[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 98 (Tuesday, June 6, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1984-S1985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 237--REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS OF THE 1989 TIANANMEN 
SQUARE MASSACRE AND CONDEMNING THE CONTINUED AND INTENSIFYING CRACKDOWN 
  ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND BASIC FREEDOMS WITHIN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF 
 CHINA, INCLUDING THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION, BY THE 
            CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. Romney, Mr. Markey, and Mr. Rubio) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 237

       Whereas, on April 15, 1989, peaceful demonstrators gathered 
     in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing to mourn the death of 
     former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 
     Hu Yaobang, who was compelled to resign in 1987 for 
     supporting political reforms within the CCP;
       Whereas, throughout April and May 1989, peaceful 
     demonstrations continued in Tiananmen Square and in an 
     estimated 400 cities across the People's Republic of China;
       Whereas, by May 17, 1989, an estimated 1,000,000 Chinese 
     citizens from all walks of life, including students, 
     government employees, journalists, workers, police officers, 
     and members of the armed forces, gathered peacefully in 
     Tiananmen Square to call for democratic reforms;
       Whereas the peaceful demonstrators of 1989 called upon the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China to eliminate 
     corruption, accelerate economic and political reform, and 
     protect human rights, particularly the freedoms of expression 
     and assembly;
       Whereas, on May 20, 1989, the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China declared martial law;
       Whereas, during the late afternoon and early evening hours 
     of June 3, 1989, the People's Republic of China leadership 
     sent armed People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops and tanks 
     into Beijing and surrounding areas;
       Whereas, on the night of June 3, and continuing into the 
     morning of June 4, 1989, PLA soldiers, at the direction of 
     CCP leadership, fired indiscriminately into crowds of 
     peaceful protesters, killing and injuring thousands of 
     demonstrators and other unarmed civilians;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     continues to censor any mention of the crackdown centered on 
     Tiananmen Square, prevents the victims from being publicly 
     mourned and remembered, and harasses, detains, and arrests 
     those who call for a full, public, and independent accounting 
     of the wounded, dead, and those imprisoned for participating 
     in the spring 1989 demonstrations;
       Whereas the sovereignty of Hong Kong transferred from the 
     United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China in 1997 
     under the terms of the Joint Declaration of the Government of 
     the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and 
     the Government of the People's Republic of China on the 
     Question of Hong Kong (hereafter the ``Joint Declaration''), 
     which guaranteed the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 
     (HKSAR) will ``enjoy a high degree of autonomy,'' and 
     committed the PRC to keep the ``social and economic systems 
     in Hong Kong'' unchanged through 2047;
       Whereas the Joint Declaration states that ``Rights and 
     freedoms, including those of the person, of speech, of the 
     press, of assembly, of association, of travel, of movement, 
     of correspondence, of strike, of choice of occupation, of 
     academic research and of religious belief will be ensured by 
     law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region'' and that 
     those rights are reiterated in Chapter III of the Basic Law 
     of the HKSAR of the People's Republic of China;
       Whereas the people of Hong Kong have held an annual 
     Tiananmen Square vigil since 1990, and has been the only such 
     mass gathering on Chinese territory because commemorations 
     are banned in mainland China;
       Whereas, on June 4, 2020, thousands of people in Hong Kong 
     defied a ban by the Hong Kong Police Force and gathered at 
     the city's annual June 4 vigil to memorialize the 31st 
     anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre;
       Whereas, on June 30, 2020, China's National People's 
     Congress Standing Committee flagrantly undermined the high 
     degree of autonomy promised to Hong Kong in the Joint 
     Declaration and Basic Law by passing and imposing upon Hong 
     Kong the oppressive and intentionally vague Law of the 
     People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security 
     in the HKSAR (``national security law'');
       Whereas the central Government of the People's Republic of 
     China and the HKSAR Government have since used the national 
     security law to suppress democratic voices in Hong Kong, 
     including by barring candidates from standing for election 
     and by arresting prodemocracy activists and opposition 
     leaders;
       Whereas, on March 11, 2021, China's National People's 
     Congress adopted the ``Decision of the National People's 
     Congress on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong 
     Special Administrative Region'', thereby further restricting 
     Hong Kong's electoral freedom and democratic representation;
       Whereas, on May 27, 2021, the Hong Kong Police Force 
     officially banned the June 4 vigil for the second consecutive 
     year, citing a ban on large gatherings in light of the 
     coronavirus pandemic;
       Whereas this ban has continued through 2022 and through 
     2023, despite the pandemic restrictions being largely removed 
     in Hong Kong;
       Whereas, on May 27, 2021, the Hong Kong Legislative Council 
     passed legislation amending local election laws to bring them 
     in line with the China's National People's Congress March 11 
     ``Decision of the National People's Congress on Improving the 
     Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative 
     Region'';
       Whereas, on March 4, 2023, the HKSAR West Kowloon 
     Magistrates' Court convicted three standing committee members 
     of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic 
     Movements of China--Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan, and Tsui 
     Hon-kwong--under the National Security Law, and the Alliance 
     was an organizer of the annual Tiananmen vigil;
       Whereas June 4, 2023, marks the 34th anniversary of the 
     Tiananmen Square massacre;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     has committed genocide and crimes against humanity against 
     the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in 
     Xinjiang; and
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     continues to violate the human rights of prodemocracy 
     activists,

[[Page S1985]]

     members of ethnic groups, including individuals in the 
     Tibetan regions, religious believers, human rights lawyers, 
     citizen journalists, and labor union leaders, among many 
     others seeking to express their political or religious views 
     or ethnic identity in a peaceful manner: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) expresses its deepest respect for and solidarity with 
     the families and friends of those killed, tortured, and 
     imprisoned for participating in the prodemocracy 
     demonstrations during the spring of 1989, and with those who 
     have continued to suffer for their fight to publicly mourn 
     the Tiananmen Square massacre victims;
       (2) reaffirms its support for those who continue to work 
     for political reform, rule of law, and protections for human 
     rights in China;
       (3) condemns the Government of the People's Republic of 
     China for its continued human rights abuses, including 
     suppressing peaceful political dissent and ethnic and 
     religious minorities;
       (4) calls on the Government of the People's Republic of 
     China to--
       (A) cease censoring information and discussion about the 
     Tiananmen Square massacre;
       (B) invite and cooperate with a full and independent 
     investigation into the Tiananmen Square massacre by the 
     United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights;
       (C) uphold its international legal obligations to Hong Kong 
     under the Joint Declaration of the Government of the United 
     Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question 
     of Hong Kong (``Joint Declaration'') and cease undermining 
     Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy; and
       (D) allow those participants in the Tiananmen 
     demonstrations who fled overseas or reside outside of China 
     after being ``blacklisted'' for their peaceful protest 
     activity to return to China without risk of retribution;
       (5) calls on the Government of the Hong Kong Special 
     Administrative Region and the relevant authorities in the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China to--
       (A) respect and uphold the personal rights and freedoms of 
     the people of Hong Kong and the independence of Hong Kong's 
     legal system;
       (B) 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 and 
     its implementing document, the Basic Law; and
       (C) allow those living in exile for engaging in 
     prodemocracy activities to return to Hong Kong without fear 
     of detention or other repercussions;
       (6) calls on the United States Government and members of 
     Congress to mark the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square 
     protests, including through meetings with participants of the 
     Tiananmen Square protests who live outside of China and the 
     families and friends of the victims of the Tiananmen Square 
     massacre based outside China; and
       (7) supports ongoing peaceful movements for human rights in 
     China and of the people in Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang.

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