[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 74 (Thursday, May 15, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3079-S3080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 451--RECALLING THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA'S FORCIBLE 
 DISPERSION OF THOSE PEACEABLY ASSEMBLED IN TIANANMEN SQUARE 25 YEARS 
     AGO, IN LIGHT OF CHINA'S CONTINUED ABYSMAL HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD

  Mr. BARRASSO submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 451

       Whereas, in 1989, Chinese citizens involved in a peaceful 
     democratic movement gathered in Tiananmen Square to call for 
     the establishment of a dialogue with their government on 
     democratic reforms, including freedom of expression and 
     freedom of assembly;
       Whereas, on June 4, 1989, Chinese authorities ordered the 
     People's Liberation Army and other security forces to use 
     lethal force to disperse demonstrators in Tiananmen Square;
       Whereas the number of peaceful protesters killed or injured 
     by the forcible dispersion remains unknown to this day;
       Whereas, 25 years after these deaths, there has been no 
     accountability on the part of the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China in disciplining involved officials;
       Whereas there remain imprisoned to this day individuals who 
     expressed their desire for democracy in China 25 years ago in 
     Tiananmen Square;
       Whereas the Department of State's most recent human rights 
     report on China found that ``citizens did not have the right 
     to change their government'';
       Whereas, even in recent weeks, the Government of the 
     People's Republic of China has detained those who attempt to 
     peacefully commemorate the events of June 1989, including 
     activists such as Pu Zhiqiang and Wen Kejian;
       Whereas the Department of State's most recent human rights 
     report on China found ``extrajudicial killings'' remained a 
     problem in China;
       Whereas the Department of State's most recent human rights 
     report on China found the government continued to target 
     ``for arbitrary detention or arrest'' ``human rights 
     activists, journalists. . .and former political prisoners and 
     their family members''; and
       Whereas June 4, 2014, is the 25th anniversary of the 
     Tiananmen Square massacre: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) expresses sympathy to the families of those killed, 
     tortured, and imprisoned as a result of their participation 
     in the democracy gathering on June 4, 1989, in Tiananmen 
     Square, Beijing, in the People's Republic of China;
       (2) commends all peaceful advocates for democracy and human 
     rights in China;
       (3) condemns the ongoing and egregious human rights abuses 
     by the Communist Government of the People's Republic of 
     China;
       (4) calls on the Communist Government of the People's 
     Republic of China to--
       (A) release all prisoners of conscience, including those 
     persons still in prison as a result of their participation in 
     the peaceful pro-democracy gatherings of 1989 and those

[[Page S3080]]

     detained for their commemoration of these events;
       (B) allow those people exiled on account of their 
     activities to return to live in freedom in China; and
       (C) cease the harassment, detention, and imprisonment of 
     all Chinese citizens exercising their freedoms of expression, 
     association, and religion; and
       (5) calls upon the United States representative at the 
     United Nations Human Rights Council to introduce a resolution 
     in that forum calling for an examination of the human rights 
     practices of the Government of the People's Republic of 
     China.

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