[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 55 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 55

Recognizing the contributions of the late Zhao Ziyang to the people of 
                                 China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 16, 2005

   Mr. Graham (for himself, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Biden, Mr. Brownback, Mr. 
Dorgan, and Ms. Landrieu) submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

                             March 2, 2005

             Committee discharged; considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the contributions of the late Zhao Ziyang to the people of 
                                 China.

Whereas leading reformist and former Chinese Communist Party Secretary General, 
        Zhao Ziyang, died under house arrest in China on January 17, 2005, at 
        the age of 85;
Whereas Zhao implemented important agricultural, industrial, and economic 
        reforms in China and rose to the prominent positions of premier and 
        Secretary General within the Communist Party despite criticisms of his 
        capitalist ideals;
Whereas, in the early summer of 1989, students gathered in Tiananmen Square to 
        voice their support for democracy and to protest the Communist 
        government that continues to deny them that democracy;
Whereas Secretary General Zhao advised against the use of military force to end 
        the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square;
Whereas, on May 19, 1989, in Tiananmen Square, Zhao warned the tens of thousands 
        of students clamoring for democracy that the authorities were 
        approaching and urged them to return to their homes; an action that 
        illustrated his sympathy for their cause;
Whereas Zhao was consequently relieved of all leadership responsibilities 
        following his actions in Tiananmen Square that summer and was placed 
        under house arrest for the remaining years of his life;
Whereas the Government of China remained indecisive regarding a ceremony for 
        Zhao for several days before allowing a relatively modest ceremony at 
        the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing, where Zhao was cremated 
        on January 29, 2005;
Whereas the Government of China's fear of civil unrest resulted in the 
        prohibition of political dissidents and others from the funeral, and the 
        thousands who were in attendance were surrounded in an intimidating 
        environment without adequate time to mourn and grieve;
Whereas news of Zhao's death was announced only in a brief notice by the 
        Communist government and was forbidden to be covered by the radio or 
        national television, while eulogies were erased by censors from memorial 
        websites;
Whereas, upon the announcement of Zhao's death, Chinese news agencies were 
        certain to reference the ``serious mistake'' committed by Zhao at what 
        they refer to as a political incident in 1989;
Whereas mourning the death of Zhao in the Hong Kong Legislative Council was 
        deemed unconstitutional and lawmakers in Hong Kong were refused the 
        opportunity to observe a moment of silence in honor of his life;
Whereas the death of Zhao has renewed the desire of certain Chinese people for a 
        reassessment of the crackdown in 1989 in order to acknowledge the merit 
        of pro-democracy student demonstrations and complaints of government 
        corruption; and
Whereas Zhao will continue to serve as a symbol of the dreams and purpose of the 
        1989 Tiananmen Square demonstration, which survived the Tiananmen 
        massacre but which have still not been realized for the people of China: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes that Zhao Ziyang made an important 
        contribution to the people of China by providing assistance to 
        the students in Tiananmen Square in 1989, and that through this 
        contribution and his decisions to actively seek reform, Zhao 
        remains a symbol of hope for reform and human rights for the 
        people of China;
            (2) expresses sympathy for Zhao's family and to the people 
        of China who were unable to appropriately mourn his death or to 
        celebrate his life;
            (3) calls on the Government of China--
                    (A) to release all prisoners of conscience, 
                including those persons still in prison as a result of 
                their participation in the peaceful pro-democracy 
                protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989; and
                    (B) to allow those people exiled on account of 
                their activities to return to live in freedom in China; 
                and
            (4) stands with the people of China as they strive to 
        improve their way of life and create a government that is truly 
        democratic and respectful of international norms in the area of 
        human rights.
                                 <all>