intimidation and abuse by police and prosecutors, 

and some of these lawyers were detained; 

Whereas the Constitution of China states that the courts 

shall, in accordance with the law, exercise judicial power 

independently, without interference from administrative 


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organs, social organizations, and individuals, but in practice, the judiciary is not independent and it receives policy guidance from both the Government of China and the 

Communist Party, whose leaders use a variety of means 

to direct courts on verdicts and sentences, particularly in 

politically sensitive cases; 

Whereas the Criminal Procedure Law of China gives suspects 

the right to seek legal counsel, but defendants in politically sensitive cases frequently find it difficult to find an 

attorney; 

Whereas the Lawyers Law of the People’s Republic of China 

states that a lawyer may ‘‘accept engagement by a criminal suspect in a criminal case to provide him with legal 

advice and represent him in filing a petition or charge or 

obtaining a guarantor pending trial’’; 

Whereas according to Article 306 of the Criminal Law of 

China, defense attorneys can be held responsible if their 

clients commit perjury, and prosecutors and judges in 

such cases have wide discretion in determining what constitutes perjury; 

Whereas according to the All-China Lawyers Association, 

since 1997 more than 500 defense attorneys have been 

detained on similar charges, and such cases continued 

during the last year despite promises made by the Government of China to amend Article 306; 

Whereas the State Department’s 2005 Annual Report on 

Human Rights states that China’s human rights record 

‘‘remained poor’’, that authorities of China quickly moved 

to suppress those who openly expressed dissenting political views, and that writers, religious activists, dissidents, 


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lawyers, and petitioners to the Central Government were 

particularly targeted; 

Whereas directly following their August 2005 visit to China, 

the United States Commission on International Religious 

Freedom found that— 

(1) the Government of China actively seeks to control and suppress the activities of unregistered religious 

organizations; 

(2) China has outlawed unregistered religious organizations and provides severe penalties for engaging in 

unregistered religious activities; 

(3) leaders of unregistered Protestant organizations 

have come under increased pressure to register their 

churches and affiliate with one of the government approved organizations, and those who refuse, for theological or other reasons, are subject to harassment, detention, arrest, and closing of their religious facilities; 

(4) groups determined by the Government of China 

to be ‘‘evil cults’’, such as Falun Gong, are brutally suppressed; and 

(5) practitioners of Falun Gong have experienced severe persecution, including arrests, numerous detentions, 

torture, irregular trials, imprisonment, and subjection to 

the reeducation through labor system, whereby accused 

criminals are subject to up to 3 years detention; 

Whereas despite questions raised by the Government of the 

United States and others about the charges made against 

Pastor Cai Zhuohua, the Government of China sentenced 

Pastor Cai and other members of his family to 3 years 

in prison for ‘‘illegal business practices’’ for their printing and distribution of religious materials; 


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Whereas, according to China’s Regulations on Religious Affairs, promulgated in March 2005, any religious organization that carries out activities without registering with 

the government is subject to civil punishment and to 

criminal prosecution; 

Whereas since the promulgation of the Regulations on Religious Affairs, the Government of China has stepped up 

its efforts to eliminate unregistered religious activity, 

with raids on ‘‘house church’’ Christian groups in several 

provinces, resulting in detention of hundreds of leaders of 

the house church, dozens of whom remain in custody; and 

Whereas the Government of China has, on several occasions, 

stated a commitment to ratify the International Covenant 

on Civil and Political Rights, but has delayed ratification 

since signing the document in 1998: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That— 

3 (1) Congress— 

4 (A) commends ‘‘rights defense’’ lawyers 

5 and activists of China for their courage and in6 tegrity, and expresses moral support for this 

7 grass-roots ‘‘rights defense’’ movement in 

8 China; 

9 (B) urges the Government of the People’s 

10 Republic of China, at all levels, to cease its har11 assment of Mr. Gao Zhisheng, overturn the sus12 pension of his license to practice law, and reVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:04 Apr 11, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SC88.IS SC88

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1 store his legal right to represent the clients of 

2 his choosing as protected by China’s own Con3 stitution, its Criminal Procedure Law, and its 

4 Lawyers Law; 

5 (C) urges the Government of the People’s 

6 Republic of China to repeal Article 306 of the 

7 Criminal Code of China, which provides pen8 alties for lawyers whose clients are accused of 

9 perjury and has been used to curtail the active 

10 legal defense of individuals accused of political 

11 crimes; 

12 (D) urges the Government of the People’s 

13 Republic of China to undertake measures to 

14 further amend the Lawyers Law to ensure law15 yers’ rights to investigate charges brought 

16 against their clients, to provide a vigorous de17 fense of their clients, and to remain free of har18 assment and intimidation throughout the course 

19 of representing clients, including clients who are 

20 charged with offenses related to political or reli21 gious activities; 

22 (E) urges the Government of the People’s 

23 Republic of China to respect fully the uni24 versality of the right to freedom of religion or 

25 belief and other human rights; 


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1 (F) urges the Government of the People’s 

2 Republic of China to ratify and implement in 

3 law the International Covenant on Civil and Po4 litical Rights, and to adopt such legislative or 

5 other measures as may be necessary to give ef6 fect to the rights recognized in the Covenant; 

7 (G) urges the Government of the People’s 

8 Republic of China to amend or repeal Article 

9 300 of the Criminal Code of China so it is con10 sistent with international law, and to halt its 

11 crackdown on spiritual movements; 

12 (H) urges the Government of the People’s 

13 Republic of China to halt arrests, harassment, 

14 and intimidation of leaders of unregistered reli15 gious organizations on the basis that their orga16 nizations violated the law by not registering 

17 with the Government of China; 

18 (I) urges the Government of the People’s 

19 Republic of China to Amend the Regulations on 

20 Religious Affairs to conform more closely with 

21 the internationally recognized freedom of 

22 thought, conscience, religion or belief and allow 

23 all religious believers in China to practice their 

24 religion without interference from the governVerDate Aug 31 2005 04:04 Apr 11, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SC88.IS SC88

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1 ment or from government sponsored ‘‘patriotic 

2 religious associations’’; 

3 (J) urges the Government of the People’s 

4 Republic of China to release Pastor Cai 

5 Zhuohua, his wife, and others imprisoned with 

6 him, and to allow Pastor Cai to resume reli7 gious activities and to resume leadership of his 

8 congregation in Beijing; and 

9 (K) urges the Government of the People’s 

10 Republic of China to invite the Special 

11 Rapporteur of the Commission on Human 

12 Rights on freedom of religion or belief to China 

13 as promised according to an agreement between 

14 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and 

15 the Department of State of China in March 

16 2005; and 

17 (2) it is the sense of Congress that— 

18 (A) the Government of the United States 

19 should support democracy and human rights 

20 programs that strengthen protection of basic 

21 rights and freedoms, and should initiate pro22 grams to train lawyers, judges, academics, and 

23 students in China about international human 

24 rights law, to inform citizens of China about 

25 international human rights norms, and to build 


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1 organizations and associations to promote these 

2 priorities; 

3 (B) the Government of the United States 

4 should support programs to promote legal pro5 tections and cultural awareness of the right to 

6 the freedom of religion or belief in China; and 

7 (C) the President should raise the issue of 

8 the Government of China’s harassment, arrest, 

9 detention, and persecution of rights defense 

10 lawyers and activists and the need for the Gov11 ernment of China to respect the basic human 

12 rights of its citizens and the rule of law with 

13 Chinese President Hu Jintao. 

Æ 


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