[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 75 (Wednesday, June 4, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S5279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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            EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY OF TIANANMEN SQUARE MASSACRE

 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to join in marking 
the eighth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, a tragic day 
when a still unknown number of Chinese--some say hundreds, others 
thousands--died at the hands of the People's Liberation Army.
  This anniversary is significant because it is the first since the 
death of China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, the man who 
orchestrated the bloody crackdown against the pro-democracy movement. 
Unfortunately, even with Deng out of the picture, the Chinese Communist 
Party remains unwilling to re-examine the events of June 4, 1989. 
Indeed, China's leaders would like nothing more than to have Tiananmen 
fade from the world's memory.
  But Tiananmen is still very much a part of the present. As all of us 
are aware, Wang Dan, a student leader of Tiananmen, was sent back to 
prison last October for continuing to advocate democratic reform. 
According to Amnesty International, 303 people remain in prison for 
their role in the 1989 demonstrations. Certainly for these people and 
their families, Tiananmen remains a part of daily life.
  Today, Tiananmen is still very much on the minds of Hong Kong's 
people. The 1989 prodemocracy demonstrations created an outpouring of 
support from the British colony. Hong Kong residents donated hundreds 
of tents and sleeping bags to the students occupying Tiananmen Square. 
Thousands are expected to gather this evening in Hong Kong's Victoria 
Park for a candlelight vigil. Many are worried that public observance 
of Tiananmen will be banned once Hong Kong reverts to Chinese rule this 
summer. After the transfer of Hong Kong is completed, commemoration of 
June 4 will become the ultimate test of whether China will allow Hong 
Kong to maintain its cherished freedoms.
  For those of us who are concerned about human rights in China, June 4 
is still a powerful reminder that the Chinese Government has not 
changed. I was appalled to hear that, during his visit to Washington 
last December, China's Defense Minister Chi Haotian said that ``not a 
single person lost their life in Tiananmen Square.'' That was an insult 
to the memory of those who died on the streets of Beijing that night.
  Mr. President, yesterday Senator Helms and I submitted a resolution 
of disapproval of the President's decision to renew most-favored-nation 
trade privileges to China. I feel strongly that the decision in 1994 to 
delink human rights and MFN was a mistake. Disconnecting the two has 
helped make China's leaders feel secure enough to renew their crackdown 
on the democracy movement and commit further human rights atrocities in 
Tibet. I believe that denying MFN is the best way to communicate to the 
leadership in Beijing that the United States still values human rights.
  It is the best way to tell the Chinese Government that we will not 
forget Tiananmen.

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