Senators Rick Scott and Marsha Blackburn unveiled the Honoring the Victims of Communist China’s Tyranny Act, a proposal to place a memorial in International Park opposite the Chinese Embassy that spotlights atrocities tied to the Chinese Communist Party. The measure would highlight horrors from Mao’s rule through Tiananmen and the Uyghur genocide, cap taxpayer funding and lean on private donations to finish the project. It also takes aim at American public figures who praise communist leaders, framing the memorial as a daily rebuke to the CCP right in their diplomatic backyard.
Senators Rick Scott and Marsha Blackburn introduced the bill to require the State Department to establish a memorial in International Park, across from the CCP Embassy, honoring victims of the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution. The legislation is titled the Honoring the Victims of Communist China’s Tyranny Act and it names historical episodes that warrant remembrance. Placing the monument near the embassy is meant to be unmistakable and unignorable.
The memorial would commemorate victims from Mao Zedong’s rule, whose policies historians estimate killed tens of millions of people, to the Tiananmen Square crackdown and the genocide against Uyghurs recognized by the U.S. government. It aims to document systematic abuses, forced labor, torture, forced sterilizations and other atrocities attributed to CCP policies. Organizing these exhibits is part moral witness and part evidence for anyone who strolls by and decides to look.
“The people of China deserve nothing less than the God-given liberty and unalienable rights America’s founders fought for 250 years ago,” Scott said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “America should have zero tolerance for Communist China and its crimes.” Those words frame the effort as not just foreign policy symbolism but a values stand that Republicans say America should hold without apology.
Scott also called out a high-profile left-leaning influencer who praised Mao Zedong, noting past comments that lauded authoritarian rule. That influencer reportedly hailed Zedong as “one of the great leaders of this world” and “a man who changed the entire universe, the entire planet.” Scott wrote, “Mao Zedong’s dictatorship of the CCP resulted in the deaths of tens of MILLIONS of people.”
“We know Hasan Piker shills for communists, but praising a dictator who is known for mass murder & causing one of the worst famines in human history is beyond the pale. This is the new face of the Democrat Party.” The memorial’s advocates argue cultural memory matters when public figures minimize or praise brutal regimes, and that a physical reminder in the capital pushes back hard against that trend.
Blackburn stressed the human-rights rationale for the memorial, saying the CCP “is guilty of the worst human rights abuses imaginable.” “Our legislation would honor victims of Communist China’s tyranny by allocating existing funds and donations to build a memorial that will ensure America never forgets the human cost of the CCP’s oppression,” she said. That dual funding approach limits the drain on taxpayers while inviting civil society to contribute.
Citing jailed Hong Kong publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai as an example, sponsors pointed to the real consequences for dissidents under Beijing’s tightening grip. Lai is serving a long sentence under Hong Kong’s national security law, a case often cited by critics as emblematic of the CCP’s global reach and willingness to silence dissent. By positioning the memorial so close to the embassy, lawmakers want embassy staff to confront those cases every day.
“As Xi’s henchmen at the embassy walk into work every day, they should have to face the litany of crimes in which they’ve been complicit,” he said. The bill would require the memorial to express “solidarity and friendship of the people of the United States with the people of the People’s Republic of China” and “the hope and prayer that the Chinese people may one day enjoy the blessings of liberty.” Those clauses make clear the intent is to condemn the regime while affirming support for ordinary Chinese people.
The memorial would include exhibits documenting “the genocide of Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang,” as well as efforts to suppress the culture, religion, history and language of Tibetans and Southern Mongolians, according to the bill’s language. Lawmakers capped federal spending at $500,000 for the project and opened the door for private donations to cover the remainder. That funding model aims to signal seriousness while minimizing the burden on American taxpayers.
Darnell Thompkins is a Canadian-born American and conservative opinion writer who brings a unique perspective to political and cultural discussions. Passionate about traditional values and individual freedoms, Darnell’s commentary reflects his commitment to fostering meaningful dialogue. When he’s not writing, he enjoys watching hockey and celebrating the sport that connects his Canadian roots with his American journey.