•HRES 1347 IH 
caused by the catastrophic earthquake centered in 
Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008; 
Whereas the confirmed death toll from the earthquake has 
risen from 22,000 as of May 20 to 69,181 as of June 
23, 2008; 
Whereas 18,498 people are missing and 374,171 are injured, 
and the death toll is still expected to rise; 
Whereas Chinese nongovernmental organizations, grassroots 
volunteers, and private businesses have joined in—and 
often led—a massive relief effort to provide medical sup-
plies, food, tents, and clothing to the towns and remote 
villages in the disaster zone despite blocked or damaged 
roads and bridges; 
Whereas Chinese nongovernmental organizations are using 
information independent from the Chinese Government 
and are receiving tips from television news, Internet 
Weblogs (or ‘‘blogs’’), and other sources; 
Whereas teams of volunteers from smaller unregistered non-
governmental organizations arrived rapidly in the disaster 
zone, within hours after the earthquake; 
Whereas nongovernmental organizations in China have his-
torically been required to register with the Government 
and larger nongovernmental organizations are more rig-
idly controlled; 
Whereas, in response to the earthquake, the Chinese Govern-
ment has accepted the formation and participation of 
both registered and unregistered Chinese nongovern-
mental organizations—which has never happened be-
fore—and has acknowledged that these organizations can 
contribute to the reconstruction of the damaged region; 
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•HRES 1347 IH 
Whereas Chinese nongovernmental organizations, such as the 
Chengdu Urban Rivers Association, have fielded hun-
dreds of calls and e-mails to assist and coordinate relief 
efforts using associates and volunteers who were already 
in the affected area before the earthquake struck; 
Whereas online citizen groups mobilized rapidly to provide as-
sistance to earthquake victims; 
Whereas such groups include Tianya.cn, a leading Chinese 
online community that raised 24 million Yuan ($3.5 mil-
lion) for disaster relief, mostly from online donations by 
individuals; 
Whereas Ngocn.org, a major information hub for Chinese 
nongovernmental organizations, set up a special bulletin 
board for the nongovernmental organization relief office 
in Chengdu to post announcements and stories for timely, 
extensive, and in-depth coverage of the earthquake; 
Whereas the circulation of these stories of profound sadness 
and compassion generated a sense of national solidarity 
that has energized civic action by Chinese individuals in 
voluntary relief efforts; 
Whereas since the earthquake occurred, the Red Cross Soci-
ety of China has been carrying out the largest fund-
raising and relief activities and, as of June 12, 2008, is 
planning to allocate 2.5 billion yuan ($362.32 million) for 
rehabilitation projects in areas hit by the earthquake; 
Whereas the new registered and unregistered Chinese non-
governmental organizations, as well as online and offline 
citizen groups, acted rapidly to help manage the crisis; 
Whereas the Chinese Government has begun to restrict media 
access to areas affected by the earthquake and to censor 
news stories of the earthquake and its aftermath, as evi-
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•HRES 1347 IH 
denced by several reported incidences of detention of for-
eign journalists in the town of Dujiangyan; 
Whereas an open press remains an effective tool to expose 
corruption and improve public accountability; and 
Whereas this massive, quick, and efficient relief effort and an 
open press are important in developing and enhancing 
Chinese civil society: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) praises the Chinese individuals who have 
formed voluntary relief efforts for their selfless, al-
truistic commitment to provide aid and support for 
the victims of the catastrophic earthquake that oc-
curred on May 12, 2008; 
(2) recognizes the Chinese Government for al-
lowing Chinese individuals and nongovernmental or-
ganizations unprecedented latitude in assisting 
earthquake victims and for allowing unprecedented 
open media coverage of the earthquake; and 
(3) encourages the Chinese Government to con-
tinue this new era of openness. 
Æ 
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