IV

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 178

Concerning the tenth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre of

June 4, 1989, in the People’s Republic of China.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 18, 1999

Ms. PELOSI (for herself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. PORTER, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr. COX, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr.

SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. WU,

Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms.

WOOLSEY, Mr. HORN, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. CLAY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International

Relations

RESOLUTION

Concerning the tenth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square

massacre of June 4, 1989, in the People’s Republic of China.

1 Whereas the United States was founded on the democratic

2 principle that all men and women are created equal

3 and entitled to the exercise of their basic human

4 rights;

5 Whereas freedom of expression and assembly are funda6 mental human rights that belong to all people and are

7 recognized as such under the United Nations Declara-
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1 tion of Human Rights and the International Covenant

2 on Civil and Political Rights;

3 Whereas the death of the former General Secretary of the

4 Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China,

5 Hu Yaobang, on April 15, 1989, gave rise to peaceful

6 protests throughout China calling for the establish7 ment of a dialogue with government and party leaders

8 on democratic reforms, including freedom of expres9 sion, freedom of assembly, and the elimination of cor10 ruption by government officials;

11 Whereas after that date thousands of prodemocracy dem12 onstrators continued to protest peacefully in and

13 around Tiananmen Square in Beijing until June 3

14 and 4, 1989, until Chinese authorities ordered the

15 People’s Liberation Army and other security forces to

16 use lethal force to disperse demonstrators in Beijing,

17 especially around Tiananmen Square;

18 Whereas nonofficial sources, a Chinese Red Cross report

19 from June 7, 1989, and the State Department Coun20 try Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989,

21 gave various estimates of the numbers of people killed

22 and wounded in 1989 by the People’s Liberation

23 Army soldiers and other security forces, but agreed

24 that hundreds, if not thousands, of people were killed

25 and thousands more were wounded;
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1 Whereas 20,000 people nationwide suspected of taking

2 part in the democracy movement were arrested and

3 sentenced without trial to prison or reeducation

4 through labor, and many were reportedly tortured;

5 Whereas human rights groups such as Human Rights

6 Watch, Human Rights in China, and Amnesty Inter7 national have documented that hundreds of those ar8 rested remain in prison;

9 Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of

10 China continues to suppress dissent by imprisoning

11 prodemocracy activists, journalists, labor union lead12 ers, religious believers, and other individuals in China

13 and Tibet who seek to express their political or reli14 gious views in a peaceful manner; and

15 Whereas June 4, 1999, is the tenth anniversary of the

16 date of the Tiananmen Square massacre: Now, there17 fore, be it

18 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

19 (1) expresses sympathy to the families of those

20 killed as a result of their participation in the democ21 racy protests of 1989, as well as to the families of

22 those who have been killed and to those who have

23 suffered for their efforts to keep that struggle alive

24 during the past decade;
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1 (2) commends all citizens of the People’s Re2 public of China who are peacefully advocating for

3 democracy and human rights; and

4 (3) condemns the ongoing and egregious human

5 rights abuses by the Government of the People’s Re6 public of China and calls on that government to—

7 (A) reevaluate the official verdict on the

8 June 4, 1989, Tiananmen prodemocracy activi9 ties and order relevant procuratorial organs to

10 open formal investigations on the June fourth

11 event with the goal of bringing those respon12 sible to justice;

13 (B) establish a June Fourth Investigation

14 Committee, the proceedings and findings of

15 which should be accessible to the public, to

16 make a just and independent inquiry into all

17 matters related to June 4, 1989;

18 (C) release all prisoners of conscience, in19 cluding those still in prison as a result of their

20 participation in the peaceful prodemocracy pro21 tests of May and June 1989, provide just com22 pensation to the families of those killed in those

23 protests, and allow those exiled on account of

24 their activities in 1989 to return and live in

25 freedom in the People’s Republic of China;
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1 (D) put an immediate end to harassment,

2 detention, and imprisonment of Chinese citizens

3 exercising their legitimate rights to the freedom

4 of expression, freedom of association, and free5 dom of religion; and

6 (E) demonstrate its willingness to respect

7 the rights of all Chinese citizens by proceeding

8 quickly to ratify and implement the Inter9 national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

10 which it signed on October 5, 1998.

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