Statement of Representative Nancy Pelosi June 4th Tiananmen Square Massacre Memorial Portsmouth Square, San Francisco
Eight years ago, the world was shocked as people witnessed the brutal suppression of individual freedom and liberty in Tiananmen Square -- a massacre which is still not acknowledged by the authoritarian leaders of China. The images of that massacre were seared into our consciousness. We have not forgotten those who lost their lives for the cause of freedom. We must not forget those still imprisoned who have lost their liberty in pursuit of this basic human right.
It is without question that we have a brilliant future with the people of China diplomatically, culturally, economically and politically. Our troubles are not with the people of China, but with the actions of the repressive Chinese government, a government that continues to stifle dissent, to imprison those who dare to speak out, to worship, to organize, or to disagree.
Eight years ago, the brave men and women who demonstrated for democracy did so in the spirit and the footsteps of our forefathers. They quoted Thomas Jefferson. They built a monument fashioned after our Statue of Liberty. They looked to the United States as a beacon of hope and of freedom. We looked -- and still look -- to them for their courage, their idealism, and their dedication to the establishment of basic human rights.
Today, here in our great City and at the foot of our own memorial to the brave men and women of the Spring of 1989, we gather to honor China's pro-democracy activists as we recognize the legacy of our forefathers. We cannot and must not abandon them in the cause of freedom, both where it is missing, and where it currently exists. In a few short weeks, the world will watch as freedom where it now exists in China -- in Hong Kong -- is tested. We must maintain our commitment to the people of Hong Kong and to their civil liberties and basic human rights.
It is quite clear that by imprisoning those who speak out for democracy, China's rulers have imprisoned part of us. These men are the past -- the brave men and women of 1989, and of 1976, and of all of the outbursts of freedom big and small over the decades, are the future.
The spirit of Tiananmen Square lives on. We remember the martyrs of the Spring of 1989. We remember the advocates of democracy who languish in China's prison and labor camps. We remember Wei Jingsheng. We remember the lone man before the tank. We are here today to show the world that the seeds of democracy sown in 1989 are still alive, and that they will inevitably burst forth in a full flowering. One day soon, the Goddess of Democracy will reign again in Tiananmen Square.
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