109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 365
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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 law-
suits against various local and administrative govern-
•HCON 365 EH 
mental bodies of the People’s Republic of China over cor-
ruption, land seizures, police abuse, and violations of reli-
gious 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 Chris-
tians 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 ‘‘il-
legal 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 mon-
itored 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 harass-
ment, arrest, and detention for their consistent and vig-
•HCON 365 EH 
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, includ-
ing 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 govern-
ment 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 at-
tempted 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, on February 28, 2006, the Joint United Nations 
Programme on HIV and AIDS (also known as 
‘‘UNAIDS’’) office in China expressed concern regarding 
the disappearance of Mr. Hu Jia, an activist who worked 
to organize the legal defense of AIDS patients in Henan 
Province, and who has been placed in detention and has 
not been permitted to contact his friends and family since 
February 16, 2006;
•HCON 365 EH 
Whereas, according to the Department of State 2005 Coun-
try Reports on Human Rights Practices, lawyers who ag-
gressively 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 
organs, social organizations, and individuals, but in prac-
tice, the judiciary is not independent and it receives pol-
icy 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 politi-
cally 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 crimi-
nal 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 con-
stitutes 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
•HCON 365 EH 
during the last year despite promises made by the Gov-
ernment 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 polit-
ical views, and that writers, religious activists, dissidents, 
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 con-
trol and suppress the activities of unregistered religious 
organizations; 
(2) China has outlawed unregistered religious orga-
nizations 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 ap-
proved organizations, and those who refuse, for theo-
logical or other reasons, are subject to harassment, de-
tention, 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 sup-
pressed; and 
(5) practitioners of Falun Gong have experienced se-
vere 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;