Mr. Speaker, tomorrow marks the ninth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
On the night of June 3, 1989 the Communist People's Liberation Army surrounded students and workers rallying peacefully for democracy in Tiananmen Square. In the early hours of June 4, troops and police opened fire. Tanks rolled in. Armour-piercing bullets tore through human flesh.
Three thousand died that morning. Hundreds of young people who were arrested are still being held in Beijing's brutal prisons today.
On this anniversary the Chinese people demand a new China, a democratic China with a free press, a China that respects human dignity. But their voice is stifled as more dissidents are arrested every week.
Pathetically the Chinese communist government said today that the massacre of pro-democracy students at Tiananmen was a correct conclusion and that there is no need to reassess the issue.
Let us never forget the brave young people and workers who died and those who are still in prison for no crime except for expressing their belief in democracy.