H. Res. 489 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

June 2, 2009. 

Whereas freedom of expression and assembly are fundamental human rights that belong to all people, and are 

recognized as such under the Universal Declaration of 

Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil 

and Political Rights; 

Whereas June 4th, 2009, marks the 20th anniversary of the 

day in 1989 when the People’s Liberation Army and 

other security forces finished carrying out the orders of 

Chinese leaders to use lethal force to disperse demonstrators in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square; 

Whereas the death on April 15, 1989, of Hu Yaobang, 

former General Secretary of the Communist Party of 

China, was followed by peaceful protests calling for the 

elimination of corruption, acceleration of economic and 

political reforms, especially freedom of expression and 

freedom of assembly; and calling for a dialogue between 

protesters and Chinese authorities on these issues; 

Whereas by early May 1989, citizens advocating publicly for 

democratic reform across China included not only students, but also government employees, journalists, workers, police, members of the armed forces and other citizens; 
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Whereas on May 20, 1989, martial law was declared in Beijing after authorities had failed to persuade demonstrators to leave Tiananmen Square; 

Whereas during the late afternoon and early evening hours 

of June 3, 1989, ten- to fifteen thousand helmeted, 

armed troops carrying automatic weapons and traveling 

in large truck convoys moved into Beijing to ‘‘clear the 

Square’’ and surrounding streets of demonstrators; 

Whereas on the night of June 3 and continuing into the 

morning of June 4, 1989, soldiers in armored columns of 

tanks outside of Tiananmen Square fired directly at citizens and indiscriminately into crowds, inflicting high civilian casualties, killing or injuring unarmed civilians who 

reportedly ranged in age from 9 years old to 61 years 

old; and whereas tanks crushed some protesters and onlookers to death; 

Whereas after 20 years, the exact number of dead and 

wounded remains unclear; credible sources believe that a 

number much larger than that officially reported actually 

died in Beijing during the period of military control; 

credible sources estimate the wounded numbered at least 

in the hundreds; detentions at the time were in the thousands, and some political prisoners who were sentenced 

in connection with the events surrounding June 4, 1989, 

still languish in Chinese prisons; 

Whereas there are Chinese citizens still imprisoned for 

‘‘counter-revolutionary’’ offenses allegedly committed during the 1989 demonstrations, even though, according to 

the 1997 revision of China’s Criminal Law, the ‘‘offenses’’ for which they were convicted are no longer 

crimes; 
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Whereas the Tiananmen Mothers is a group of relatives and 

friends of those killed in June 1989 whose demands include the right to mourn victims publicly, to call for a full 

and public accounting of the wounded and dead, and the 

release of those who remain imprisoned for participating 

in the 1989 protests; 

Whereas members of the Tiananmen Mothers group have 

faced arrest, harassment and discrimination; the group’s 

Web site is blocked in China; and international cash donations made to the group to support families of victims 

reportedly have been frozen by Chinese authorities; 

Whereas Chinese authorities censor information that does not 

conform to the official version of events surrounding the 

Tiananmen crackdown, and limits or prohibits information about the Tiananmen crackdown from appearing in 

textbooks in China; 

Whereas Chinese authorities continue to suppress peaceful 

dissent by harassing, detaining, or imprisoning advocates 

for democratic processes, journalists, advocates for worker rights, religious believers, and other individuals in 

China, including in Xinjiang and in Tibet, who seek to 

express their political dissent, ethnic identity, or religious 

views peacefully and freely; and 

Whereas Chinese authorities continue to harass and detain 

advocates for democratic processes, such as Mr. Liu 

Xiaobo, a Tiananmen Square protester, prominent intellectual, dissident writer, and more recently a signer of 

Charter 08 (a call for peaceful political reform and respect for the rule of law published on-line in December 

2008 by over 300 citizens, and subsequently endorsed by 

thousands more), who remains under house arrest: Now, 

therefore, be it 
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Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) expresses sympathy to the families of those 

killed, tortured, and imprisoned as a result of their participation in the democracy protests in Tiananmen 

Square and elsewhere in China on June 3 and 4, 1989, 

and thereafter, and to all those persons who have suffered for their peaceful efforts to keep that struggle alive 

during the last two decades; 

(2) calls on the People’s Republic of China to invite 

full and independent investigations into the Tiananmen 

Square crackdown, assisted by the United Nations High 

Commissioner for Human Rights and the International 

Committee of the Red Cross; 

(3) calls on the legal authorities of People’s Republic of China to review immediately the cases of those still 

imprisoned for participating in the 1989 protests for 

compliance with internationally recognized standards of 

fairness and due process in judicial proceedings, and to 

release those individuals imprisoned solely for peacefully 

exercising their internationally-recognized rights; 

(4) calls on the People’s Republic of China to end 

its harassment and detention of and its discrimination 

against those who were involved in the 1989 protests not 

only in Beijing, but in other parts of China where protests took place, and to end its harassment and deten-
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tion of those who continue to advocate peacefully for political reform such as Mr. Liu Xiaobo, a signer of Charter 08 who remains under house arrest, and his wife, 

Liu Xia; 

(5) calls on the People’s Republic of China to allow 

protest participants who escaped to or are living in exile 

in the United States and other countries, or who reside 

outside of China because they have been ‘‘blacklisted’’ in 

China as a result of their peaceful protest activity, to return to China without risk of retribution or repercussion; 

and 

(6) calls on the Administration and Members of the 

Congress to mark the 20th Anniversary of the events at 

Tiananmen Square appropriately and effectively by taking steps that includes— 

(A) meeting whenever and wherever possible 

with participants in the demonstrations who are living in the United States; 

(B) meeting with others outside of China who 

have been ‘‘blacklisted’’ in China as a result of their 

peaceful protest activities; 

(C) signaling support for those in China who 

demand an accounting of the events surrounding 

June 4th, 1989; and 
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(D) expressing support for those advocating for 

accountable and democratic governance in China. 

Attest: 

Clerk.