Mr. Speaker, last week in Beijing I expressed my condolences at the home of Zhao Ziyang, the Chinese reform leader deposed for the crime of standing by the students massacred in Tiananmen Square.
I was surprised that the Prime Minister attacked me falsely, claiming that I had violated the Zhao family's request for privacy. As the media reported, I was clearly welcomed and thanked for paying respects, as were hundreds of visitors who could get through the cordon of secret police.
Why did the Prime Minister attack rather than support this gesture of solidarity with the victims of Tiananmen Square? Could it be that he was afraid of offending the butchers of Beijing?