III 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 365 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 27, 2006 
Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Urging the Government of China to reinstate all licenses 
of Gao Zhisheng and his law firm, remove all legal and 
political obstacles for lawyers attempting to defend crimi-
nal cases in China, including politically sensitive cases, 
and revise law and practice in China so that it conforms 
to international standards. 
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 
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governmental bodies of the People’s Republic of China 
over corruption, land seizures, police abuse, and viola-
tions of religious 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-
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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; 
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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 
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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; 
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Whereas despite questions raised by the Government of the 
United States and others about the charges made against 
Pastor Cai Zhuohua, the Government of China sentenced 
Pastor Cai and other members of his family to 3 years 
in prison for ‘‘illegal business practices’’ for their print-
ing and distribution of religious materials; 
Whereas, according to China’s Regulations on Religious Af-
fairs, promulgated in March 2005, any religious organi-
zation that carries out activities without registering with 
the government is subject to civil punishment and to 
criminal prosecution; 
Whereas since the promulgation of the Regulations on Reli-
gious Affairs, the Government of China has stepped up 
its efforts to eliminate unregistered religious activity, 
with raids on ‘‘house church’’ Christian groups in several 
provinces, resulting in detention of hundreds of leaders of 
the house church, dozens of whom remain in custody; and 
Whereas the Government of China has, on several occasions, 
stated a commitment to ratify the International Covenant 
on Civil and Political Rights, but has delayed ratification 
since signing the document in 1998: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That— 
(1) Congress— 
(A) commends ‘‘rights defense’’ lawyers 
and activists of China for their courage and in-
tegrity, and expresses moral support for this 
grass-roots ‘‘rights defense’’ movement in 
China; 
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(B) urges the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China, at all levels, to cease its har-
assment of Mr. Gao Zhisheng, overturn the sus-
pension of his license to practice law, and re-
store his legal right to represent the clients of 
his choosing as protected by China’s own Con-
stitution, its Criminal Procedure Law, and its 
Lawyers Law; 
(C) urges the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to repeal Article 306 of the 
Criminal Code of China, which provides pen-
alties for lawyers whose clients are accused of 
perjury and has been used to curtail the active 
legal defense of individuals accused of political 
crimes; 
(D) urges the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to undertake measures to 
further amend the Lawyers Law to ensure law-
yers’ rights to investigate charges brought 
against their clients, to provide a vigorous de-
fense of their clients, and to remain free of har-
assment and intimidation throughout the course 
of representing clients, including clients who are 
charged with offenses related to political or reli-
gious activities; 
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(E) urges the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to respect fully the uni-
versality of the right to freedom of religion or 
belief and other human rights; 
(F) urges the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to ratify and implement in 
law the International Covenant on Civil and Po-
litical Rights, and to adopt such legislative or 
other measures as may be necessary to give ef-
fect to the rights recognized in the Covenant; 
(G) urges the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to amend or repeal Article 
300 of the Criminal Code of China so it is con-
sistent with international law, and to halt its 
crackdown on spiritual movements; 
(H) urges the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to halt arrests, harassment, 
and intimidation of leaders of unregistered reli-
gious organizations on the basis that their orga-
nizations violated the law by not registering 
with the Government of China; 
(I) urges the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to Amend the Regulations on 
Religious Affairs to conform more closely with 
the 
internationally 
recognized 
freedom 
of 
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thought, conscience, religion or belief and allow 
all religious believers in China to practice their 
religion without interference from the govern-
ment or from government sponsored ‘‘patriotic 
religious associations’’; 
(J) urges the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to release Pastor Cai 
Zhuohua, his wife, and others imprisoned with 
him, and to allow Pastor Cai to resume reli-
gious activities and to resume leadership of his 
congregation in Beijing; and 
(K) urges the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to invite the Special 
Rapporteur of the Commission on Human 
Rights on freedom of religion or belief to China 
as promised according to an agreement between 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and 
the Department of State of China in March 
2005; and 
(2) it is the sense of Congress that— 
(A) the Government of the United States 
should support democracy and human rights 
programs that strengthen protection of basic 
rights and freedoms, and should initiate pro-
grams to train lawyers, judges, academics, and 
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students in China about international human 
rights law, to inform citizens of China about 
international human rights norms, and to build 
organizations and associations to promote these 
priorities; 
(B) the Government of the United States 
should seek grant proposals and fund programs 
to promote legal protections and cultural aware-
ness of the right to the freedom of religion or 
belief commensurate to ongoing rule of law pro-
grams funded by the Human Rights and De-
mocracy Fund for Chinese workers, women, and 
public interest law training; and 
(C) the President should raise the issue of 
the Government of China’s harassment, arrest, 
detention, and persecution of rights defense 
lawyers and activists and the need for the Gov-
ernment of China to respect the basic human 
rights of its citizens and the rule of law during 
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his planned meeting with Chinese President Hu 
Jintao in April 2006. 
Passed the House of Representatives April 26, 2006. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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