The heads of a US Congressional committee and a commission focused on China have called on the Justice Department to fully investigate a break-in and reported vandalism at a California museum commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
“The Justice Department and FBI should investigate vandalism at the [June 4th Memorial Museum] to protect the inalienable rights of the Chinese diaspora seeking freedom in the United States,” said a three-page letter delivered to the agency on Thursday.
The note was signed by John Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan and chairman of the House Select Committee on China, and Christopher Smith, a Republican from New Jersey and co-chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
According to a statement on the museum website, unknown individuals broke into the hall in El Monte, California on May 31, a few days before the anniversary, and spray-painted walls and exhibits, damaged property and interfered with the museum’s surveillance system, “causing serious damage to the museum’s assets”.
“The museum strongly condemns the perpetrators and those instigating the incident and will definitely pursue relevant legal responsibilities,” it said, referring questions to the El Monte police.
“We hope the public can rest assured that although this incident clearly contained elements of intimidation and threats, we will not succumb to pressure.”
The museum, launched in 2023, was originally located in New York but moved to Los Angeles to save on expenses. Images posted online showed single lines of orange paint drawn across framed newspaper and related displays.
The museum website added the El Monte police had opened a case and launched an investigation. It added that it “obtained certain clues and points of doubt and will actively cooperate with the police to clarify the case as soon as possible”, adding that it suspected this was a case of “transnational repression”, without providing details.
The museum, a non-profit entity under the US tax code, has primarily been funded by independent fundraising, crowdsourced donations and civil society contributions. Art Dealer Street, an online artist collective, said in 2023 that the group had raised US$500,000 towards an ultimate goal of US$2 million.
The El Monte police and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for information about an investigation.
“We urge DOJ, including the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office and the National Security Division, to work closely with local authorities to determine whether this attack was planned, encouraged, supported, or carried out by individuals acting on behalf of, at the direction of, or in sympathy with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or the [Communist Party],” Moolenaar and Smith said in their letter.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Beijing has frequently condemned the bodies as “political tools with zero credibility” driven by a “Cold War mentality” and “ideological bias”.
The bipartisan House Select Committee was established in January 2023 and is focused on US economic and security competition with China.
The Congressional-Executive Commission, an independent US agency, was created in 2000 to monitor human rights and rule of law issues when Beijing joined the World Trade Organization.
Neither has the authority to propose laws but both can investigate and submit policy recommendations and otherwise advise Congress. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
