III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 6, 2023 

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 

RESOLUTION 

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. 

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; 


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•SRES 237 IS 

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 


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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; 


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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 


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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, 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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) expresses its deepest respect for and soli3 darity with the families and friends of those killed, 

4 tortured, and imprisoned for participating in the 

5 prodemocracy demonstrations during the spring of 

6 1989, and with those who have continued to suffer 


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1 for their fight to publicly mourn the Tiananmen 

2 Square massacre victims; 

3 (2) reaffirms its support for those who continue 

4 to work for political reform, rule of law, and protec5 tions for human rights in China; 

6 (3) condemns the Government of the People’s 

7 Republic of China for its continued human rights 

8 abuses, including suppressing peaceful political dis9 sent and ethnic and religious minorities; 

10 (4) calls on the Government of the People’s Re11 public of China to— 

12 (A) cease censoring information and dis13 cussion about the Tiananmen Square massacre; 

14 (B) invite and cooperate with a full and 

15 independent investigation into the Tiananmen 

16 Square massacre by the United Nations High 

17 Commissioner for Human Rights; 

18 (C) uphold its international legal obliga19 tions to Hong Kong under the Joint Declara20 tion of the Government of the United Kingdom 

21 of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 

22 Government of the People’s Republic of China 

23 on the Question of Hong Kong (‘‘Joint Declara24 tion’’) and cease undermining Hong Kong’s 

25 high degree of autonomy; and 


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1 (D) allow those participants in the 

2 Tiananmen demonstrations who fled overseas or 

3 reside outside of China after being ‘‘blacklisted’’ 

4 for their peaceful protest activity to return to 

5 China without risk of retribution; 

6 (5) calls on the Government of the Hong Kong 

7 Special Administrative Region and the relevant au8 thorities in the Government of the People’s Republic 

9 of China to— 

10 (A) respect and uphold the personal rights 

11 and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and 

12 the independence of Hong Kong’s legal system; 

13 (B) restore independent democratic rep14 resentation to the people of Hong Kong in line 

15 with the ‘‘One Country, Two Systems’’ arrange16 ment set forth in the Joint Declaration and its 

17 implementing document, the Basic Law; and 

18 (C) allow those living in exile for engaging 

19 in prodemocracy activities to return to Hong 

20 Kong without fear of detention or other reper21 cussions; 

22 (6) calls on the United States Government and 

23 members of Congress to mark the 34th anniversary 

24 of the Tiananmen Square protests, including 

25 through meetings with participants of the 


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1 Tiananmen Square protests who live outside of 

2 China and the families and friends of the victims of 

3 the Tiananmen Square massacre based outside 

4 China; and 

5 (7) supports ongoing peaceful movements for 

6 human rights in China and of the people in Hong 

7 Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang. 

Æ 


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