IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1221 
Marking the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and con-
demning the ongoing and often brutal suppression of human rights 
and basic freedoms by the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China and Chinese Communist Party, including in the Hong Kong Spe-
cial Administrative Region, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 10, 2024 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Ms. WEXTON) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Marking the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square mas-
sacre and condemning the ongoing and often brutal sup-
pression of human rights and basic freedoms by the 
Government of the People’s Republic of China and Chi-
nese Communist Party, including in the Hong Kong 
Special Administrative Region, and for other purposes. 
Whereas June 4, 2024, marks the 35th anniversary of the 
violent crackdowns on peaceful demonstrations held on 
Tiananmen Square in central Beijing and in 400 other 
cities in the People’s Republic of China; 
Whereas 
these 
demonstrations 
included 
an 
estimated 
1,000,000 Chinese citizens from all walks of life, includ-
ing students, government employees, journalists, workers, 
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police officers, and members of the Armed Forces, who 
gathered peacefully to call for democratic reforms; 
Whereas these peaceful demonstrators called upon the Gov-
ernment of the People’s Republic of China to eliminate 
corruption, accelerate economic and political reform, and 
protect human rights, particularly the freedoms of ex-
pression and assembly—concerns that remain pertinent 
in China today; 
Whereas the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party sent 
armed People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops and tanks 
into Beijing and surrounding areas beginning on June 3, 
1989, killing and injuring thousands of demonstrators 
and other unarmed civilians, including in Tiananmen 
Square; 
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
continues to censor any mention of the crackdown cen-
tered on Tiananmen Square and prevents the victims 
from being publicly mourned and remembered; 
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
harasses, detains, and arrests those who call for a full, 
public, and independent accounting of the wounded, dead, 
and those imprisoned for participating in the spring 1989 
demonstrations—including 
the 
Tiananmen 
Mothers 
Group; 
Whereas the people of Hong Kong had held annual 
Tiananmen Square vigils since 1990 in Victoria Park, 
which were the only such mass gathering on Chinese ter-
ritory because commemorations of the event are banned 
in mainland China; 
Whereas the longstanding tradition of Hong Kong vigils came 
to an end in 2020 when Hong Kong police denied appli-
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cations for assembly pretextually on COVID-related 
grounds and then jailed key organizers of the annual 
event on politically motivated criminal charges involving 
unlawful assembly or national security; 
Whereas Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan, and Tsui Hon- 
kwong—members of the Hong Kong Alliance that orga-
nized the annual vigil—were convicted for resisting police 
demand to surrender the personal information of alliance 
members; 
Whereas Hong Kong police arrested 24 prominent individ-
uals, including Joshua Wong, Gwyneth Ho, Jimmy Lai, 
and Lee Cheuk-yan on charges of unlawful assembly or 
inciting unlawful assembly simply for showing up at Vic-
toria Park in 2020; 
Whereas the central Government of the People’s Republic of 
China and the Government of Hong Kong Special Ad-
ministrative Region (HKSAR) have since used the Na-
tional Security Law imposed on the HKSAR in 2020 by 
the PRC’s National People’s Congress Standing Com-
mittee to suppress peaceful protests and democratic 
voices in Hong Kong, including by barring candidates 
from standing for election and by arresting more than 
1,000 pro-democracy activists and opposition leaders; 
Whereas, in March 2024, the Hong Kong Legislative Council 
passed national security legislation pursuant to Article 23 
of the Basic Law, which gives law enforcement additional 
powers to prosecute people on vague charges, thereby 
augmenting the risk of arbitrary detention, including the 
suppression of peaceful protests, vigils, and assemblies 
the Hong Kong government does not like; 
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Whereas to protest censorship and harsh zero-COVID policy, 
mass protests in November 2022 spurred the largest 
mass demonstrations in China since 1989; 
Whereas these protests were in part spurred by the actions 
of Peng Lifa, also called ‘‘Bridgeman,’’ who unfurled two 
banners over the Sitong Bridge in Beijing which read 
‘‘We don’t want Covid Tests, we want food. We don’t 
want Cultural Revolution, we want reform. We don’t 
want lockdowns, we want freedom. We don’t want an au-
tocrat, we want votes. We don’t want lies, we want dig-
nity. We are citizens, not slaves.’’; 
Whereas Li Kangmeng, a university student, was reportedly 
the first person to hold up a blank sheet of white paper 
to highlight pervasive censorship in China, inspiring oth-
ers to adopt this symbol as a form of protest—giving a 
name to the 2022 protests as the ‘‘White Paper Move-
ment’’; 
Whereas Peng Lifa and Li Kangmeng remain in some from 
of detention, despite being nominated by Members of the 
Congress for the Nobel Peace Prize; 
Whereas an unknown amount of other people engaged in pro-
test remain detained or disappeared, including university 
student Kamile Wayit, who was sentenced for ‘‘extre-
mism’’ because she posted protest video on the Chinese 
social media platform WeChat; 
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
continues to commit gross violations of international-rec-
ognized human rights—through the arbitrary detention, 
torture, and harassment of pro-democracy activists, mem-
bers of ethnic groups, religious believers, human rights 
lawyers, citizen journalists, and labor union leaders, 
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among many others seeking to express their political or 
religious views or ethnic identity in a peaceful manner; 
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
is responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity 
being committed against the Uyghurs and other predomi-
nantly Muslim ethnic groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Au-
tonomous Region; 
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China 
has engaged in forced collection of biometric information 
from Tibetans and separates Tibetan children from their 
parents in colonial boarding schools, a practice that may 
constitute crimes against humanity; and 
Whereas Congress took steps, over the past 35 years, to re-
member the Tiananmen demonstrations and their violent 
suppression because of the profound impact the event has 
had on United States-People’s Republic of China rela-
tions and because commemorating Tiananmen was 
censored and banned in China and now in Hong Kong: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) marks the 35th anniversary of the 
Tiananmen Square protests and their violent sup-
pression by recognizing the solemn significance of 
the 1989 demonstrations and the impact the 
Tiananmen Massacre has had on United States-Peo-
ple’s Republic of China relations; 
(2) will continue to participate in somber re-
membrances for the victims of the Tiananmen Mas-
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sacre for as long as commemorations are banned in 
the People’s Republic of China; 
(3) calls on the United States Government to— 
(A) urge the Government of the People’s 
Republic of China to cease censoring informa-
tion and discussion about the Tiananmen Mas-
sacre and end efforts of intimidation and sur-
veillance against those seeking to remember 
loved ones killed or missing or to commemorate 
June 4, 1989, within China; 
(B) seek the unconditional release of polit-
ical prisoners in the People’s Republic of China, 
including 
those 
such 
as 
Peng 
Lifa, 
Li 
Kangmeng, Kamile Wayit and others arrested 
for peacefully engaging in protests in China; 
(C) demand the end of transnational re-
pression efforts in the United States targeting 
people from Hong Kong, former Tiananmen 
student leaders, Uyghurs, Tibetans, and others 
exercising fundamental freedoms and free 
speech abroad; 
(D) urge the Government of the Hong 
Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) 
and authorities of the Government of the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China to— 
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(i) allow resumption of the annual 
vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen Mas-
sacre in Hong Kong; 
(ii) release all political prisoners, in-
cluding Chow Hang-tung, Jimmy Lai, 
Joshua Wong and others jailed in Hong 
Kong in part for organizing or attending a 
Tiananmen vigil; and 
(iii) lift the arrest ‘‘bounties’’ on the 
people of Hong Kong who engage in peace-
ful pro-democracy activities abroad; 
(E) employ existing sanctions authorities 
for HKSAR officials, including prosecutors and 
judges, complicit in the undermining of Hong 
Kong high degree of autonomy and the funda-
mental freedoms guaranteed by international 
law and treaty; 
(F) use the voice, vote, and influence of 
the United States at the United Nations to seek 
urgent discussions of the human rights record 
of the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China and the HKSAR at the United Nations 
Security Council and at the United Nation’s 
Human Rights Council; and 
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