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.

IV 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 462 Remembering the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and con- demning 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 Com- munist Party, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 1, 2023 Mr. BERA (for himself, Mrs. KIM of California, Mr. CARSON, Ms. TITUS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. KEATING, Mrs. WAGNER, and Mr. CONNOLLY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 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 Com- munist 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 Com- munist Party (CCP) Hu Yaobang, who was compelled to VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR462.IH HR462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 462 IH resign in 1987 for supporting political reforms within the CCP; Whereas, throughout April and May 1989, peaceful dem- onstrations continued in Tiananmen Square and in an es- timated 400 cities across China; Whereas, by May 17, 1989, an estimated 1,000,000 Chinese citizens from all walks of life, including students, govern- ment 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 re- form, and protect human rights, particularly the free- doms of expression and assembly; Whereas, on May 20, 1989, the Government of the PRC de- clared 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 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 PRC 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR462.IH HR462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 462 IH the wounded, dead, and those imprisoned for partici- pating in the spring 1989 demonstrations; 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 (hereafter the ‘‘Joint Declara- tion’’), which guaranteed the Hong Kong Special Admin- istrative 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 free- doms, 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 PRC; 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; Whereas, on June 30, 2020, China’s National People’s Con- gress Standing Committee flagrantly undermined the VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR462.IH HR462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 462 IH high degree of autonomy promised to Hong Kong in the Joint Declaration and Basic Law by passing and impos- ing upon Hong Kong the oppressive and intentionally vague Law of the PRC on Safeguarding National Secu- rity in the HKSAR (‘‘national security law’’); Whereas the central Government of the PRC and the HKSAR Government have since used the national secu- rity law to suppress democratic voices in Hong Kong, in- cluding 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 Con- gress adopted the ‘‘Decision of the National People’s Congress on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’’, thereby further re- stricting Hong Kong’s electoral freedom and democratic representation; Whereas, on May 27, 2021, the Hong Kong Police Force offi- cially 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 likely 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 Congress on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’’; VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR462.IH HR462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 462 IH Whereas, on March 4, 2023, the HKSAR West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court convicted three standing committee members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patri- otic Democratic Movements of China, Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan, and Tsui Hon-kwong, under the Na- tional 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 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 prodemocracy activists, members of eth- nic minorities, including individuals in the Tibetan re- gions, religious believers, human rights lawyers, citizen journalists, and labor union leaders, among many others seeking to express their political or religious views or eth- nic identity in a peaceful manner: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) expresses its deepest respect for and soli- 2 darity with the families and friends of those killed, 3 tortured, and imprisoned for participating in the 4 prodemocracy demonstrations during the spring of 5 1989, and with those who have continued to suffer 6 for their fight to publicly mourn the Tiananmen 7 Square massacre victims; 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR462.IH HR462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HRES 462 IH (2) reaffirms its support for those who continue 1 to work for political reform, rule of law, and protec- 2 tions for human rights in China; 3 (3) condemns the Government of the People’s 4 Republic of China (PRC) for its continued human 5 rights abuses, including suppressing peaceful polit- 6 ical dissent and ethnic and religious minorities; 7 (4) calls on the Government of the PRC to— 8 (A) cease censoring information and dis- 9 cussion about the Tiananmen Square massacre; 10 (B) invite and cooperate with a full and 11 independent investigation into the Tiananmen 12 Square massacre by the United Nations High 13 Commissioner for Human Rights; 14 (C) uphold its international legal obliga- 15 tions to Hong Kong under the Joint Declara- 16 tion of the Government of the United Kingdom 17 of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 18 Government of the People’s Republic of China 19 on the Question of Hong Kong (‘‘Joint Declara- 20 tion’’) and cease undermining Hong Kong’s 21 high degree of autonomy; and 22 (D) allow those participants in the 23 Tiananmen demonstrations who fled overseas or 24 reside outside of China after being ‘‘blacklisted’’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR462.IH HR462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HRES 462 IH for their peaceful protest activity to return to 1 China without risk of retribution; 2 (5) calls on the Government of the Hong Kong 3 Special Administrative Region, and the relevant au- 4 thorities in the Government of the PRC to— 5 (A) respect and uphold the personal rights 6 and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and 7 the independence of Hong Kong’s legal system; 8 (B) restore independent democratic rep- 9 resentation to the people of Hong Kong in line 10 with the ‘‘One Country, Two Systems’’ arrange- 11 ment set forth in the Joint Declaration and its 12 implementing document, the Basic Law; and 13 (C) allow those living in exile for engaging 14 in prodemocracy activities to return to Hong 15 Kong without fear of detention or other reper- 16 cussions; 17 (6) calls on the United States Government and 18 Members of Congress to mark the 34th anniversary 19 of the Tiananmen Square protests, including 20 through meetings with participants of the 21 Tiananmen Square protests who live outside of 22 China and the families and friends of the victims of 23 the Tiananmen Square massacre based outside 24 China; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR462.IH HR462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HRES 462 IH (7) supports ongoing peaceful movements for 1 human rights in China and of the people in Hong 2 Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR462.IH HR462 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS