[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 655 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 655

 Condemning the crackdown on democracy protestors in Tiananmen Square, 
 Beijing, in the People's Republic of China on the 15th anniversary of 
                         that tragic massacre.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 1, 2004

Mr. Cox (for himself, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, 
 Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Payne, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. 
Souder, Mr. Strickland, and Mr. Wu) submitted the following resolution; 
     which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Condemning the crackdown on democracy protestors in Tiananmen Square, 
 Beijing, in the People's Republic of China on the 15th anniversary of 
                         that tragic massacre.

Whereas the United States was founded on the principle that all men and women 
        are created equal and entitled to the exercise of their basic human 
        rights;
Whereas freedom of expression, assembly, association, and religion are 
        fundamental human rights that belong to all people and are recognized as 
        such under the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the 
        International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
Whereas the horrific events of June 3-4, 1989, in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in 
        the People's Republic of China, reminded the world that these universal 
        human rights are denied to the citizens of the most populous nation on 
        earth by the Communist Party that rules in China;
Whereas in recent days the Communist Government of China has stepped up 
        harassment of the relatives of people who lost their lives in the 1989 
        crackdown on democracy protestors in Tiananmen Square, in an apparent 
        effort to control dissent ahead of the 15th anniversary of that tragic 
        massacre;
Whereas in recent weeks China's Communist Party leaders have been working to 
        eliminate the residual influence of Zhao Ziyang, who was purged as 
        Communist Party chief for opposing the 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen 
        protests, and are trying to erase his name from history;
Whereas Zhao was last seen in public on May 19, 1989, when he tearfully begged 
        student protesters to leave Tiananmen Square, and was then promptly put 
        under house arrest and purged;
Whereas the Communist Government of China declared martial law the next day and 
        troops backed by tanks crushed the student movement on June 3-4, 1989;
Whereas the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square were the manifestation of a 
        democratic movement that had begun to spread across China following the 
        death of the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the 
        People's Republic of China on April 15, 1989, and that had given rise to 
        peaceful protests throughout China calling for the establishment of a 
        dialogue with government and party leaders on democratic reforms, 
        including freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and the 
        elimination of corruption by government officials;
Whereas after that date thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators continued to 
        protest peacefully in and around Tiananmen Square in Beijing until June 
        3 and 4, 1989, when Chinese authorities ordered the People's Liberation 
        Army and other security forces to use lethal force to disperse 
        demonstrators in Beijing, especially around Tiananmen Square;
Whereas the report of the Chinese Red Cross on June 7, 1989, and the United 
        States Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
        1989, gave various estimates of the numbers of people killed and wounded 
        in 1989 by the People's Liberation Army soldiers and other security 
        forces, and it is now believed by many that thousands were killed;
Whereas 20,000 people nationwide suspected of taking part in the democracy 
        movement were arrested and sentenced without trial to prison or 
        reeducation through labor, and many were reportedly tortured;
Whereas the Communist Government of China continues to suppress dissent by 
        imprisoning pro-democracy activists, journalists, labor union leaders, 
        religious believers, and other individuals in China and Tibet who seek 
        to express their political or religious views in a peaceful manner;
Whereas credible sources estimate that the Communist Government of China 
        continues to imprison as many as 2,000 Tiananmen Square activists, such 
        as Yang Jianli, and denies such activists their basic human rights, such 
        as access to legal counsel, contact with their families, and trials 
        within reasonable times;
Whereas security agents of the People's Republic of China have detained Chinese 
        citizens who were planning activities to commemorate the 15th 
        anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, including the preparation 
        of a video for presentation at this year's United Nations Human Rights 
        Commission meeting in Geneva on the deaths of their relatives and other 
        victims who perished in Tiananmen Square;
Whereas coincident with the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, 
        the Communist Government of China has frustrated the efforts of Chinese 
        citizens in Hong Kong to establish a gradual and orderly process toward 
        universal suffrage and the democratic election of the legislature and 
        chief executive in Hong Kong as promised at the time of the reversion of 
        Hong Kong to China in 1997 and as envisioned by the Basic Law of the 
        Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
Whereas despite an unprecedented public protest in Hong Kong on July 1, 2003, 
        reminiscent of protests in Beijing shortly before June 4, 1989, the 
        Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's 
        Republic of China declared on April 26, 2004, that universal suffrage 
        would not apply to the selection of the Chief Executive in Hong Kong in 
        2007 or to the selection of members of the Legislative Council in Hong 
        Kong in 2008; and
Whereas June 4, 2004, is the 15th anniversary of the date of the Tiananmen 
        Square massacre: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses sympathy to the families of those killed, 
        tortured, and imprisoned as a result of their participation in 
        the democracy protests of June 3-4, 1989, in Tiananmen Square, 
        Beijing, in the People's Republic of China, and to all those 
        persons who have suffered for their efforts to keep that 
        struggle alive during the past 15 years, and to all the people 
        of China who lack fundamental human rights;
            (2) commends all persons who are peacefully advocating for 
        democracy and human rights in China;
            (3) calls upon those nations participating in the 2008 
        Olympic Games in Beijing to use opportunities created by the 
        Games to urge China to fully comply with the United Nations 
        Declaration on Human Rights;
            (4) calls upon the Communist Government of China, its 
        National People's Congress, and any other groups appointed by 
        the Communist Government of China to honor its pledge of a 
        ``high degree of autonomy'' made at the time of the Hong Kong 
        reversion in 1997, by permitting immediate elections for the 
        Legislative Council of Hong Kong according to rules approved by 
        the Hong Kong people through an election-law convention, 
        referendum, or both, and by leaving all revisions of Hong Kong 
        law to a legislature elected by universal suffrage; and
            (5) condemns the ongoing and egregious human rights abuses 
        by the Communist Government of China and calls on that 
        Government to--
                    (A) reevaluate the official verdict on the June 4, 
                1989, Tiananmen pro-democracy activities and order 
                formal investigations into the reported killing, 
                torture, and imprisonment of democracy activists with 
                the goal of bringing those responsible to justice;
                    (B) establish a June Fourth Investigation 
                Committee, the proceedings and findings of which should 
                be accessible to the public, to make a just and 
                independent inquiry into all matters related to June 4, 
                1989;
                    (C) release all prisoners of conscience, including 
                those persons still in prison as a result of their 
                participation in the peaceful pro-democracy protests of 
                1989, provide just compensation to the families of 
                those killed in those protests, and allow those exiled 
                on account of their activities in 1989 to return and 
                live in freedom in China; and
                    (D) release Dr. Yang Jianli, an organizer of the 
                Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, who has been 
                illegally detained incommunicado by the Communist 
                Government of China since April 26, 2002, and whose 
                wife and 2 children are United States citizens, and put 
                an immediate end to the harassment, detention, and 
                imprisonment of all Chinese citizens exercising their 
                legitimate freedoms of expression, association, and 
                religion.
                                 <all>