III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 497 

Commemorating the life of Dr. Li Wenliang and calling for transparency 

and cooperation from the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

and the Communist Party of China. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2020 

Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. GARDNER) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the life of Dr. Li Wenliang and calling 

for transparency and cooperation from the Government 

of the People’s Republic of China and the Communist 

Party of China. 

Whereas Dr. Li Wenliang was a 34-year-old ophthalmologist 

working in Wuhan, China; 

Whereas research indicates that the first patient infected 

with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019–nCoV) exhibited 

symptoms on December 1, 2019; 

Whereas, in December 2019, Dr. Li notified his associates in 

the medical community in China about the outbreak of 

2019–nCoV; 


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•SRES 497 IS 

Whereas, after raising concerns about the spread of 2019– 

nCoV, Dr. Li was summoned by Chinese officials and 

forced to sign a statement retracting his warnings about 

the virus and confessing that he had spread illegal rumors; 

Whereas Chinese government authorities played down dangers to the public for weeks as 2019–nCoV continued to 

spread, with more than 42,000 confirmed cases in China 

alone and at least 1,000 deaths reported as of February 

11, 2020; 

Whereas Dr. Li continued to work as an ophthalmologist at 

Wuhan Central Hospital despite his knowledge of the 

outbreak, and appears to have been infected himself with 

2019–nCoV after coming in contact with a patient he 

was treating for glaucoma; 

Whereas, on the morning of February 7, 2020, in the hospital where he worked, Dr. Li Wenliang died after contracting 2019–nCoV; 

Whereas, before he passed away, Dr. Li stated, ‘‘If the officials had disclosed information about the epidemic earlier, I think it would have been a lot better. There should 

be more openness and transparency.’’; 

Whereas the people of China expressed their grief and anger 

on social media after the death of Dr. Li, with the phrase 

‘‘I want freedom of speech’’ emerging as a top trending 

topic on the Weibo platform; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

continues to limit free expression, and stepped up censorship after online criticism and investigative reports by 

Chinese journalists suggesting that officials underestimated and underplayed the threat of 2019–nCoV; 


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•SRES 497 IS 

Whereas Freedom House has listed China as the ‘‘worst 

abuser of internet freedom’’ in the world for the fourth 

year in a row, and in the aftermath of the outbreak of 

2019–nCoV, there are numerous and well-documented instances of the ‘‘Great Firewall’’ of China suppressing the 

free flow of critical and medically important information 

about the pandemic; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

has endangered the people of Taiwan and people around 

the world by using its influence to limit Taiwan’s access 

to the benefits of membership in the World Health Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization, particularly during the current outbreak; and 

Whereas the World Health Organization has declared 2019– 

nCoV a Public Health Emergency of International Concern: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors the life and contributions of Dr. Li 

3 Wenliang, and extends heartfelt sympathy to his 

4 family and to the families of all who have passed 

5 during this outbreak; 

6 (2) expresses its support for the people of 

7 China as they face this unprecedented public health 

8 challenge; 

9 (3) expresses gratitude to Dr. Li and all Chi10 nese medical personnel and citizens for their efforts 

11 to spread awareness of 2019–nCoV and treat indi12 viduals who have contracted the disease; 


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•SRES 497 IS 

1 (4) calls on the Government of the People’s Re2 public of China and the Communist Party of 

3 China— 

4 (A) to be open and transparent in inves5 tigating and responding to 2019–nCoV; 

6 (B) to ensure that Chinese citizens and the 

7 international community have free and unfet8 tered access, without censorship or social media 

9 controls, to information about 2019–nCoV; 

10 (C) to cooperate fully with the United 

11 States Government, including the Centers for 

12 Disease Control and Prevention, in providing 

13 medical access, sharing information, and devel14 oping treatment to combat 2019–nCoV; 

15 (D) to cooperate fully with other govern16 ments, especially those in Southeast Asia, Afri17 ca, Latin America, and other regions whose 

18 health systems already face high burdens and 

19 are operating from a lower base of capability, 

20 as well as international health organizations in 

21 combating 2019–nCoV; and 

22 (E) to cease efforts to exclude Taiwan 

23 from international organizations, including the 

24 World Health Organization and the Inter25 national Civil Aviation Organization; 


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•SRES 497 IS 

1 (5) affirms the vital importance of Dr. Li’s be2 lief that ‘‘[t]here should be more openness and 

3 transparency’’ in China; 

4 (6) affirms that freedom of expression is a so5 cial good that enables experts to sound public health 

6 warnings and helps citizens ensure that their govern7 ment addresses weaknesses in crisis response; and 

8 (7) strongly supports the people of China in 

9 their demand for freedom of speech. 

Æ 


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