IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1717 
Congratulating imprisoned Chinese democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo on the 
award of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 16, 2010 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. WU, Mr. INGLIS, Mr. MCCOTTER, 
Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. PITTS, Mr. 
WOLF, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 
and Mr. TOWNS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Congratulating imprisoned Chinese democracy advocate Liu 
Xiaobo on the award of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. 
Whereas Liu Xiaobo played a leading role in the 1989 
Tiananmen Square demonstration for democratic reform, 
insisting on peaceful means and democratic process; 
Whereas since 1989, Liu Xiaobo has been a leading figure 
promoting democratic reform and respect for human 
rights, including by writing hundreds of notable essays on 
these subjects; 
Whereas between June 6, 1989, and October 1999, the Gov-
ernment of China detained Liu Xiaobo 3 times, totaling 
over 4 years confinement for his role in Tiananmen 
Square and continued promotion of political reform; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
01:57 Nov 17, 2010
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR1717.IH
HR1717
smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
•HRES 1717 IH 
Whereas in 2008, Liu Xiaobo was one of the principal draft-
ers and organizers as well as one of the first signers of 
Charter 08, a manifesto that proposed democratic reform 
in China; 
Whereas, on December 8, 2008, the Government of China de-
tained Liu Xiaobo for his role in Charter 08, and found 
him guilty of ‘‘inciting subversion of state power’’ in 
2009 and sentenced him to 11 years imprisonment; 
Whereas since December 2008, thousands of Chinese citizens 
from all walks of life have signed Charter 08, and the 
Government of China has detained, placed under house 
arrest, or harassed many of them; 
Whereas in 2010, many persons from around the world nomi-
nated Liu Xiaobo for the Nobel Peace Prize, including 
the 14th Dalai Lama, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Vaclav 
Havel, and 7 members of the United States House of 
Representatives; 
Whereas, on October 8, 2010, the Norwegian Nobel Com-
mittee announced its award of the 2010 Nobel Peace 
Prize to Liu Xiaobo for his ‘‘long and non-violent strug-
gle for fundamental human rights in China’’; 
Whereas the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted that, ‘‘the 
campaign to establish universal human rights also in 
China is being waged by many Chinese . . . through the 
severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the 
foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human 
rights in China’’; 
Whereas when on October 9, 2010, Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo’s 
wife, notified her husband that he had been awarded the 
Nobel Peace Prize, he responded by dedicating the prize 
to ‘‘the Tiananmen martyrs’’; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
01:57 Nov 17, 2010
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR1717.IH
HR1717
smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
•HRES 1717 IH 
Whereas the Government of China responded to the award by 
placing Liu Xia under house arrest, harassing and de-
taining Liu Xiaobo’s friends and supporters, censoring 
Internet Web sites and blacking out television broadcasts 
that reported the award, and defaming Liu Xiaobo by de-
scribing him as a ‘‘criminal’’, a ‘‘political tool of the 
West’’, and a ‘‘traitorous operative’’; 
Whereas the Government of China has claimed that its im-
prisonment of Liu Xiaobo is an internal matter and that 
the award constitutes meddling in China’s internal af-
fairs; and 
Whereas President Barack Obama, the recipient of the 2009 
Nobel Peace Prize, has congratulated Liu Xiaobo on the 
award and called on the Government of China to release 
him from prison: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) congratulates Liu Xiaobo on the award of 
the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize; 
(2) honors Liu Xiaobo’s promotion of demo-
cratic reform in China, and the courage with which 
he has bore repeated imprisonment by the Govern-
ment of China; 
(3) states that in honoring Liu Xiaobo, it also 
honors all those who have promoted democratic re-
form in China, including all those who participated 
in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstration for 
democratic reform; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
01:57 Nov 17, 2010
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR1717.IH
HR1717
smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
•HRES 1717 IH 
(4) asserts that Liu Xiaobo is a political pris-
oner, and that Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo’s supporters, 
and all signers of Charter 08 who have been de-
tained, placed under house arrest, or harassed, are 
the victims of political persecution; 
(5) calls on the Government of China to release 
Liu Xiaobo from prison, and to release Liu Xia, Liu 
Xiaobo’s supporters, and all signers of Charter 08 
from detention, house arrest, and harassment; 
(6) calls on the Government of China to cease 
censoring media and Internet reporting of the award 
of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo and to cease 
its campaign of defamation against Liu Xiaobo; 
(7) urges President Barack Obama to continue 
to work for the release of Liu Xiaobo from prison, 
as well as the release of Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo’s sup-
porters, and all signers of Charter 08 from deten-
tion, house arrest, and harassment; and 
(8) emphasizes that violations of human rights 
in general, and the persecution of Liu Xiaobo, Liu 
Xia, Liu Xiaobo’s supporters, and all signers of 
Charter 08 specifically, are matters of legitimate 
concern to other governments. 
Æ 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
01:57 Nov 17, 2010
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR1717.IH
HR1717
smartinez on DSKB9S0YB1PROD with BILLS