Chairs' Statement on the 37th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre

(Washington DC)--The Chairs of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), issued the following statement on the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. 

“Thirty-seven years after tanks rolled into Beijing, the Chinese Communist Party still refuses to answer the most basic question: Why were peaceful calls for freedom and reform met with bullets and bloodshed? Today, we remember what the CCP still tries to erase.

“On the 37th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, we remember all those who peacefully demanded free speech, accountability, and an end to corruption—and paid for that courage with their lives and liberty. We remember the families still denied the truth about their missing loved ones. We remember Hong Kongers who kept faith with the victims of June 4 for decades, only to see their commemorations banned, their organizers jailed, and peaceful remembrance treated as a crime. And we honor the protesters and student leaders who have spent the last thirty-seven years in exile, and whose courage, leadership, and enduring commitment to freedom have enriched this country—their adopted American home.

“The CCP can occupy a square; it cannot command the conscience. It can censor history; it cannot silence memory. 

“On this anniversary, we call for an end to the CCP’s censorship and denial about the events of June 4, 1989 and the release of those imprisoned for peaceful remembrance in Hong Kong, such as Nobel Peace Prize nominees Jimmy Lai, Chow Hang-tung, Gwyneth Ho, Joshua Wong, and Lee Cheuk-yan.   

We will continue to commemorate the Tiananmen Massacre every year until the people of China and Hong Kong can do so freely, without fear, punishment, or restriction.”