H.Res. 470

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 470 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 470

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.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 4, 2025

Mr. Bera (for himself, Mrs. Kim, Mr. Moylan, Ms. Salazar, Ms. Norton, 
Mrs. Radewagen, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Wilson of South 
Carolina, Mr. Self, Mr. McCormick, Mr. Dunn of Florida, Mr. Moolenaar, 
Mr. Bell, Mr. Lawler, Ms. Tokuda, Ms. Titus, Mr. Issa, and Mr. Meeks) 
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 Communist 
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 Communist Party (CCP) Hu Yaobang, who was compelled to resign in 
1987 for supporting political reforms within the CCP;
Whereas, throughout April and May 1989, peaceful demonstrations continued in 
Tiananmen Square and in an estimated 400 cities across China;
Whereas, by May 17, 1989, an estimated 1,000,000 Chinese citizens from all walks 
of life, including students, government 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 reform, and protect human rights, particularly 
the freedoms of expression and assembly;
Whereas, on May 20, 1989, the Government of the PRC declared 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 proceeded to Tiananmen Square, at the direction of CCP 
leadership, and 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 the 
wounded, dead, and those imprisoned for participating 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 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 freedoms, 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 had 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 Hong Kong 
authorities 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 Congress Standing Committee 
flagrantly undermined the high degree of autonomy promised to Hong Kong 
in the Joint Declaration and Basic Law by passing and imposing upon Hong 
Kong the oppressive and intentionally vague Law of the PRC on 
Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR (``national security law'');
Whereas the central Government of the PRC and the HKSAR Government have since 
used the national security law to suppress democratic voices in Hong 
Kong, including 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 Congress adopted the 
``Decision of the National People's Congress on Improving the Electoral 
System of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region'', thereby further 
restricting Hong Kong's electoral freedom and democratic representation;
Whereas, on May 27, 2021, the Hong Kong Police Force withheld permits for the 
June 4 vigil for the second consecutive year, citing a ban on large 
gatherings in light of the coronavirus pandemic;
Whereas permits were continuously withheld through 2024 despite the pandemic 
restrictions being 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'';
Whereas, on March 4, 2023, the HKSAR West Kowloon Magistrates' Court convicted 
three standing committee members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of 
Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan, 
and Tsui Hon-kwong, under the National Security Law, and the Alliance 
was an organizer of the annual Tiananmen vigil;
Whereas, on March 23, 2024, the Government of the HKSAR promulgated the 
Safeguarding National Security Ordinance that allows police to apply for 
extended pretrial detention, restrictions on suspects' consultation with 
legal representatives, and restrictions on bail for certain national 
security cases, and lists several offenses as having extraterritorial 
effect on Hong Kong residents for activities outside the HKSAR;
Whereas, June 4, 2025, marks the 36th 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 ethnic minorities, 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 House of Representatives--
(1) expresses its deepest respect for and solidarity with 
the families and friends of those killed, tortured, and 
imprisoned for participating in the prodemocracy demonstrations 
during the spring of 1989, and with those who have continued to 
suffer for their fight to publicly mourn the Tiananmen Square 
massacre victims;
(2) reaffirms its support for those who continue to work 
for political reform, rule of law, and protections for human 
rights in China;
(3) condemns the Government of the People's Republic of 
China (PRC) for its continued human rights abuses, including 
suppressing peaceful political dissent and ethnic and religious 
minorities;
(4) calls on the Government of the PRC to--
(A) cease censoring information and discussion 
about the Tiananmen Square massacre;
(B) invite and cooperate with a full and 
independent investigation into the Tiananmen Square 
massacre by the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Human Rights;
(C) uphold its international legal obligations to 
Hong Kong under 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 (``Joint 
Declaration'') and cease undermining Hong Kong's high 
degree of autonomy; and
(D) allow those participants in the Tiananmen 
demonstrations who fled overseas or reside outside of 
China after being ``blacklisted'' for their peaceful 
protest activity to return to China without risk of 
retribution;
(5) calls on the Government of the Hong Kong Special 
Administrative Region, and the relevant authorities in the 
Government of the PRC to--
(A) respect and uphold the personal rights and 
freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and the 
independence of Hong Kong's legal system;
(B) restore independent democratic representation 
to the people of Hong Kong in line with the ``One 
Country, Two Systems'' arrangement set forth in the 
Joint Declaration and its implementing document, the 
Basic Law; and
(C) allow those living in exile for engaging in 
prodemocracy activities to return to Hong Kong without 
fear of detention or other repercussions;
(6) calls on the United States Government and Members of 
Congress to mark the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square 
protests, including through meetings with participants of the 
Tiananmen Square protests who live outside of China and the 
families and friends of the victims of the Tiananmen Square 
massacre based outside China; and
(7) supports ongoing peaceful movements for human rights in 
China and of the people in Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang.
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