Pelosi Statement Marking 33 Years Since Tiananmen Square Massacre
San Francisco – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement marking 33 years since the Tiananmen Square Massacre:
"Thirty-three years ago, brave Chinese demonstrators inspired the world through one of the greatest acts of political courage in modern times as they stood up for their rights and freedoms in Tiananmen Square. Today, the image of a lone figure – unyielding before a line of tanks – remains seared in the memory of all democracy-loving people. As the world honors the courage of students, workers and ordinary citizens who peacefully defied the Chinese Communist Party's oppressive regime, let us renew our vow to keep alive the flame of freedom that burned in their hearts.
"Two years after the massacre, I joined colleagues in Tiananmen Square to display a banner that read: ‘To those who died for democracy in China.' As we remember those who were murdered 33 years ago, we also stand with those carrying on their legacy today: countless activists on the mainland and throughout the region seeking to exercise their basic freedoms and rights, only to be met with the CCP's accelerating human rights abuses against its own citizens. From escalating aggression toward the Tibetan people to atrocities inflicted against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities to crackdowns on the freedoms of peaceful activists and faith leaders, this regime's actions have shocked the conscience of the world. And as we mark 25 years since the handover of Hong Kong, Beijing continues to defy the principle of ‘one country, two systems' – imprisoning champions of freedom and the rule of law, including many of those who have kept alive the memory of Tiananmen for decades.
"As Secretary Blinken made clear last week, ‘We cannot rely on Beijing to change its trajectory.' That is why the Congress has continued living up to its ironclad, bipartisan and bicameral commitment to support all those under the Communist regime's brutal oppression: enacting the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, the Tibetan Policy and Support Act and the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. Earlier this year, the Congress reauthorized the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which ensures the United States can continue to impose sanctions on human rights violators in China. And under President Biden's bold leadership, the United States engaged in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, making clear that the world cannot proceed as if there is nothing wrong with hosting the Olympics in a country perpetrating genocide.
"As we commemorate the heroism of the Tiananmen generation, each of us has a sacred obligation to build a more just, more equal and more democratic future. We must never be silent on issues of freedom, dignity and democracy – because if we do not speak out against human rights abuses in China due to commercial interests, then we will lose all moral authority to speak out for human rights anywhere else in the world."