Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced legislation Tuesday calling for a memorial in Washington, D.C., to honor victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and political persecution by the Chinese Communist Party.
The bill, titled the Honoring the Victims of Communist China's Tyranny Act, would require the State Department to establish the memorial in International Park, directly across from the CCP Embassy. The monument would commemorate victims spanning multiple periods of Chinese communist rule, including those affected during Mao Zedong's leadership, the Tiananmen Square crackdown and the ongoing persecution of Uyghurs.
What the Right Is Saying
Sen. Scott argued that the memorial serves as a necessary reminder of Beijing's human rights record. "The people of China deserve nothing less than the God-given liberty and unalienable rights America's founders fought for 250 years ago," he said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Scott stated that America should have "zero tolerance" for Communist China and its crimes, pointing to what he described as documented abuses including forced slave labor, torture, forced sterilizations and organ harvesting. He cited Xi Jinping and the CCP as responsible for "some of the worst human rights abuses in history."
Sen. Blackburn emphasized that the CCP is "guilty of the worst human rights abuses imaginable." She said the legislation would "ensure America never forgets the human cost of the CCP's oppression" by using existing funds and private donations to build a lasting monument.
Scott also used the bill introduction to criticize progressive political influencer Hasan Piker, who has approximately 10 million social media followers. In an X post, Scott wrote that Mao Zedong's dictatorship "resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people" and criticized Piker's past comments praising Mao as "beyond the pale."
What the Left Is Saying
Progressive Democrats have not formally responded to the specific legislation as of Tuesday evening. However, critics on the left have raised questions about the timing and political motivations behind similar measures. Some Democratic strategists argue that while human rights concerns regarding China are legitimate, creating memorials focused primarily on one country could complicate diplomatic relations at a time when cooperation is needed on issues like climate change and global economic stability.
Progressive advocacy groups note that memorial legislation sometimes serves as a messaging tool rather than substantive policy action. They point out that the bill's reference to what some call an ongoing "civil war" within the Democratic Party over socialist ideology raises questions about whether the legislation is intended primarily to score political points ahead of elections.
Some Democrats have also cautioned against conflating criticism of the Chinese government with broader anti-communist rhetoric, arguing that such framing can alienate Asian-American communities and immigrant populations who came to the United States fleeing various conflicts and hardships.
What the Numbers Show
Historians estimate that policies under Mao Zedong's rule resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese citizens, including through famine and political purges. The U.S. government has formally recognized the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang as genocide.
The proposed legislation caps taxpayer funding for the memorial at $500,000 while permitting private donations to cover additional costs. Jimmy Lai, a jailed Hong Kong publisher and democracy activist frequently cited by Republican critics of Beijing, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence under Hong Kong's national security law.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called Lai's sentence "unjust and tragic." The bill would require the memorial to express "the solidarity and friendship of the people of the United States with the people of the People's Republic of China" alongside documentation of documented human rights abuses.
The Bottom Line
The legislation faces an uncertain path in Congress, where it would need bipartisan support to advance. Republicans argue that a visible memorial across from the Chinese Embassy would serve as a daily reminder to Beijing officials of international accountability for human rights violations. By placing it at International Park, sponsors say Chinese diplomats would be confronted with documented atrocities each time they enter or exit their embassy.
The bill's introduction comes amid ongoing debate over U.S.-China relations and as some progressive voices face scrutiny for past comments about communist regimes. Democrats have not yet offered a formal response to the legislation, though future debate is expected to focus on whether such memorials represent meaningful human rights advocacy or primarily serve political messaging purposes.