[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 259 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 259

   Remembering the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and 
condemning the continued and intensifying crackdown on human rights and 
  basic freedoms within the People's Republic of China, including the 
   Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, by the Chinese Communist 
                     Party, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 8, 2021

    Mr. Markey (for himself and Mr. Romney) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Remembering the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and 
condemning the continued and intensifying crackdown on human rights and 
  basic freedoms within the People's Republic of China, including the 
   Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, by the Chinese Communist 
                     Party, and for other purposes.

Whereas, on April 15, 1989, peaceful demonstrators gathered in Tiananmen Square 
        in central Beijing to mourn the death of former General Secretary of the 
        Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Hu Yaobang, who was compelled to resign in 
        1987 for expressing support of students demanding political reform;
Whereas, throughout April and May 1989, peaceful demonstrations continued in 
        Tiananmen Square and in an estimated 400 cities across China;
Whereas, by May 17, 1989, an estimated 1,000,000 Chinese citizens from all walks 
        of life, including students, government employees, journalists, workers, 
        police officers, and members of the armed forces, gathered peacefully in 
        Tiananmen Square to call for democratic reforms;
Whereas the peaceful demonstrators of 1989 called upon the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China (PRC) to eliminate corruption, accelerate 
        economic and political reform, and protect human rights, particularly 
        the freedoms of expression and assembly;
Whereas, on May 20, 1989, the Government of the PRC declared martial law;
Whereas, during the late afternoon and early evening hours of June 3, 1989, the 
        CCP leadership sent armed People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops and 
        tanks into Beijing and surrounding streets;
Whereas, on the night of June 3, 1989, and continuing into the morning of June 
        4, 1989, PLA soldiers, at the direction of CCP leadership, fired 
        indiscriminately into crowds of peaceful protestors, killing and 
        injuring thousands of demonstrators and other unarmed civilians;
Whereas the Government of the PRC continues to censor any mention of the 
        crackdown centered on Tiananmen Square, prevent the victims from being 
        publicly mourned and remembered, and harass, detain, and arrest those 
        who call for a full, public, and independent accounting of the wounded, 
        dead, and those imprisoned for participating in the spring 1989 
        demonstrations;
Whereas the sovereignty of Hong Kong transferred from the United Kingdom to the 
        PRC in 1997 under the terms of the Joint Declaration of the Government 
        of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong 
        Kong (in this resolution referred to as the ``Joint Declaration''), 
        which guaranteed that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 
        (HKSAR) will ``enjoy a high degree of autonomy'' and committed the PRC 
        to keep the ``social and economic systems in Hong Kong'' unchanged 
        through 2047;
Whereas the Joint Declaration states that ``[r]ights and freedoms, including 
        those of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of 
        association, of travel, of movement, of correspondence, of strike, of 
        choice of occupation, of academic research and of religious belief will 
        be ensured by law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region'' and 
        that those rights are reiterated in chapter III of the Basic Law of the 
        Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of 
        China;
Whereas the people of Hong Kong have held an annual Tiananmen Square vigil since 
        1990, which has been the only such mass gathering on Chinese territory 
        because commemorations are banned in mainland China;
Whereas, on June 4, 2020, thousands of people in Hong Kong defied a ban by the 
        Hong Kong Police Force and gathered at the city's annual June 4 vigil to 
        memorialize the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre;
Whereas, on June 30, 2020, China's National People's Congress Standing Committee 
        flagrantly undermined the high degree of autonomy guaranteed to Hong 
        Kong in the Joint Declaration and Basic Law by passing and imposing upon 
        Hong Kong the oppressive and intentionally vague Law of the People's 
        Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong 
        Special Administrative Region (the ``national security law'');
Whereas the central Government of PRC and the Hong Kong Special Administrative 
        Region (HKSAR) government have since used the national security law to 
        suppress democratic voices in Hong Kong, including by barring candidates 
        from standing for election and by arresting pro-democracy activists and 
        opposition leaders;
Whereas, on March 11, 2021, China's National People's Congress adopted the 
        ``Decision of the National People's Congress on Improving the Electoral 
        System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region'', thereby further 
        restricting Hong Kong's electoral freedom and democratic representation;
Whereas, on May 6, 2021, a Hong Kong judge sentenced several Hong Kong pro-
        democracy activists to between 4 and 10 months in jail for participating 
        in the unauthorized Tiananmen Square vigil in June 2020;
Whereas, on May 27, 2021, the Hong Kong Police Force officially banned the June 
        4 vigil for the second consecutive year, citing a ban on large 
        gatherings in light of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic;
Whereas, on May 27, 2021, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed legislation 
        amending local election laws to bring them in line with the China's 
        National People's Congress' March 11, 2021, ``Decision of the National 
        People's Congress on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong 
        Special Administrative Region'';
Whereas June 4, 2021, marks the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square 
        massacre;
Whereas the Government of the PRC has committed genocide and crimes against 
        humanity against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and 
        religious minority groups in Xinjiang; and
Whereas the Government of the PRC continues to violate the human rights of pro-
        democracy activists, members of ethnic minorities, including individuals 
        in the Tibetan regions, religious believers, human rights lawyers, 
        citizen journalists, and labor union leaders, among many others seeking 
        to express their political or religious views or ethnic identity in a 
        peaceful manner: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) expresses its deepest respect for and solidarity with 
        the families and friends of those killed, tortured, and 
        imprisoned for participating in the pro-democracy 
        demonstrations during the spring of 1989, and with those who 
        have continued to suffer for their fight to publicly mourn the 
        Tiananmen Square massacre victims;
            (2) reaffirms its support for those who continue to work 
        for political reform, rule of law, and protections for human 
        rights in China;
            (3) condemns the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China for its continued human rights abuses, including 
        suppressing peaceful political dissent and ethnic and religious 
        minorities;
            (4) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China to--
                    (A) cease censoring information and discussion 
                about the Tiananmen Square massacre;
                    (B) invite and cooperate with a full and 
                independent investigation into the Tiananmen Square 
                massacre by the United Nations High Commissioner for 
                Human Rights;
                    (C) uphold its international legal obligations to 
                Hong Kong under the Joint Declaration of the Government 
                of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern 
                Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of 
                China on the Question of Hong Kong (``Joint 
                Declaration'') and cease undermining Hong Kong's high 
                degree of autonomy; and
                    (D) allow those participants in the Tiananmen 
                demonstrations who fled overseas or reside outside of 
                China after being ``blacklisted'' for their peaceful 
                protest activity to return to China without risk of 
                retribution;
            (5) calls on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 
        and the relevant authorities in the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China to--
                    (A) respect and uphold the personal rights and 
                freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and the 
                independence of Hong Kong's legal system;
                    (B) restore independent democratic representation 
                to the people of Hong Kong in line with the ``One 
                Country, Two Systems'' arrangement set forth in the 
                Joint Declaration and its implementing document, the 
                Basic Law; and
                    (C) allow those living in exile for engaging in 
                pro-democracy activities to return to Hong Kong without 
                fear of detention or other repercussions;
            (6) calls on the United States Government and members of 
        Congress to mark the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square 
        protests, including through meetings with participants of the 
        Tiananmen Square protests who live outside of China and the 
        families and friends of the victims of the Tiananmen Square 
        massacre based outside China; and
            (7) supports ongoing peaceful movements for human rights in 
        China and of the people in Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang.
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