Select Committee Members on the Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre

Today, Chairman John Moolenaar of the Select Committee of China (R-MI) hosted a bipartisan event on the 37th anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. The event featured remarks from Moolenaar, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Congresswoman Jill Tokuda (D-HI), and powerful testimonies from exiled dissidents Arthur Liu - the father of Olympic champion figure skater Alysa Liu - and former U.S. Army Chaplain Yan Xiong.

"Literally translated, Tiananmen means 'Heavenly Gate,' but on this day in 1989, the CCP turned the Heavenly Gate into hell on Earth," said Chairman Moolenaar. “Tiananmen is now synonymous with the massacre of innocent people who wanted freedom. The enduring image – the one the CCP couldn’t censor – is a man courageously standing before the tanks, firm in his belief for liberty."

"Today we're going to remember Tank Man because of the qualities he embodied, [and] and the people at that protest, at that massacre, embodied,"said Congressman Krishnamoorthi. "Why? Because there are people today who are continually repressed in China. I'm talking about Tibetans, I'm talking about Hong Kongers, I'm talking about Uyghurs, I'm talking about all dissidents. And we will not forget them. Just as we do not forget Tank Man."

"Tiananmen Square is not just a chapter in Chinese history, it is a cautionary tale, a warning to every single society across the globe," said Congresswoman Tokuda. "It reminds us that freedom does not disappear all at once, it erodes when governments decide what ideas are acceptable, and which ones are forbidden."

"We should never forget June 4th. We should never forget the thousands of people who were massacred in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, and all those people who were injured, and those people in prison, and still in prison, today, " said Liu.

"Today we commemorate the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen democratic movement and the June 4th massacre," said Yan. "We do this to defend universal value, to defend the truth, to defend memory, to defend human dignity. We do this so America may remain the beacon of the free world."

To view video of the event, please click here.