III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 608 

Expressing the sense of the Senate condemning threats to Hong Kong’s 

freedoms and autonomy on the 31st anniversary of the violent repression 

of the peaceful protests centered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2020 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. GARDNER, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

DAINES, Mr. KING, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. PETERS, Mr. CORNYN, 

Mr. HAWLEY, and Mr. YOUNG) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate condemning threats to 

Hong Kong’s freedoms and autonomy on the 31st anniversary of the violent repression of the peaceful protests 

centered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. 

Whereas the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre is an especially poignant milestone, particularly as 

the autonomy of the Hong Kong Special Administrative 

Region of the People’s Republic of China (‘‘Hong Kong’’) 

and freedoms guaranteed to the people of Hong Kong are 

currently under threat by possible national security legislation from the Government of the People’s Republic of 

China (‘‘China’’); 


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•SRES 608 IS 

Whereas, during the spring of 1989, an estimated 1,000,000 

people engaged in Tiananmen Square protests, and citizens in over 400 Chinese cities staged similar protests, 

including among many others, students, workers, academics, journalists and government employees; 

Whereas the peaceful demonstrations of 1989 called upon the 

Government of China to eliminate corruption, accelerate 

economic and political reform, and protect human rights, 

particularly the freedoms of expression and assembly, 

issues that remain relevant in United States-China relations 31 years later; 

Whereas, on June 4, 1989, troops of the People’s Liberation 

Army, at the behest of Chinese Communist Party leadership, attacked Tiananmen Square to repress demonstrators, crushing defenseless protestors with tanks and firing on them indiscriminately, killing hundreds or possibly 

thousands of individuals; 

Whereas, since June 4, 1989, the Government of China censors any mention of Tiananmen Square and imprisons 

and harasses its own citizens who attempt to discuss or 

commemorate Tiananmen Square protests and their violent suppression; 

Whereas the Tiananmen Mothers—a group in China composed of parents and family members of individuals killed 

on or around June 4, 1989—have annually called upon 

the Government of China to reveal the truth of the 

events; 

Whereas people of mainland China and Macau are again 

barred this year from commemorating the lives lost and 

the legacy of the 1989 massacre; 


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•SRES 608 IS 

Whereas the Government of China continues to view the demands of the Tiananmen protesters, including democracy, transparency, rights protections, and freedom of 

speech, as threats to the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party’s hold on political power; 

Whereas the people of Hong Kong have commemorated the 

Tiananmen massacre each year faithfully in large numbers; 

Whereas the Hong Kong Police Force has blocked the annual 

candlelight vigil to commemorate Tiananmen this year; 

Whereas Hong Kong’s guaranteed freedoms and the rule of 

law have allowed it to be a prosperous bridge between 

mainland China and the world; 

Whereas Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms have been 

eroded by the actions of the Government of Hong Kong 

and the Government of China, particularly over the past 

several years, with disqualifications of elected members of 

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, blocking citizens from 

running for office, failing to address the petitions of the 

Hong Kong people, banning a political party advocating 

Hong Kong independence, and failing to address police 

excessive use of force; 

Whereas the political turmoil in Hong Kong is primarily the 

result of actions of the Government of Hong Kong and 

the Government of China, including the arbitrary arrests 

of peaceful protesters, including well-known democracy 

advocates such as Martin Lee, Jimmy Lai, Lee Cheuk 

Yan, Margaret Ng, Albert Ho, Leung Kwok-hung, Au 

Nok-hin, Figo Chan, and others; 


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•SRES 608 IS 

Whereas China’s National People’s Congress has decided to 

impose national security legislation with respect to Hong 

Kong; 

Whereas the implementation of that legislation signals a severe blow to Hong Kong’s autonomy and would violate 

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, done at Beijing on December 

19, 1984; 

Whereas Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, pursuant to the 

United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (Public 

Law 102–383), has determined that Hong Kong no 

longer manifests a ‘‘high degree of autonomy’’ distinct 

from mainland China; 

Whereas vague national security laws are used widely in 

mainland China to imprison or arbitrarily detain dissidents, rights defenders, civil society advocates, religious 

leaders and adherents, and persons from ethnic minorities; 

Whereas human rights, democracy, and religious freedom advocates have been imprisoned or arbitrarily detained 

under vague national security laws in mainland China, 

including Wu Gan, Qin Yongmin, Zhou Shifeng, Yu 

Wensheng, Wang Yi, and Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, who 

died in state custody nearly three years ago; 

Whereas the United States Congress, particularly in recent 

years, has passed numerous measures articulating the 

longstanding and bipartisan commitment to human rights 

in China, including— 


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•SRES 608 IS 

(1) the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114– 

328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note); 

(2) the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–198); 

(3) the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018 

(Public Law 115–330); 

(4) the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy 

Act of 2019 (Public Law 116–76); and 

(5) the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (S. 3744, 

116th Congress); 

Whereas, on this day, we stand in solidarity with human 

rights lawyers, labor and free speech advocates, religious 

groups, and ethnic minorities in China, such as Tibetans, 

and also Uyghurs and other predominately Muslim ethnic 

minorities who face mass internment and surveillance, 

forced labor and family separations, and who are often 

forced to renounce their faith; and 

Whereas, on this day, we remember the words of the late 

Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo, who said there is ‘‘no force 

that can put an end to the human quest for freedom, and 

China will in the end become a nation ruled by law, 

where human rights reign supreme’’: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) will commemorate the Tiananmen protests 

3 and their violent repression at least until such time 

4 as Chinese citizens are able to do so freely and pub5 licly everywhere across their country; 


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1 (2) expresses sympathy to the families of those 

2 killed, tortured, imprisoned, or exiled for their par3 ticipation in the pro-democracy demonstrations dur4 ing the spring of 1989; 

5 (3) calls on the Government of China to allow 

6 those Tiananmen demonstration participants cur7 rently living in exile in the United States and other 

8 countries to return to China without risk of reper9 cussions or retribution; 

10 (4) condemns the use of violence, torture, and 

11 arbitrary detention as a means to repress the legiti12 mate aspirations of the people of China to speak and 

13 associate freely, including to petition the government 

14 and challenge the policies and ideology of the Chi15 nese Communist Party; 

16 (5) calls on the Government of China to release 

17 all prisoners of conscience, including prisoners de18 tained because of their participation in Tiananmen 

19 Square commemorations or actions calling for the 

20 type of political reforms and rights protections pur21 sued by those who gathered in Tiananmen Square in 

22 1989 and including over one million Uyghurs and 

23 other predominately Muslim ethnic minorities in the 

24 Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; 


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1 (6) condemns any forced imposition of national 

2 security legislation with respect to Hong Kong; 

3 (7) calls upon the United States Government to 

4 use all available authorities to protect United States 

5 interests in Hong Kong and the freedoms of the 

6 Hong Kong people, including— 

7 (A) encouraging the Standing Committee 

8 of the National People’s Congress of China ‘‘to 

9 work with the Hong Kong [Special Administra10 tive Region] Government and the people of 

11 Hong Kong to find a mutually acceptable ac12 commodation that will honor China’s inter13 national obligations under the UN-filed Sino14 British Joint Declaration,’’ as called for by the 

15 Joint Statement of the Governments of the 

16 United States, Australia, Canada and the 

17 United Kingdom; and 

18 (B) using all available diplomatic means 

19 and targeted sanctions to encourage the repeal 

20 of the national security legislation adopted by 

21 the Standing Committee of the National Peo22 ple’s Congress of China on May 28, 2020; 

23 (8) calls upon the President to encourage an 

24 international coalition to demand that China adhere 


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1 to its international agreements and human rights 

2 obligations; and 

3 (9) calls upon Hong Kong Chief Executive 

4 Carrie Lam to allow the Hong Kong people to exer5 cise their ‘‘freedoms of speech, of the press and of 

6 publication; freedom of association, of assembly, of 

7 procession and of demonstration,’’ as guaranteed in 

8 Article 27 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Spe9 cial Administrative Region of the People’s Republic 

10 of China. 

Æ 


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