Senator Kennedy on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre

[Octafish]

This small example provides a major window into what separates liberals and conservatives.

ANNIVERSARY OF THE TIANANMEN CRACKDOWN (Senate - June 04, 1991)

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I want to commend our majority leader for, really, an excellent statement and a principled stand. This has been his position since the time of that terrible tragedy in Tiananmen Square some 2 years ago. I think this morning in the Senate he has, as on other occasions on our national television, I think, made the strongest possible case for insisting that any most-favored-nation provisions would be conditioned upon important progress in addressing these needs.

I just ask the majority leader if he is familiar with the statement of the Prime Minister, Premier Lee Pung, who only at the time of the anniversary, just recently, insisted that the military crackdown had been an appropriate response to the peaceful student protest, and the Chinese Government would do it again if they were faced with a similar demonstration? I think he has made the case so well in covering a wide variety of areas. But the attitude of the current Chinese Government regime would certainly appear they would be prepared to do it again today if he is not troubled by that attitude as well.

Mr. President, as has been pointed out, 2 years ago today the Government of the People's Republic of China initiated a brutal crackdown on the courageous prodemocracy students demonstrating in Tiananmen Square. By the end of the week, hundreds of peaceful demonstrators had been ruthlessly slaughtered and thousands more had been detained by government authorities.

Now, President Bush has formally announced his intention to renew most-favored-nation trading status with China. His decision, he claims, is the right thing to do with respect to China.
Unfortunately, the facts indicate otherwise. Since the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Chinese Government has intensified its repression of prodemocracy forces.

As this year's anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre approached, the Premier of China, Lee Pung, commented upon that great tragedy. He harshly insisted that the military crackdown had been an appropriate response to the peaceful student protest and that the Chinese Government would do it again if similar demonstrations were attempted in the future.

Today, Tiananmen Square is lined with armed guards to repress even the smallest demonstration of sympathy for the memory of those who died there 2 years ago.

To renew China's MFN status in the face of this brutality would make a mockery of the lives lost at Tiananmen Square and undermine whatever forces of democracy are still struggling for a new China.
President Bush's policy toward China makes no sense. Immediately following the Tiananmen crackdown, he promised to suspend all political-level exchanges with China. Yet within a month, he dispatched National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft to Beijing--a trip that was kept secret from the Congress and the American people and was only acknowledged after it was reported by the press in December.

SOURCE: Thomas.loc.gov/ To find online, please google the title above. It will pop up under "Thomas," the federal government's document search.

Guess with whom Poppy Bush and his people sided?



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[midnight]

1. Thank you for posting this. I remember the incident, but not

Sen. Kennedy's words in support of these students. I'm assuming these were University students.

[Octafish]

2. University students wanted ''Democracy.''

Interestingly, some of China's leadership didn't mind what was going on.
Most of the Party's inner circle feared change.

Secret Tiananmen Square memoirs of Chinese party leader to be published - Former Communist chief denounces 1989 massacre and praises western-style democracy

Here's an excellent resource from GWU's National Security Archive:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB16/documents/

The story in pictures from a Roman Catholic org:

http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sdc/tiananmen.html

Thank you for remembering and caring, midnight.