A 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.

III 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 237 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 6, 2023 Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. ROMNEY, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. RUBIO) 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 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 resign in 1987 for supporting political reforms within the CCP; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR237.IS SR237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 237 IS Whereas, throughout April and May 1989, peaceful dem- onstrations continued in Tiananmen Square and in an es- timated 400 cities across the People’s Republic of 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 to elimi- nate 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 People’s Republic of China declared martial law; Whereas, during the late afternoon and early evening hours of June 3, 1989, the People’s Republic of China leader- ship 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 People’s Republic of China continues to censor any mention of the crackdown cen- tered 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 the wounded, dead, and those VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR237.IS SR237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 237 IS imprisoned for participating in the spring 1989 dem- onstrations; Whereas the sovereignty of Hong Kong transferred from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China 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 (here- after the ‘‘Joint Declaration’’), which guaranteed 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 ‘‘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 People’s Republic of China; 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; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR237.IS SR237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 237 IS Whereas, on June 30, 2020, China’s National People’s Con- gress Standing Committee flagrantly undermined the 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 People’s Republic of China on Safe- guarding National Security in the HKSAR (‘‘national se- curity law’’); Whereas the central Government of the People’s Republic of China and the HKSAR Government have since used the national security law to suppress democratic voices in Hong Kong, including by barring candidates from stand- ing 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 through 2023, despite the pandemic restrictions being largely re- moved 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR237.IS SR237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 237 IS Congress on Improving the Electoral System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’’; 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 People’s Republic of China has committed genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang; and Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China continues to violate the human rights of prodemocracy activists, members of ethnic groups, 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 Resolved, That the Senate— 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR237.IS SR237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •SRES 237 IS for their fight to publicly mourn the Tiananmen 1 Square massacre victims; 2 (2) reaffirms its support for those who continue 3 to work for political reform, rule of law, and protec- 4 tions for human rights in China; 5 (3) condemns the Government of the People’s 6 Republic of China for its continued human rights 7 abuses, including suppressing peaceful political dis- 8 sent and ethnic and religious minorities; 9 (4) calls on the Government of the People’s Re- 10 public of China to— 11 (A) cease censoring information and dis- 12 cussion about the Tiananmen Square massacre; 13 (B) invite and cooperate with a full and 14 independent investigation into the Tiananmen 15 Square massacre by the United Nations High 16 Commissioner for Human Rights; 17 (C) uphold its international legal obliga- 18 tions to Hong Kong under the Joint Declara- 19 tion of the Government of the United Kingdom 20 of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 21 Government of the People’s Republic of China 22 on the Question of Hong Kong (‘‘Joint Declara- 23 tion’’) and cease undermining Hong Kong’s 24 high degree of autonomy; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR237.IS SR237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •SRES 237 IS (D) allow those participants in the 1 Tiananmen demonstrations who fled overseas or 2 reside outside of China after being ‘‘blacklisted’’ 3 for their peaceful protest activity to return to 4 China without risk of retribution; 5 (5) calls on the Government of the Hong Kong 6 Special Administrative Region and the relevant au- 7 thorities in the Government of the People’s Republic 8 of China to— 9 (A) respect and uphold the personal rights 10 and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and 11 the independence of Hong Kong’s legal system; 12 (B) restore independent democratic rep- 13 resentation to the people of Hong Kong in line 14 with the ‘‘One Country, Two Systems’’ arrange- 15 ment set forth in the Joint Declaration and its 16 implementing document, the Basic Law; and 17 (C) allow those living in exile for engaging 18 in prodemocracy activities to return to Hong 19 Kong without fear of detention or other reper- 20 cussions; 21 (6) calls on the United States Government and 22 members of Congress to mark the 34th anniversary 23 of the Tiananmen Square protests, including 24 through meetings with participants of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR237.IS SR237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •SRES 237 IS Tiananmen Square protests who live outside of 1 China and the families and friends of the victims of 2 the Tiananmen Square massacre based outside 3 China; and 4 (7) supports ongoing peaceful movements for 5 human rights in China and of the people in Hong 6 Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:53 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR237.IS SR237 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS