Tiananmen Massacre Transparency and Accountability Act

This bill responds to the Chinese government’s long-running censorship of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, including bans on teaching about it, blocked online searches, and punishment of people who try to remember it—even in Hong Kong. It sets U.S. policy to honor the victims, push back on censorship, and protect people in the United States from harassment by the Chinese government or its agents. The bill says the U.S. should use existing sanctions and criminal cases to hold officials and others accountable, press for the release of people jailed for Tiananmen vigils (including Jimmy Lai), and raise these issues in diplomacy and at the United Nations.

It also encourages the Library of Congress to work with nonprofits to create in-person and online exhibits about the 1989 protests and the stories of survivors now living in the U.S., to keep this history alive.

• Who is affected: U.S. citizens and legal residents who speak out or hold vigils; Chinese officials and agents who censor or intimidate; human rights advocates.
• What changes: The U.S. would target censorship, use sanctions and prosecutions, defend people here from transnational repression, raise the issue at the U.N., and support Tiananmen history exhibits.
• When: The text sets ongoing U.S. policy and urges action; it does not set specific dates.