IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 794 

Recognizing the 17th anniversary of the massacre in Tiananmen Square, 

Beijing, in the People’s Republic of China, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 3, 2006 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. WOLF, Mr. ROHRABACHER, and Mr. PITTS) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on International Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the 17th anniversary of the massacre in 

Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in the People’s Republic 

of China, and for other purposes. 

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 governments are instituted, not to grant, but rather 

to secure, protect, and safeguard those 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; 


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Whereas the horrific events of June 3–4, 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 the Communist Government of China declared martial law the next day and troops backed by tanks crushed 

the student movement on June 3–4, 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 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 3–4, 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’s 

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989, 

gave various estimates of the number 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; 


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Whereas 20,000 people throughout China 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 credible sources estimate that the Communist Government of China continues to imprison hundreds, and 

perhaps thousands, of 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 the Communist Government of China undertakes active measures to deny its citizens the truth about the 

Tiananmen Square massacre, including the blocking of 

uncensored Internet sites and weblogs, and the placement 

of misleading information on the events of June 3–4, 

1989 on Internet sites available in China, often with the 

collusion and cooperation of United States Internet companies such as Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and Cisco; 

Whereas China, as part of the Tiananmen Square coverup, 

sentenced journalist Shi Tao to 10 years in prison, using 

information provided by Yahoo, for using his Yahoo email 

account to send foreigners a copy of a Chinese Government memo warning of possible trouble during the 15th 

anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre; 

Whereas coincident with the 15th anniversary of the 

Tiananmen Square massacre, the Communist Government of China 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 


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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 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; 

Whereas the Communist Government of China continues to 

suppress dissent by imprisoning pro-democracy activists, 

journalists, labor union leaders, religious believers, members of ethnic minority rights organizations, and other individuals in China and Tibet who seek to express their 

political or religious views in a peaceful manner; 

Whereas China has transformed the Internet from an engine 

of freedom and knowledge into an instrument of repression and of propaganda against the United States and its 

own people; 

Whereas the Communist Government of China continues its 

extraordinarily brutal persecution of the peaceful spiritual movement of Falun Gong; 

Whereas the Communist Government of China harasses, persecutes, disbars, and imprisons lawyers who seek to help 

Chinese citizens vindicate their rights as guaranteed by 

China’s constitution and laws; 

Whereas the Communist Government of China continues its 

barbaric policy of organ harvesting of executed prisoners; 

Whereas the Communist Government of China continues its 

policies of coercive sterilization and forced abortions to 


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enforce its one child policy, which promotes sex selective 

abortions and female infanticide on a massive scale, a 

gendercide which has led to millions of ‘‘missing girls,’’ 

and an increase in China’s already severe problem of female trafficking; 

Whereas the Communist Government of China fails to fulfill 

its international commitments by denying the United Nations High Commission on Refugees access to North Korean refugees, and by forcibly repatriating thousands of 

such refugees to North Korea, where they suffer persecution, imprisonment, and death; 

Whereas the Communist Government of China maintains 

hundreds, perhaps thousands of slave labor camps, violates the most basic workers’ rights, and fails to enforce 

its child labor laws; and 

Whereas June 4, 2006, is the 17th anniversary of the date 

of the Tiananmen Square massacre: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) expresses sympathy to the families of those 

3 killed, tortured, and imprisoned as a result of their 

4 participation in the democracy protests of June 3– 

5 4, 1989, in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in the Peo6 ple’s Republic of China, and to all those persons who 

7 have suffered for their efforts to keep that struggle 

8 alive during the past 17 years, and to all the people 

9 of China who lack fundamental human rights; 


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1 (2) commends all persons who are peacefully 

2 advocating for democracy and human rights in 

3 China; 

4 (3) calls upon those nations planning to partici5 pate in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing to insist 

6 that China comply with the United Nations Declara7 tion on Human Rights; 

8 (4) calls upon the Communist Government of 

9 China, its National People’s Congress, and any other 

10 groups appointed by the Communist Government of 

11 China to honor its pledge of a ‘‘high degree of au12 tonomy’’ made at the time of the Hong Kong rever13 sion in 1997, by permitting immediate elections for 

14 the Legislative Council of Hong Kong according to 

15 rules approved by the Hong Kong people through an 

16 election-law convention, referendum, or both, and by 

17 leaving all revisions of Hong Kong law to a legisla18 ture elected by universal suffrage; and 

19 (5) condemns the ongoing and egregious human 

20 rights abuses by the Communist Government of 

21 China and calls on that Government to— 

22 (A) reevaluate the official verdict on the 

23 June 4, 1989, Tiananmen pro-democracy activi24 ties and order formal investigations into the re25 ported killing, torture, and imprisonment of deVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:43 May 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR794.IH HR794

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1 mocracy activists with the goal of bringing 

2 those responsible to justice; 

3 (B) establish a June Fourth Investigation 

4 Committee, the proceedings and findings of 

5 which should be accessible to the public, to 

6 make a just and independent inquiry into all 

7 matters related to June 4, 1989; 

8 (C) release all prisoners of conscience, in9 cluding those persons still in prison as a result 

10 of their participation in the peaceful pro-democ11 racy protests of 1989, provide just compensa12 tion to the families of those killed in those pro13 tests, and allow those exiled on account of their 

14 activities in 1989 to return and live in freedom 

15 in China; 

16 (D) end it censorship of legitimate free 

17 speech on the Internet, and its persecution of 

18 Internet dissidents; 

19 (E) end its persecution of Falun Gong; 

20 (F) end the harassment, persecution, dis21 barment, and imprisonment of lawyers who seek 

22 to help Chinese citizens vindicate their rights as 

23 guaranteed by China’s constitution and laws; 

24 (G) end organ harvesting and ensure that 

25 its organ donor programs proceed only on a 


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1 purely transparent, voluntary, and non-commer2 cial basis; 

3 (H) end its coercive one-child policy; 

4 (I) grant the United Nations High Com5 mission on Refugees access to all refugees, and 

6 end forcible repatriations of refugees, particu7 larly to North Korea; 

8 (J) close its ‘‘re-education through labor’’ 

9 camps, respect the rights of workers, and end 

10 police detention without trial; and 

11 (K) release Dr. Yang Jianli, an organizer 

12 of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, who 

13 has been illegally detained by the Communist 

14 Government of China since April 26, 2002, and 

15 whose wife and two children are United States 

16 citizens, and put an immediate end to the har17 assment, detention, and imprisonment of all 

18 Chinese citizens exercising their legitimate free19 doms of expression, association, and religion. 

Æ 


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