WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement in commemoration of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, which took place June 4, 1989.

“It was a grim day for democracy 31 years ago when the People’s Liberation Army ruthlessly suppressed peaceful protests at Tiananmen Square, taking the lives of innocent people nobly fighting for freedom and fairness. A generation of leaders was silenced because the Chinese Government refused to be accountable to its people.

“The Chinese Communist Party never embraced the goals of the 1989 Democracy Movement and continues these authoritarian tactics to this very day. The CCP’s recent passage of a ‘national security’ law is nothing more than a crackdown on the legitimate aspirations of those in Hong Kong seeking freedom, democracy, and basic human rights. 

“We can and should continue to remind the world of the grievous human rights violations committed by China on that fateful day 31 years ago. We do so with the knowledge that whether around the globe or here at home, the right to peacefully protest is the backbone of democracy and must be protected at all costs. We must work together to constantly monitor, tend to, and build systems that keep our leaders accountable and our people free.”

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