III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 259 

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 8, 2021 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself and Mr. ROMNEY) 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 expressing support of students demanding political reform; 


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•SRES 259 IS 

Whereas, throughout April and May 1989, peaceful demonstrations continued in Tiananmen Square and in an estimated 400 cities across 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 (PRC) 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 PRC declared martial law; 

Whereas, during the late afternoon and early evening hours 

of June 3, 1989, the CCP leadership sent armed People’s 

Liberation Army (PLA) troops and tanks into Beijing 

and surrounding streets; 

Whereas, on the night of June 3, 1989, and continuing into 

the morning of June 4, 1989, PLA soldiers, at the direction of CCP leadership, fired indiscriminately into crowds 

of peaceful protestors, killing and injuring thousands of 

demonstrators and other unarmed civilians; 

Whereas the Government of the PRC continues to censor any 

mention of the crackdown centered on Tiananmen 

Square, prevent the victims from being publicly mourned 

and remembered, and harass, detain, and arrest those 

who call for a full, public, and independent accounting of 

the wounded, dead, and those imprisoned for participating in the spring 1989 demonstrations; 


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•SRES 259 IS 

Whereas the sovereignty of Hong Kong transferred from the 

United Kingdom to the PRC 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 (in this resolution referred to as 

the ‘‘Joint Declaration’’), which guaranteed that 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 ‘‘[r]ights 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 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; 

Whereas the people of Hong Kong have held an annual 

Tiananmen Square vigil since 1990, which 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; 

Whereas, on June 30, 2020, China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee flagrantly undermined the 

high degree of autonomy guaranteed to Hong Kong in 

the Joint Declaration and Basic Law by passing and imVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR259.IS SR259

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•SRES 259 IS 

posing upon Hong Kong the oppressive and intentionally 

vague Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special 

Administrative Region (the ‘‘national security law’’); 

Whereas the central Government of PRC and the Hong Kong 

Special Administrative Region (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 

pro-democracy 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 6, 2021, a Hong Kong judge sentenced several Hong Kong pro-democracy activists to between 4 

and 10 months in jail for participating in the unauthorized Tiananmen Square vigil in June 2020; 

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 Disease 2019 pandemic; 

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, 2021, ‘‘Decision of the National 

People’s Congress on Improving the Electoral System of 

the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’’; 


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•SRES 259 IS 

Whereas June 4, 2021, marks the 32nd anniversary of the 

Tiananmen Square massacre; 

Whereas the Government of the PRC has committed genocide 

and crimes against humanity against the predominantly 

Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority 

groups in Xinjiang; and 

Whereas the Government of the PRC continues to violate the 

human rights of pro-democracy activists, members of ethnic minorities, 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 pro-democracy demonstrations during the spring of 

6 1989, and with those who have continued to suffer 

7 for their fight to publicly mourn the Tiananmen 

8 Square massacre victims; 

9 (2) reaffirms its support for those who continue 

10 to work for political reform, rule of law, and protec11 tions for human rights in China; 

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

13 Republic of China for its continued human rights 

14 abuses, including suppressing peaceful political dis15 sent and ethnic and religious minorities; 


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•SRES 259 IS 

1 (4) calls on the Government of the People’s Re2 public of China to— 

3 (A) cease censoring information and dis4 cussion about the Tiananmen Square massacre; 

5 (B) invite and cooperate with a full and 

6 independent investigation into the Tiananmen 

7 Square massacre by the United Nations High 

8 Commissioner for Human Rights; 

9 (C) uphold its international legal obliga10 tions to Hong Kong under the Joint Declara11 tion of the Government of the United Kingdom 

12 of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 

13 Government of the People’s Republic of China 

14 on the Question of Hong Kong (‘‘Joint Declara15 tion’’) and cease undermining Hong Kong’s 

16 high degree of autonomy; and 

17 (D) allow those participants in the 

18 Tiananmen demonstrations who fled overseas or 

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

20 for their peaceful protest activity to return to 

21 China without risk of retribution; 

22 (5) calls on the Hong Kong Special Administra23 tive Region, and the relevant authorities in the Gov24 ernment of the People’s Republic of China to— 


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•SRES 259 IS 

1 (A) respect and uphold the personal rights 

2 and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and 

3 the independence of Hong Kong’s legal system; 

4 (B) restore independent democratic rep5 resentation to the people of Hong Kong in line 

6 with the ‘‘One Country, Two Systems’’ arrange7 ment set forth in the Joint Declaration and its 

8 implementing document, the Basic Law; and 

9 (C) allow those living in exile for engaging 

10 in pro-democracy activities to return to Hong 

11 Kong without fear of detention or other reper12 cussions; 

13 (6) calls on the United States Government and 

14 members of Congress to mark the 32nd anniversary 

15 of the Tiananmen Square protests, including 

16 through meetings with participants of the 

17 Tiananmen Square protests who live outside of 

18 China and the families and friends of the victims of 

19 the Tiananmen Square massacre based outside 

20 China; and 

21 (7) supports ongoing peaceful movements for 

22 human rights in China and of the people in Hong 

23 Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang. 

Æ 


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