Paul Bradford (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Leader to avail of today's sitting of the Seanad to mark the 25th anniversary of the massacre in Tiananmen Square in China in 1989. It seems a long time ago but the murder of thousands of people whose only crime was that they favoured democracy and full participation in Chinese society is still a stain against the Chinese Communist Party and leadership. As we in this country and Governments throughout the Western world do economic and political cartwheels to curry favour with the new Chinese business elite, we must also avail of every possible opportunity to ask the Chinese Government to ensure that full human rights and citizens' rights are available to the 1 billion people in China. It is 25 years since that massacre but, unfortunately, it is almost unrecognised in China. Ireland, and every democratic country across the globe, must continue to mark it because it was one of the most horrific massacres known to civilisation.