On Tuesday, September 12, two members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the CCP, Committee Chairman Michael Gallagher and member Ashley Hinson, came to visit the June Fourth Memorial Museum in New York. Director of the Museum David Yu and HRIC Executive Director Zhou Fengsuo gave a tour of the museum and spoke with the Representatives about the Tiananmen massacre, Hong Kong protests, and the situation in China today.

Both Representatives spent several minutes in each section of the exhibit and asked questions about both the historical objects and Zhou Fengsuo’s experience as a student leader. 

Speaking to Zhou Fengsuo, Chairman Gallagher commented that people forget Tiananmen wasn’t just what happened on the square—on the contrary, there was a movement across China in 1989. Representative Hinson said that the exhibit was “very powerful,” and reminded the room that “freedom is contagious.”

The Representatives also spoke briefly about their trip to New York and took several questions from journalists who were present. Chairman Gallagher said his takeaway from the museum was that American “wishful thinking” towards China should have ended with Tiananmen, and that Hong Kong’s situation demonstrates that if we aren’t “vigilant in defense of freedom,” a tragedy like Tiananmen could happen again.

The Representatives’ trip included meetings with Wall Street leaders and a simulation activity to investigate what actions the United States can take today to be in a better position against China in 2028. Chairman Gallagher emphasized the importance of removing American supply chains from China and cutting off the supply of American capital. He also said that the Representatives had sought to emphasize the “moral risks” of doing business in China, particularly by facilitating its egregious human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. “If we want to continue to call ourselves a leader of the free world,” Chairman Gallagher said, “we have a duty to fight for freedom.”