Rep. Bera Leads Bipartisan Resolution Honoring Victims of Tiananmen Square and Condemning China’s Ongoing Human Rights Abuses

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Ami Bera, M.D. (D-CA-06), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, and Young Kim (R-CA-40), Chairwoman of the Subcommittee, introduced a bipartisan resolution commemorating the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and reaffirming U.S. support for basic freedoms and democratic values in the People's Republic of China.

On June 4, 1989, thousands of peaceful demonstrators—many of them students—gathered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to call for democratic reforms and government accountability. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responded with a violent military crackdown, killing and injuring thousands. To this day, the People’s Republic of China refuses to acknowledge the massacre and continues to suppress discussion of the events.

“As we mark the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, we remember the countless individuals who risked—and in many cases lost—their lives in the pursuit of democracy and basic human rights,” said Ranking Member Bera. “Decades later, the CCP continues its relentless crackdown on dissent—jailing human rights lawyers, silencing journalists, persecuting religious and ethnic minorities, and dismantling democratic institutions in Hong Kong. This bipartisan resolution sends a powerful message: the United States Congress stands with those fighting for freedom, dignity, and democratic values in China and Hong Kong.” 

“Tiananmen Square showed the world 36 years ago that Chinese Communist Party leaders will do anything to maintain power and control, even at the expense of their own citizens’ lives. The courageous victims remain in our hearts and reaffirm our fight for freedom on the world stage, especially as the CCP continues  to get away with torturing Uyghurs, imprisoning Hong Kongers, stealing our intellectual property, and conducting mass surveillance on the Chinese people,” said Chairwoman Kim. “This bipartisan resolution sends a unified message that the United States Congress supports fundamental human rights and freedoms for the people of China and Hong Kong.”

The bipartisan resolution:

• Honors the lives lost and the bravery of those who demonstrated in Tiananmen Square during the spring of 1989;
   
• Condemns the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) continued campaign of censorship, repression, and denial of basic freedoms;
   
• Calls on the PRC to cooperate with a full and independent accounting of those killed, detained, or missing from the 1989 protests; 
   
• Reaffirms America’s commitment to ongoing peaceful movements for human rights in China and of the people in Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang. 

This resolution builds on longstanding bipartisan efforts led by both Bera and Kim to support human rights, strengthen U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific, and hold authoritarian regimes accountable for abuses.

Read the full resolution here. 

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