[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1069 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1069

Demanding that the Government of the People's Republic of China and the 
          Chinese Communist Party immediately release Kai Li.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 8, 2024

 Mr. LaLota submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Demanding that the Government of the People's Republic of China and the 
          Chinese Communist Party immediately release Kai Li.

Whereas Kai Li is being unjustly and arbitrarily detained by the Government of 
        the People's Republic of China, according to the United States 
        Government;
Whereas Kai Li is a United States citizen from Long Island and is a resident of 
        New York;
Whereas, on September 9, 2016, Kai Li was whisked away by agents from the 
        Shanghai State Security Bureau;
Whereas he was not allowed to have access to legal counsel while being harshly 
        interrogated every single day at an unknown location for almost 3 months 
        by state security agents;
Whereas, on November 25, 2016, Chinese agents moved Kai to the Shanghai No. 1 
        Detention Center, where he would end up spending 28 months;
Whereas, despite being informed that Kai's case had been escalated for 
        prosecution, officials still refused him access to legal counsel on the 
        grounds that it would ``endanger national security'', even though 
        Article 33 of China's Criminal Procedure Law ostensibly allows 
        defendants to ``entrust a defender after he/she is interrogated for the 
        first time'';
Whereas, on February 24, 2017, the procuratorate finally accepted Kai's case 
        nearly 6 months after his initial arrest, which enabled him to finally 
        meet with his attorney;
Whereas, on August 10, 2017, Kai's trial was held by the Shanghai No. 1 
        Intermediate People's Court after 2 unexplained adjournments, with 
        United States diplomats prevented from attending, in apparent violation 
        of Article 35 of the United States-China bilateral consular convention;
Whereas, on his 55th birthday, Kai and his attorney were notified that following 
        the trial, the case had been returned to the procuratorate for 
        ``supplemental investigation'' on September 30, 2017, before being 
        returned to the Court on October 29;
Whereas, on July 25, 2018, Kai was concurrently sentenced to 10 years in prison, 
        a 50,000 renminbi (RMB) fine, and deportation;
Whereas Kai's crime was deemed ``serious'', and thus punishable by anywhere from 
        10 years fixed imprisonment to life imprisonment;
Whereas, on February 22, 2019, Kai was transferred from the center to Qingpu 
        Prison just over a month after his appeal hearing, which enabled him to 
        receive semi-monthly visits from family in China, and to make 2 7-and-a-
        half minute phone calls a month to his wife and son in the United 
        States; and
Whereas, during his time in prison, Kai has suffered a stroke and other health 
        related issues: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) demands that the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China and the Chinese Communist Party immediately release Kai 
        Li;
            (2) condemns the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China and the Chinese Communist Party for refusing to provide 
        Kai Li with--
                    (A) regular unmonitored communication with his 
                family;
                    (B) access to United States diplomats; and
                    (C) independent and competent medical care and 
                evaluation; and
            (3) calls for the United States Government to deepen and 
        prioritize efforts to secure the release of Kai Li, including 
        by--
                    (A) urging counterparts of the People's Republic of 
                China at every level of engagement to release Kai Li; 
                and
                    (B) using the voice and vote of United States 
                diplomats in international forums to highlight Kai Li's 
                case.
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