III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 232 

Recognizing the continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China 

on the 12th anniversary of the campaign by the Chinese Communist 

Party to suppress the Falun Gong movement, recognizing the Tuidang 

movement whereby Chinese citizens renounce their ties to the Chinese 

Communist Party and its affiliates, and calling for an immediate end 

to the campaign to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2011 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Mr. COBURN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China on the 12th anniversary of the campaign 

by the Chinese Communist Party to suppress the Falun 

Gong movement, recognizing the Tuidang movement 

whereby Chinese citizens renounce their ties to the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliates, and calling for 

an immediate end to the campaign to persecute Falun 

Gong practitioners. 

Whereas Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) is a Chinese spiritual discipline founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992 

that consists of spiritual and moral teachings, meditation, 

and exercise based upon the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance; 

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•SRES 232 IS 

Whereas, during the mid-1990s, Falun Gong acquired a large 

and diverse following, with as many as 70,000,000 practitioners at its peak; 

Whereas, on April 25, 1999, an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 

Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Beijing to protest 

growing restrictions by the Government of the People’s 

Republic of China on the activities of Falun Gong practitioners, and the Government of the People’s Republic of 

China responded with an intensive, comprehensive, and 

unforgiving campaign against the movement that began 

on July 20, 1999, with the outlawing of Falun Gong; 

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

has stated that it fully respects and protects citizen’s 

freedom of religion in accordance with the law, but that 

‘‘Falun Gong is neither a religion nor a spiritual movement; rather it is an evil cult against humanity, science 

and society’’; 

Whereas, on October 30, 1999, China’s National People’s 

Congress promulgated an ‘‘anti-cult’’ law (article 300 of 

the Criminal Law), effective retroactively, to suppress the 

Falun Gong movement and thousands of religious sects 

across the country; 

Whereas, since 1999, more than 6,000 Falun Gong practitioners have reportedly served time in prison, with estimates of those in reeducation through labor camps reaching as many as 125,000 people, and Falun Gong practitioners are said to constitute approximately two-thirds of 

all prisoners and detainees of conscience in China (roughly 15,000 people); 

Whereas the publication of ‘‘Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party’’ in November 2004 by the United Statesmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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based newspaper, the Epoch Times, led to the creation of 

the Tuidang movement; 

Whereas the Tuidang movement, which translates literally as 

‘‘withdraw from the communist party’’, has encouraged 

as many as 90,000,000 people to publicly renounce their 

membership in the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliates since 2004; 

Whereas, in the lead up to and during the 2010 World Expo 

in Shanghai, authorities conducted propaganda campaigns portraying ‘‘cults’’ like Falun Gong as ‘‘dangers’’ 

to society that ‘‘wreck families’’ and ‘‘poison the minds 

of youth’’, carried out strict surveillance of practitioners, 

and detained and imprisoned large numbers of practitioners; 

Whereas, according to estimates by the Department of State 

and human rights organizations, since 1999, from several 

hundred to a few thousand Falun Gong adherents have 

died in custody from torture, abuse, and neglect; 

Whereas a review of the Government of the People’s Republic 

of China by the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 

Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in February 2009 reiterated concerns regarding human rights 

violations against Falun Gong practitioners, including arrests, detention, torture, and reeducation through labor 

camps; 

Whereas the Department of State’s 2010 Human Rights Report on China cited reports of Falun Gong adherents 

being committed to mental health facilities, medicated 

against their will, and forcibly subjected to electric shock 

treatment; 

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Whereas the Department of State’s 2010 Human Rights Report on China stated that the Government of the People’s 

Republic of China automatically censored e-mail and web 

chats based on an ever-changing list of sensitive key 

words, such as ‘‘Falun Gong’’, and periodically blocked 

the blogs of a number of prominent activists, artists, 

scholars, and university professors; and 

Whereas the 2010 Annual Report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China found that lawyers involved 

in human rights advocacy work—including in legal cases 

involving Falun Gong practitioners and others deemed by 

the Government of the People’s Republic of China to 

threaten ‘‘social stability’’—have been harassed by the 

Government of the People’s Republic of China based on 

who their clients are and the causes those clients represent: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) expresses solidarity with Falun Gong practi3 tioners and their families for the lives, freedoms, and 

4 rights they lost for adhering to their beliefs and 

5 practices; 

6 (2) calls upon the Chinese Communist Party to 

7 immediately cease and desist from its campaign to 

8 persecute Falun Gong practitioners and promptly re9 lease all Falun Gong practitioners who have been 

10 confined, detained, or imprisoned in retaliation for 

11 pursuing their right to hold and exercise spiritual 

12 beliefs; 

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1 (3) emphasizes to the Government of the Peo2 ple’s Republic of China that freedom of religion in3 cludes the right of Falun Gong practitioners to free4 ly practice Falun Gong in China; 

5 (4) calls upon the President, the Secretary of 

6 State, and Members of Congress to— 

7 (A) mark the anniversary of the Govern8 ment of the People’s Republic of China’s official 

9 repression of the Falun Gong spiritual move10 ment; 

11 (B) express solidarity with persecuted 

12 Falun Gong practitioners in China; and 

13 (C) meet with Falun Gong practitioners; 

14 and 

15 (5) expresses support for volunteers and partici16 pants of the Tuidang movement for their peaceful 

17 efforts to reclaim Chinese history and culture, and 

18 for their pursuit of a fair and open government, a 

19 free people, and a society rooted in the practice of 

20 virtue. 

Æ 

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