[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 16, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1559-S1560]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 55--RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE LATE ZHAO 
                     ZIYANG TO THE PEOPLE OF CHINA

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

                               S. Res. 55

       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;

[[Page S1560]]

       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.

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