H. Res. 1370 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
July 30, 2008. 
Whereas the relationship between the United States and the 
People’s Republic of China is one of the most important 
and complex in global affairs; 
Whereas in the context of this complex relationship, the pro-
motion of human rights and political freedoms in the 
People’s Republic of China is a central goal of United 
States foreign policy towards China; 
Whereas increased protection and stronger guarantees of 
human rights and political freedoms in the People’s Re-
public of China would improve the relationship between 
the United States and the People’s Republic of China; 
Whereas the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be held from 
August 8, 2008, through August 24, 2008; 
Whereas the United States should continue to advance its 
policy goal of improved human rights and political free-
doms in the People’s Republic of China in the context of 
the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games; 
Whereas all Olympic athletes deserve to participate in a com-
petition that takes place in an atmosphere that honors 
the Olympic traditions of freedom and openness; 
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
committed to protect human rights, religious freedom,
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freedom of movement, and freedom of the press as part 
of its conditions for being named to host the Beijing 
2008 Olympic Games; 
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
issued temporary regulations promising foreign media 
representatives covering the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games 
that they could travel freely, with the exception of in the 
Tibet Autonomous Region, and did not require advance 
permission before interviewing Chinese citizens during 
the period of January 1, 2007, to October 18, 2008; 
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
has failed to abide by many provisions of those regula-
tions and has restricted foreign media by— 
(1) detaining 15 journalists in 2007 for activities 
permitted by the new regulations; 
(2) refusing to allow foreign media representatives 
access to Tibetan areas of China, including those areas 
outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region covered by the 
pledge of free access, to report on the March 2008 pro-
tests and the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China’s violent crackdown against Tibetans in those 
areas; and 
(3) interfering with foreign media representatives 
and their Chinese employees who were hired within 
China, such that 40 percent of foreign correspondents 
have reported government interference with their at-
tempts to cover the news in China; 
Whereas in advance of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, 
there are widespread reports that the Government of the 
People’s Republic of China has refused to grant visas or 
entry to individuals because of their political views, be-
liefs, writings, association, religion, and ethnicity;
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Whereas Chinese citizens and foreign visitors in China for the 
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will not have free access to 
information if the Government of the People’s Republic 
of China continues to engage in blocking of overseas 
websites and other forms of Internet filtering and censor-
ship; 
Whereas the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will not take place 
in an atmosphere of freedom if the Government of the 
People’s Republic of China continues to limit the free-
doms of speech, press, religion, movement, association, 
and assembly of its citizens and visitors, including polit-
ical dissidents, protesters, petitioners, the disabled, reli-
gious activists, minorities, the homeless, and other people 
it considers undesirable; 
Whereas despite the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China’s repeated pledges to the international community 
that the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS are a 
national priority, HIV/AIDS activists and their organiza-
tions remain targets for repression and harassment by 
Chinese authorities; 
Whereas in the period preceding the Olympics Games, Chi-
nese security forces have detained, threatened, and har-
assed HIV/AIDS and hepatitis advocates; shut down con-
ferences and meetings of Chinese and foreign HIV/AIDS 
experts; and closed AIDS organizations; 
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
continues to ignore its international commitments to ref-
ugee protection, as evidenced by film footage recording 
the shooting death of a Tibetan nun by Chinese border 
guards in October of 2006 and human rights groups’ re-
ports citing increased bounties offered for turning in
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set forth herein so that the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games 
are successful and reflect positively on its host country; 
Whereas the Chinese Government limits most women to hav-
ing one child and strictly controls the reproductive lives 
of Chinese citizens by systematic means that include 
mandatory monitoring of women’s reproductive cycles, 
mandatory contraception or sterilization, mandatory birth 
permits, coercive fines for failure to comply, forced abor-
tion, and involuntary sterilization, and this coercive policy 
adversely affects Chinese women and has led to wide-
spread sex-selective abortion; and 
Whereas on June 26, 2008, the Congressional-Executive 
Commission on China published on its Web site a well- 
documented list of 734 political prisoners detained by the 
Government of China for exercising rights pertaining to 
peaceful assembly, freedom of religion, freedom of asso-
ciation, and free expression, which are rights guaranteed 
to them by China’s law and Constitution, or by inter-
national law, or both: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) calls on the Government of the People’s Repub-
lic of China to immediately end abuses of the human 
rights of its citizens, to cease repression of Tibetan and 
Uighur people, and to end its support for the Govern-
ments of Sudan and Burma to ensure that the Beijing 
2008 Olympic Games take place in an atmosphere that 
honors the Olympic traditions of freedom and openness; 
(2) calls on the Government of the People’s Repub-
lic of China to immediately release all those imprisoned
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or detained for nonviolently exercising their political and 
religious rights and their right to free expression, such 
as Hu Jia, who have been imprisoned, detained, or har-
assed for seeking to hold China accountable to commit-
ments to improve human rights conditions announced 
when bidding to host the Olympic Games, embodied in 
China’s own laws and regulations, and in international 
agreements; 
(3) calls on the Government of the People’s Repub-
lic of China to honor its commitment to freedom of the 
press for foreign reporters in China before and during 
the Olympic Games, to make those commitments perma-
nent, and publicly to guarantee an immediate end to the 
detention, harassment, and intimidation of both foreign 
and domestic reporters; 
(4) calls on the Government of the People’s Repub-
lic of China to permit visitors to China, including 
through the issuance of visas, for the period surrounding 
the Olympics, regardless of religious background, belief, 
or political opinion; 
(5) calls on the Government of the People’s Repub-
lic of China to guarantee freedom of movement within 
China during the period surrounding the Olympics for 
all visitors, participants, and journalists visiting China 
for the Olympics, and such freedom of movement should
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include the freedom to visit Tibet, Xinjiang, China’s bor-
der regions, and all other areas of China without restric-
tion and without special permits or advance notice; 
(6) calls on the Government of the People’s Repub-
lic of China to guarantee access to information by Chi-
nese citizens and foreign visitors, including full access to 
domestic and overseas broadcasts, print media, and 
websites that in the past may have been excluded, 
censored, jammed, or blocked; 
(7) calls on the Government of the People’s Repub-
lic of China to permit political dissidents, protesters, pe-
titioners, religious activists, minorities, the disabled, the 
homeless, and others to maintain their homes, usual lo-
cations, jobs, freedom of movement, and freedom to en-
gage in peaceful activities during the period surrounding 
the Olympics; 
(8) calls on the Government of the People’s Repub-
lic of China to end the exploitative and dangerous condi-
tions faced by Chinese workers in many state enterprises 
and other commercial entities; 
(9) calls on the Government of the People’s Repub-
lic of China to begin earnest negotiations, without pre-
conditions, directly with His Holiness the Dalai Lama or 
his representatives, on the future of Tibet to provide for 
a mutually agreeable solution that addresses the legiti-
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mate grievances of, and provides genuine autonomy for, 
the Tibetan people; 
(10) calls on the Government of the People’s Re-
public of China to end its political, economic, and mili-
tary support for the Government of Sudan until the vio-
lent attacks in Darfur have ceased and the Sudanese 
Government has allowed for the full deployment of the 
United Nations-African Union Mission peacekeeping 
force in Darfur; 
(11) calls on the Government of the People’s Re-
public of China to end its political, economic, and mili-
tary support for the Government of Burma until democ-
racy is restored in Burma, human rights abuses have 
ceased, and Aung San Suu Kyi and other political pris-
oners of conscience are released; 
(12) calls on the President to make a strong public 
statement on China’s human rights situation prior to his 
departure to Beijing for the Olympic Games, to make a 
similar statement in Beijing and meet with the families 
of jailed prisoners of conscience, and to seek to visit 
Tibet and Xinjiang while in China to attend the Olympic 
Games; 
(13) calls on the Government of the People’s Re-
public of China to abandon its coercive population con-
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trol policy which includes forced abortion and involun-
tary sterilization; and 
(14) calls on the Government of the People’s Re-
public of China to review the political prisoner list pub-
lished by the Congressional-Executive Commission on 
China with a view to releasing ill and aged prisoners on 
humanitarian grounds, and to releasing those imprisoned 
in violation of Chinese law or international human rights 
law. 
Attest: 
Clerk.