[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 715 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 715

  Remembering the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, and 
      condemning the widespread repression against citizens, the 
transnational repression against activists and others individuals, and 
   the systematic efforts to undermine human rights norms within and 
outside of the United Nations system by the People's Republic of China.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 3, 2024

  Mr. Cardin (for himself, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Rubio) 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 widespread repression against citizens, the 
transnational repression against activists and others individuals, and 
   the systematic efforts to undermine human rights norms within and 
outside of the United Nations system by the People's Republic of China.

Whereas, on June 4, 2024, the world will mark the 35th anniversary of the 1989 
        Tiananmen Square Massacre, during which authorities of the People's 
        Republic of China murdered thousands of peaceful pro-democracy 
        protestors who were calling for an end to corruption, an expansion of 
        economic opportunity, and a rights-respecting system of government;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China persists in efforts to 
        erase the memory of the Tiananmen Square Massacre and to harass, 
        intimidate, and arrest activists, scholars, and family members of the 
        victims of the massacre, including the Tiananmen Mothers, who have had 
        the courage to speak out, honor the dead, and call for accountability, 
        and persecuted heroic army officers, such as Major General Xu Qinxian, 
        who refused to lead his soldiers during the massacre and was stripped of 
        his Chinese Communist Party membership and jailed for 4 years;
Whereas the people of Hong Kong had held an annual Tiananmen Square vigil in 
        Victoria Park since 1990, which had been the only such mass gathering on 
        Chinese territory;
Whereas the longstanding tradition of the Hong Kong vigils came to an end in 
        2020, when the Hong Kong police denied applications for assembly 
        pretextually on COVID-19 related grounds and when key organizers of the 
        annual event were jailed on politically motivated criminal charges, 
        including unlawful assembly and posing a threat to national security;
Whereas, on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the international 
        community is reminded of the sacrifices made by the Chinese people for 
        the ideals of democracy and human rights and remains deeply concerned by 
        the ongoing human rights abuses and violations by the People's Republic 
        of China against Chinese citizens and other individuals within the 
        People's Republic of China and abroad;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China continues to perpetrate 
        systematic and egregious human rights abuses against Chinese citizens, 
        including--

    (1) a widespread crackdown on freedom of expression and the press;

    (2) unrelenting surveillance, harassment, and imprisonment of human 
rights defenders, lawyers, scholars, journalists, and members from 
religious and ethnic minorities and groups; and

    (3) an Orwellian system of technological and social control over 
Chinese citizens;

Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China continues to commit 
        atrocities against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic and religious groups 
        in Xinjiang, including--

    (1) mass arbitrary detention in so-called ``re-education camps'';

    (2) increased prosecutions and formal imprisonment for politically 
motivated charges;

    (3) forced labor and forced abortions and sterilizations;

    (4) involuntary political indoctrination;

    (5) severe restrictions on religious freedom; and

    (6) constant monitoring and surveillance;

Whereas the systematic repression against the Tibetan community by the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China continues unabated and 
        includes--

    (1) a forced campaign of ``Sinicization'' that attempts to eliminate 
the unique religious, linguistic, and cultural identity of Tibet;

    (2) indoctrination of Tibetan children through government-run boarding 
schools;

    (3) efforts to co-opt Tibetan Buddhism through the control of Tibetan 
Buddhist religious practices, monastic communities, selection of Tibetan 
Buddhist lamas and efforts to interfere in the succession process of the 
Dalai Lama;

    (4) environmental degradation of the Tibetan plateau; and

    (5) forced relocation of Tibetan nomads under the false guise of 
conservation or economic development;

Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China abrogated international 
        commitments under the terms of the Joint Declaration of the Government 
        of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island and the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong 
        Kong, done at Beijing December 19, 1984 (referred to in this preamble as 
        the ``Joint Declaration''), through an unprecedented crackdown on 
        fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, including--

    (1) by passing and implementing the repressive and vague Law of the 
People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong 
Kong Special Administrative Region (referred to in this preamble as the 
``National Security Law''), which undermined the high degree of autonomy 
promised under the Joint Declaration;

    (2) by harassing, intimidating, and arresting peaceful activists, 
lawyers, pro-democracy legislators, journalists, and others under the guise 
of the National Security Law; and

    (3) by implementing Article 23 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong 
Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, which 
further and severely curtails the exercise of human rights in Hong Kong;

Whereas the ongoing and heroic efforts of the Chinese people to shine a light on 
        the abuses of the Government of the People's Republic of China and to 
        advocate for human rights, including through mass demonstrations in 
        November 2022, known as the ``White Paper Movement'' to protest 
        censorship and the harsh zero-COVID policy, have been met with brutal 
        suppression and further efforts to monitor, control, and politically 
        indoctrinate Chinese citizens;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China carries out a 
        coordinated campaign of transnational repression to silence dissenting 
        voices abroad, including through tactics, such as surveillance, 
        harassment, abduction, coercion, and by imprisoning family members in 
        the People's Republic of China;
Whereas transnational repression by the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China not only violates the fundamental freedoms of individuals and the 
        sovereignty of other nations, but also engenders a climate of fear and 
        self-censorship among Chinese communities abroad, including journalists, 
        activists, scholars, and researchers;
Whereas the rise of the People's Republic of China as a global power has been 
        accompanied by concerted efforts by the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China to reshape international institutions and norms, 
        especially institutions and norms related to human rights;
Whereas, through pressure, intimidation, economic coercion, and other tactics 
        used against organizational leadership and sovereign nations, the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China seeks to dilute the focus 
        on human rights within the multilateral system and other international 
        fora, and to promote its model of non-interference inside and outside 
        the United Nations system to prevent international scrutiny of domestic 
        human rights abuses and use of transnational repression by the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China; and
Whereas the People's Republic of China, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken has 
        said, is ``the only country with both the intent to reshape the 
        international order, and increasingly, the economic, military, and 
        technological power to do it,'' and the systematic efforts of the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China to redefine international 
        institutions and the multilateral system according to its authoritarian 
        worldview poses an unprecedented challenge to the post-World War II 
        human rights consensus forged through the Universal Declaration of Human 
        Rights and threatens the very foundation of universal human rights 
        norms: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) stands in solidarity with families of the individuals 
        who lost their lives, underwent torture, or were imprisoned for 
        their involvement in the pro-democracy demonstrations during 
        the spring of 1989, and the individuals in and outside of the 
        People's Republic of China who continue to face harassment, 
        intimidation, and imprisonment for their ongoing efforts to 
        expose the truth regarding the massacre by the Government of 
        the People's Republic of China against its own people on June 
        4, 1989;
            (2) reaffirms its steadfast support for the courageous 
        activists, lawyers, civil society representatives, members of 
        ethnic and religious minority groups, journalists, and other 
        individuals who continue to advocate for the rule of law, 
        political and economic freedom, the preservation of the unique 
        identities of the ethnic and religious minorities and groups of 
        the People's Republic of China, and human rights;
            (3) condemns the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China for the egregious human rights abuses against Chinese 
        citizens inside the border of the People's Republic of China, 
        transnational repression against activists, and systematic 
        efforts to undermine human rights within and outside of the 
        United Nations system;
            (4) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China--
                    (A) to cease censoring information and discussion 
                within the People's Republic of China and globally 
                about the Tiananmen Square Massacre;
                    (B) to allow for a full, independent, and 
                transparent investigation into the events of June 4, 
                1989;
                    (C) to cease harassing, intimidating, and 
                imprisoning individuals who attempt to expose the truth 
                regarding the Tiananmen Square Massacre;
                    (D) to cease the systematic and egregious 
                suppression of the human rights of the citizens of the 
                People's Republic of China;
                    (E) to release unconditionally all human rights 
                defenders, lawyers, scholars, journalists, members of 
                religious and ethnic minorities and groups, and other 
                individuals who have been unjustly detained or 
                imprisoned on politically-motivated charges for 
                exercising internationally recognized fundamental 
                freedoms, including Ilham Tohti, Ekpar Asat, Go Sherab 
                Gyatso, Xu Zhiyong, Li Yuhan and Ding Jiaxi, those who 
                protested the zero-COVID lockdown and the rising 
                repression in the People's Republic of China under Xi 
                Jinping, such as Peng Lifa and Li Kangmeng, who were 
                nominated by Members of Congress for the Nobel Peace 
                Prize, those in Hong Kong, such as Jimmy Lai, Joshua 
                Wong, and Chow Hang-tung, and family members of 
                activists abroad who the Government of the People's 
                Republic of China imprisoned to pressure their family 
                members into silence, including Gulshan Abbas;
                    (F) to reverse policies and actions in Xinjiang 
                that have led to widespread atrocities against Uyghur 
                Muslims and other ethnic and religious groups in the 
                region and that threaten the preservation of Uyghur 
                identity, and to allow independent and unfettered 
                access to the region by United Nations human rights 
                mechanisms and other international observers to conduct 
                a transparent investigation into the atrocities of the 
                Government of the People's Republic of China in 
                Xinjiang and seek accountability and justice for 
                victims;
                    (G) to reverse policies and actions in Tibet that 
                violate the human rights of Tibetans, threaten the 
                survival of Tibetan identity, interfere in the ability 
                of Tibetan Buddhists to select their religious leaders, 
                including the Dalai Lama, and denigrate the environment 
                and ecosystem of the Tibetan plateau and the 
                traditional livelihoods of Tibetan nomads, and to allow 
                independent and unfettered access to the region by 
                United Nations human rights mechanisms and other 
                international observers to document abuses;
                    (H) to uphold international legal obligations to 
                Hong Kong under the Joint Declaration of the Government 
                of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern 
                Island and the Government of the People's Republic of 
                China on the Question of Hong Kong, done at Beijing 
                December 19, 1984 (referred to in this resolution as 
                the ``Joint Declaration''), 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;
                    (I) to cease undermining the high degree of 
                autonomy promised to Hong Kong in the Joint 
                Declaration;
                    (J) to end the coordinated campaign of 
                transnational repression against Chinese citizens 
                overseas; and
                    (K) to cease coercing, intimidating, and pressuring 
                member states within the United Nations and other 
                multilateral fora in service of the goal of the 
                Government of the People's Republic of China to reshape 
                the international order according to an authoritarian 
                worldview and undermine the universality of human 
                rights under international law; and
            (5) calls on the United States Government--
                    (A) through high-level unilateral and joint 
                statements with partners and allies, to honor the 
                victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre and urge the 
                Government of the People's Republic of China to 
                immediately initiate a full, independent, and 
                transparent investigation into the events of June 4, 
                1989, lift censorship restrictions around discussion of 
                the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and cease harassing, 
                intimidating, and imprisoning individuals who attempt 
                to expose the truth about June 4, 1989, and seek 
                justice;
                    (B) to meet with participants of the Tiananmen 
                Square protests and the families and friends of the 
                victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre based outside 
                of the People's Republic of China, and publicize such 
                meetings when appropriate;
                    (C) to seek the unconditional release of political 
                prisoners in the People's Republic of China and Hong 
                Kong;
                    (D) to use credible resources, such as the 
                Political Prisoner Database maintained by the 
                Congressional-Executive Commission on China, to enhance 
                information regarding political prisoner cases in the 
                People's Republic of China;
                    (E) to hold accountable officials of the Chinese 
                Communist Party and of the Government of the People's 
                Republic of China complicit in genocide, crimes against 
                humanity, transnational repression, the undermining of 
                the high degree of autonomy of Hong Kong, and other 
                violations of human rights, including through 
                sanctions, visa restrictions, and other tools;
                    (F) to use the voice, vote, and influence of the 
                United States at the United Nations to seek urgent 
                discussions of the human rights record of the 
                Government of the People's Republic of China, including 
                on matters related to Hong Kong at the United Nations 
                Security Council and at the United Nations' Human 
                Rights Council; and
                    (G) to make clear that the people of the United 
                States support the ability of the citizens of the 
                People's Republic of China to exercise their human 
                rights without fear, and that action by the United 
                States Government to hold the persons complicit in 
                human rights abuses accountable are undertaken in 
                solidarity with the people of the People's Republic of 
                China and their aspirations.
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