IV
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 178
Concerning the tenth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre of
June 4, 1989, in the People’s Republic of China.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 18, 1999
Ms. PELOSI (for herself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. PORTER, Mr. GEP-
HARDT, Mr. COX, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr.
SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. WU,
Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms.
WOOLSEY, Mr. HORN, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. CLAY) submitted the fol-
lowing resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International
Relations
RESOLUTION
Concerning the tenth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square
massacre of June 4, 1989, in the People’s Republic of China.
Whereas the United States was founded on the democratic
principle that all men and women are created equal
and entitled to the exercise of their basic human
rights;
Whereas freedom of expression and assembly are funda-
mental human rights that belong to all people and are
recognized as such under the United Nations Declara-
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tion of Human Rights and the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights;
Whereas the death of the former General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China,
Hu Yaobang, on April 15, 1989, gave rise to peaceful
protests throughout China calling for the establish-
ment of a dialogue with government and party leaders
on democratic reforms, including freedom of expres-
sion, freedom of assembly, and the elimination of cor-
ruption by government officials;
Whereas after that date thousands of prodemocracy dem-
onstrators continued to protest peacefully in and
around Tiananmen Square in Beijing until June 3
and 4, 1989, until Chinese authorities ordered the
People’s Liberation Army and other security forces to
use lethal force to disperse demonstrators in Beijing,
especially around Tiananmen Square;
Whereas nonofficial sources, a Chinese Red Cross report
from June 7, 1989, and the State Department Coun-
try Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989,
gave various estimates of the numbers of people killed
and wounded in 1989 by the People’s Liberation
Army soldiers and other security forces, but agreed
that hundreds, if not thousands, of people were killed
and thousands more were wounded;
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Whereas 20,000 people nationwide suspected of taking
part in the democracy movement were arrested and
sentenced without trial to prison or reeducation
through labor, and many were reportedly tortured;
Whereas human rights groups such as Human Rights
Watch, Human Rights in China, and Amnesty Inter-
national have documented that hundreds of those ar-
rested remain in prison;
Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of
China continues to suppress dissent by imprisoning
prodemocracy activists, journalists, labor union lead-
ers, religious believers, and other individuals in China
and Tibet who seek to express their political or reli-
gious views in a peaceful manner; and
Whereas June 4, 1999, is the tenth anniversary of the
date of the Tiananmen Square massacre: Now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) expresses sympathy to the families of those
killed as a result of their participation in the democ-
racy protests of 1989, as well as to the families of
those who have been killed and to those who have
suffered for their efforts to keep that struggle alive
during the past decade;
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(2) commends all citizens of the People’s Re-
public of China who are peacefully advocating for
democracy and human rights; and
(3) condemns the ongoing and egregious human
rights abuses by the Government of the People’s Re-
public of China and calls on that government to—
(A) reevaluate the official verdict on the
June 4, 1989, Tiananmen prodemocracy activi-
ties and order relevant procuratorial organs to
open formal investigations on the June fourth
event with the goal of bringing those respon-
sible to justice;
(B) establish a June Fourth Investigation
Committee, the proceedings and findings of
which should be accessible to the public, to
make a just and independent inquiry into all
matters related to June 4, 1989;
(C) release all prisoners of conscience, in-
cluding those still in prison as a result of their
participation in the peaceful prodemocracy pro-
tests of May and June 1989, provide just com-
pensation to the families of those killed in those
protests, and allow those exiled on account of
their activities in 1989 to return and live in
freedom in the People’s Republic of China;
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(D) put an immediate end to harassment,
detention, and imprisonment of Chinese citizens
exercising their legitimate rights to the freedom
of expression, freedom of association, and free-
dom of religion; and
(E) demonstrate its willingness to respect
the rights of all Chinese citizens by proceeding
quickly to ratify and implement the Inter-
national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
which it signed on October 5, 1998.
Æ