[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 92 (Friday, June 13, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         TIANANMEN 25 YEARS LATER: FIVE LEADERS WHO WERE THERE

                                  _____
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 13, 2014

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, we recently had the 25th 
anniversary of when the world watched as students from Beijing's 
Central Academy of Fine Arts unveiled the replica of the Statue of 
Liberty in Tiananmen Square. It was an amazing sight to behold, this 
enduring symbol of liberty standing face-to-face with the dictator Mao 
Zedong's portrait.
  It was a moment when we all dreamed that the Tiananmen Square 
demonstrations would become a triumph for freedom and democracy. 
Unfortunately, China's Communist leaders sought to hang on to power 
through force. They sent tanks and soldiers into Beijing to ``clear the 
Square'' on the evening of June 3 and June 4.
  The beating, the bayonetting, torture, and murder of students and the 
ubiquitous display of tanks turned the dream of freedom into a bloody 
nightmare. At a hearing that I recently held, we had five witnesses to 
this tragic scene in world history so that this time in China will not 
fade from memory, but will remind us of the longing for freedom that 
remains within the Chinese people.
  We want to remember the extraordinary sacrifice endured by thousands 
of peaceful Chinese democracy activists. Some may prefer to look past 
or even trivialize the slaughter of innocents by Chinese soldiers. But 
the memory of the dead and those arrested, tortured, and exiled 
requires us to honor them, respect their noble aspirations for 
fundamental freedoms, and recommit ourselves to the struggle for 
freedom and human rights in China.
  The government of China continues to go to astounding lengths to 
erase the memory of the Tiananmen demonstrations and their violent 
suppression. The Internet is censored, citizens holding private 
discussions or public commemorations are harassed and detained, and we 
still have no account of those who died, those arrested, those 
disappeared or those executed.
  It is my promise that we will always remember--always remember--
Tiananmen as long as the Chinese people cannot discuss its significance 
openly without harassment or arrest.
  When the tanks rolled down the Square on June 4, 1989, all of China 
suffered--mothers lost sons, fathers lost daughters and China lost an 
idealistic generation of future leaders.
  China's loss has been America's gain. Our witnesses today--exiles and 
refugees from their native land--have contributed mightily to the 
American fabric. Out of tragedy and disillusionment, they have created 
lives that make America stronger. They are entrepreneurs and pastors, 
businesspeople and academics, members of the military and civil society 
leaders.
  The Chinese government may call them criminals and hooligans, but one 
day soon they will be called heroes.
  The people testifying here today are also our conscience--as are all 
advocates from freedom and human rights such as Chen Guangcheng and 
Harry Wu and others in the audience today. There will always be those 
who want to downplay human rights in relations with China. But the 
people here today remind us that the people of China suffered for 
freedom, bled for liberty, and demanded justice, democracy and an end 
to corruption. These demands were made 25 years ago, and they still 
fire the imagination of the Chinese people today.
  More than ever, the U.S. needs a robust human rights diplomacy with 
China. We need policies that actively promote human rights, freedom of 
speech, Internet freedom, and the rule of law. We must support the 
advocates for peaceful change and the champions of liberty and clearly 
signal our support for those seeking rights and freedoms for all 
China's citizens, not only for those seeking to pad the economic 
bottom-line.
  Such leadership is needed now because China is in the midst of a 
severe crackdown on human rights advocates and freedom of speech. Last 
year was the worst year, since the 1990s, for arrests and imprisonment 
of dissidents. More than 230 people have been detained for their human 
rights advocacy. In the past month Beijing has detained two dozen 
activists for simply seeking to commemorate the Tiananmen anniversary 
in private.
  And China remains one of the world's worst offenders of human rights 
overall. It remains the torture capital of the world. Religious freedom 
abuses continue with impunity. And ethnic minority groups face 
repression when they peacefully seek rights to their culture and 
language.
  Hundreds of millions of women have been forced to abort their 
precious babies because of a draconian attempt to limit population 
growth. China's one-child policy, even if it is slightly modified, is a 
demographic and human rights disaster. The preference for having boys 
has led to a gender imbalance and a mass extermination of girls. This 
is not only a massive gender crime, but a security problem as well. 
Experts are coming to the conclusion that China's gender imbalance will 
lead to crime, social instability, worker shortages, sex and bride 
trafficking, and will make the possibility of war more likely.
  Despite the country's stunning economic growth over the past two 
decades, Beijing's leaders still remain terrified of their own people. 
China's ruling Communist Party would rather stifle, imprison or even 
kill its own people than defer to their demands for freedom and rights.
  Repression has not dimmed the desires of the Chinese people for 
freedom and reform. There is an inspiring drive in China to keep 
fighting for freedom under very difficult and dangerous conditions. As 
our witnesses today will surely attest, the U.S. must demonstrate 
clearly and robustly that democratic reforms and human rights are a 
critical national interest.
  We want to see a more democratic China, one that respects human 
rights, and is governed by the rule of law, because a more democratic 
China will be a productive and peaceful partner rather than a strategic 
and hostile competitor.
  This future also should be in China's interests, because there is 
growing evidence that the most prosperous and stable societies are 
those that protect religious freedom, the freedom of speech, and the 
rule of law.
  I believe that someday China will be free. The people of China will 
be able to enjoy all of their God-given rights. And a nation of free 
Chinese men and women will honor, applaud, and celebrate the heroes of 
Tiananmen Square and all those who sacrificed so much, and so long, for 
freedom.

                          ____________________