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House Leaders Introduce Legislation Commemorating Tiananmen Square Massacre Nancy Pelosi For Immediate Release Tuesday, June 1, 2004 Contact: Bailey Wood 202-225-6168 House Leaders Introduce Legislation Commemorating Tiananmen Square Massacre WASHINGTON, DC¡ªHouse Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Policy Chairman Christopher Cox (R-CA) today introduced legislation to commemorate Friday¡¯s 15th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. ¡°On a bipartisan basis, Congress stands united in support of freedom for the people of China,¡± Rep. Cox said. ¡°Fifteen years ago, Tiananmen Square marked not only a tragedy, but a decisive turning point in the fight for freedom. People¡¯s Liberation Army troops won the battle against the Chinese people that day, but they will surely lose the war to imprison the human spirit¡ªbecause we will never forget. The day will soon come when all of the Chinese people will have the right to speak and debate freely. The hope symbolized by the Goddess of Democracy will ultimately triumph.¡± ¡°Fifteen years ago, the world saw one of the most enduring images of the 20th Century¡ªthe picture of the lone man standing before the tank in Tiananmen Square,¡± Rep Pelosi said. ¡°It is seared into our consciousness as a constant reminder of the courage of the young people in China, and of our sorrow that the human rights situation has not improved in China after all of these years. Through this resolution and in many other ways, we will show the world our commitment: we will never forget those who lost their lives, nor those who are still imprisoned for the cause of freedom.¡± The text of the Cox-Pelosi resolution, H. Res. 655, follows: Whereas the United States was founded on the principle that all men and women are created equal and entitled to the exercise of their basic human rights; Whereas freedom of expression, assembly, association, and religion are fundamental human rights that belong to all people and are recognized as such under the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Whereas the horrific events of June 3¨C4, 1989, in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in the People¡¯s Republic of China, reminded the world that these universal human rights are denied to the citizens of the most populous nation on earth by the Communist Party that rules in China; Whereas in recent days the Communist Government of China has stepped up harassment of the relatives of people who lost their lives in the 1989 crackdown on democracy protestors in Tiananmen Square, in an apparent effort to control dissent ahead of the 15th anniversary of that tragic massacre; Whereas in recent weeks China¡¯s Communist Party leaders have been working to eliminate the residual influence of Zhao Ziyang, who was purged as Communist Party chief for opposing the 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen protests, and are trying to erase his name from history; Whereas Zhao was last seen in public on May 19, 1989, when he tearfully begged student protesters to leave Tiananmen Square, and was then promptly put under house arrest and purged; Whereas the Communist Government of China declared martial law the next day and troops backed by tanks crushed the student movement on June 3¨C4, 1989; Whereas the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square were the manifestation of a democratic movement that had begun to spread across China following the death of the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the People¡¯s Republic of China on April 15, 1989, and that had given rise to peaceful protests throughout China calling for the establishment of a dialogue with government and party leaders on democratic reforms, including freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and the elimination of corruption by government officials; Whereas after that date thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators continued to protest peacefully in and around Tiananmen Square in Beijing until June 3 and 4, 1989, when Chinese authorities ordered the People¡¯s Liberation Army and other security forces to use lethal force to disperse demonstrators in Beijing, especially around Tiananmen Square; Whereas the report of the Chinese Red Cross on June 7, 1989, and the United States Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989, gave various estimates of the numbers of people killed and wounded in 1989 by the People¡¯s Liberation Army soldiers and other security forces, and it is now believed by many that thousands were killed; Whereas 20,000 people nationwide suspected of taking part in the democracy movement were arrested and sentenced without trial to prison or reeducation through labor, and many were reportedly tortured; Whereas the Communist Government of China continues to suppress dissent by imprisoning pro-democracy activists, journalists, labor union leaders, religious believers, and other individuals in China and Tibet who seek to express their political or religious views in a peaceful manner; Whereas credible sources estimate that the Communist Government of China continues to imprison as many as 2,000 Tiananmen Square activists, such as Yang Jianli, and denies such activists their basic human rights, such as access to legal counsel, contact with their families, and trials within reasonable times; Whereas security agents of the People¡¯s Republic of China have detained Chinese citizens who were planning activities to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, including the preparation of a video for presentation at this year¡¯s United Nations Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva on the deaths of their relatives and other victims who perished in Tiananmen Square; Whereas coincident with the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Communist Government of China has frustrated the efforts of Chinese citizens in Hong Kong to establish a gradual and orderly process toward universal suffrage and the democratic election of the legislature and chief executive in Hong Kong as promised at the time of the reversion of Hong Kong to China in 1997 and as envisioned by the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Whereas despite an unprecedented public protest in Hong Kong on July 1, 2003, reminiscent of protests in Beijing shortly before June 4, 1989, the Standing Committee of the National People¡¯s Congress of the People¡¯s Republic of China declared on April 26, 2004, that universal suffrage would not apply to the selection of the Chief Executive in Hong Kong in 2007 or to the selection of members of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong in 2008; and Whereas June 4, 2004, is the 15th anniversary of the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives¡ª (1) expresses sympathy to the families of those killed, tortured, and imprisoned as a result of their participation in the democracy protests of June 3¨C4, 1989, in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in the People¡¯s Republic of China, and to all those persons who have suffered for their efforts to keep that struggle alive during the past 15 years, and to all the people of China who lack fundamental human rights; (2) commends all persons who are peacefully advocating for democracy and human rights in China; (3) calls upon those nations participating in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing to use opportunities created by the Games to urge China to fully comply with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights; (4) calls upon the Communist Government of China, its National People¡¯s Congress, and any other groups appointed by the Communist Government of China to honor its pledge of a ¡®¡®high degree of autonomy¡¯¡¯ made at the time of the Hong Kong reversion in 1997, by permitting immediate elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong according to rules approved by the Hong Kong people through an election-law convention, referendum, or both, and by leaving all revisions of Hong Kong law to a legislature elected by universal suffrage; and (5) condemns the ongoing and egregious human rights abuses by the Communist Government of China and calls on that Government to¡ª (A) reevaluate the official verdict on the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen pro-democracy activities and order formal investigations into the reported killing, torture, and imprisonment of democracy activists with the goal of bringing those responsible to justice; (B) establish a June Fourth Investigation Committee, the proceedings and findings of which should be accessible to the public, to make a just and independent inquiry into all matters related to June 4, 1989; (C) release all prisoners of conscience, including those persons still in prison as a result of their participation in the peaceful pro-democracy protests of 1989, provide just compensation to the families of those killed in those protests, and allow those exiled on account of their activities in 1989 to return and live in freedom in China; and (D) release Dr. Yang Jianli, an organizer of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, who has been illegally detained incommunicado by the Communist Government of China since April 26, 2002, and whose wife and 2 children are United States citizens, and put an immediate end to the harassment, detention, and imprisonment of all Chinese citizens exercising their legitimate freedoms of expression, association, and religion. --30-- (06/01/2004) |