US Congressman Calls for New US Policy on Tibet

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-congressman-new-tibet-policy/3891693.html

Congressman Jim McGovern is calling for a new U.S. policy on Tibet, saying “the status quo isn’t working” and urging U.S. businesses to raise the issue of human rights in Tibet with Chinese business partners. “It’s important that the U.S. have a policy toward Tibet because the status quo isn’t working,” McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, told VOA Mandarin. “The Chinese government is just getting worse on a whole range of issues — jailing more and more Tibetans in Tibet and in the Tibetan region, so I think we need to re-assess. … We need to start walking the walk.” China says the Himalayan region has been part of its realm for more than seven centuries and considers the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, to be a dangerous separatist. Many Tibetans insist they were essentially independent for most of that time and have protested what they regard as China’s heavy-handed rule since Chinese army units crossed the Yangtze River into eastern Tibet in 1950.

Congressional visit

Last month, McGovern traveled to Nepal and the north Indian hill town of Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama has been in exile from Tibet for almost 60 years. The eight-person House delegation led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, wanted to make China aware that they would not stand down in their campaign for human rights in Tibet. The delegation, including a lone Republican, Wisconsin’s Jim Sensenbrenner, met with the Dalai Lama. “His Holiness is not a separatist … but he wants to go home and so do his people,” McGovern said. “China is one of the great powers of the world, they’re doing great things on climate change,” he said, adding he’s always puzzled that China “is paranoid over this monk, and paranoid over his message.” McGovern is the sponsor of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2017. He introduced the bipartisan bill in the House in April with Congressman Randy Hultgren, a Republican from Illinois. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, and Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, introduced a companion bill in the Senate.

Travel in US

McGovern described his bill as saying “we will treat you like you treat us” in that it calls for restricting where Chinese can visit in the United States in the same way China restricts United States officials, journalists and other citizens in Tibetan areas of the People’s Republic of China. “If China wants its citizens and officials to travel freely in the U.S., Americans must be able to travel freely in China, including Tibet,” McGovern echoes on his website. He also wants the U.S. to “publicly call on the Chinese government to restart the direct dialog that used to exist between the Chinese government and the Tibetan people. That needs to be restarted.” McGovern said he wants the United States to appoint a special coordinator on Tibet as soon as possible to help elevate these issues. “We’ve also talked about working with other countries and establishing what we call A Group of Friends on Tibet who would meet regularly and publicly to assess the situation in Tibet, and whether there’s been progress or not,” he added. McGovern, who is co-chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, told VOA that while U.S. and Chinese companies profit from trading with each other, if U.S. companies “know what’s happening and you don’t say anything [about human rights in Tibet], then you’re complicit. China wants to do business with you. You want to do business with China but that doesn’t mean you can’t raise the issue of human rights.” In the interview with VOA Mandarin, McGovern, who has been arrested three times protesting human rights violations in Sudan, said he is also concerned about human rights in Hong Kong, and China’s treatment of the ethnic minority group, the Uighurs.

‘We’re not perfect’

Listing hate crimes and attacks against members of the Muslim community, threats against Jewish community centers and hate crimes against the LGBTQ community, McGovern said he also worries about human rights in the United States, “so we’re not perfect.” None of that, however, should lessen the attention paid to Tibet, McGovern said. “I think the Chinese government thinks this issue will just go away. The Dalai Lama is in his 80s, and they think at some point he won’t be around and everybody will forget,” McGovern said. But, he stressed, “we’re not going away, and this issue is not going away, and we’re going to keep on bringing it up over, and over, and over again until there’s some change.”

UN human rights experts publish joint communication concerning Tibetan human rights defenders
May 29, 2017

Central Tibetan Administration, May 28, 2017 – In yet another fresh development for Tibetan advocacy at the United Nations, a group of United Nations human rights mandate holders today published a joint communication made to the Chinese government on the case of Tibetan human rights defenders: Tashi Wangchuk, language rights defender and Dolkar Lhamo and Nyima Lhamo, relatives of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche.

The case of Tashi Wangchuk:

Five Special Procedures mandate holders: the mandates of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; the Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights; the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the Special Rapporteur on minority issues; the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment made communication to the Chinese government on the case of Tashi Wangchuk on 10 February 2017.

According to the report, the experts expressed serious concern at the “arrest, the initial incommunicado detention and the continued detention of Tashi Wangchuk as well as his limited right to counsel, the denial of presenting the evidence against him and the irregularities in the criminal investigation”. Also have expressed “equal concern at the use of separatist charges to criminalize the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression and his defense of cultural rights, as well as to target legitimate human rights activities” and “physical and psychological integrity while in detention”.

The experts sought the Chinese government’s response in the seven areas of concern including the legal grounds for the arrest and detention of Tashi Wangchuk, his physical and psychological integrity and compatibility with the international norms and standard. And also asked about measures in place to ensure Tibetans’ rights to learn mother tongue freely.

The Case of Dolkar Lhamo and Nyima Lhamo:

Three Special Procedures Mandate holders relating to Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief sent joint communication to the Chinese government on the case of Dolkar Lhamo and Nyima Lhamo, relatives of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche.

According to the communication sent to the Chinese government in December last year, and was kept confidential till today, the experts expressed concerns at the “arrest and detention of. Nyima Lhamo and Dolkar Lhamo, which appear to be directly related to their advocacy and imparting of information concerning the death of Tenzin Delek. We express equal concern at the threats, intimidation and surveillance of the two women human rights defenders as well as the use of force against peaceful protestors in Lithang”. And further expressed concern at the “broader measures taken in Lithang and Nyakchuka, including internet shut downs and the issuance of the communiqué on banned activities, limiting the right to freedom of information, expression as well as the rights to freedom of religion and peaceful assembly in ways that are incompatible with international human rights law”.

The experts asked the Chinese government’s response in the eight areas of concern including the legal basis of arrest and detention of Nyima Lhamo and Dolkar Lhamo, use of force by the police against peaceful protestors, and breaking up religious ceremonies, for the closure of the prayer hall as well as for the communiqué on banned activities and sought explanation on how these actions are compatible with international human rights law.

The mandate holders’ communication comes in the lead up to the 35th session of the UN Human Rights Council that will begin from 6 June 2017. This covers communications sent from 1 December 2016 to 28 February 2017 and their reply received until 30 April 2017. The report was made public on May 26.

Tibetan monk stages latest self-immolation protest, total reaches 150
May 22, 2017

Radio Free Asia, May 19, 2017 – A young Tibetan monk set himself on fire and died on Friday in northwestern China’s Qinghai province in an apparent challenge to Chinese rule in Tibetan areas, a Tibetan living in the area said.

The protest brought to 150 the number of self-immolations by Tibetans living in China since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009.

Jamyang Losal, aged about 22, set himself ablaze at around 5:00 a.m. on May 19 near the People’s Hospital in Kangtsa (in Chinese, Gangcha) county in Qinghai’s Tsojang (Haibei) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

“He did not survive his protest,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Losal’s body was taken away by the police, and when his family members went to the police station to claim his remains, the police refused to comply with their request,” he said.

“Losal was a monk belonging to Gyerteng monastery in Kangtsa’s Nangra town,” RFA’s source said, adding that about 20 monks now study at the monastery, which is located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of the Kangtsa county seat.

Losal was a native of Dong Gya village in Kangtsa county’s Nangra township, the source said.

Reported by Sangye Gyatso for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Lie detector test used to evaluate government officials in Tibetan area of China
May 22, 2017

Hindustan Times, May 17, 2017 – Local government officials from a Tibetan region of Sichuan province have had to undergo a polygraph or “lie detector” test to prove their loyalty to the Communist Party of China (CPC), a rights organisation has said.

Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) quoted a state media report to say that a group of 168 officials from the prefecture were evaluated to gauge their political loyalty to the Communist Party.

“The state media report from Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) stated that the lie detector test was being imposed in order to establish the ‘true feelings’ of party cadres in the region,” ICT said in a statement.

“While it stated that this is a matter of establishing their ‘psychological stability’, the priority of the authorities appears to be to ensure political loyalty to the CPC and compliance with CPC policy.”

The state media report didn’t specify the ethnicity of those who appeared for the evaluation.

Published in Chinese in Ganzi Daily last month, the news report, when translated, said: “On April 5, the evaluation of work ability and psychological quality of the recently promoted cadres…was carried out. (As many as) 168 leading cadres took part in the assessment.”

It added, “Through this assessment, the prominent questions on the current state cadres’ ability and psychological quality were further analysed. It could provide decision-making references on the ‘ability and quality promotion project’ and for choosing capable leaders.”

The report further said it was for the first time this “innovative” way was being used for psychological evaluation.

“The evaluation was carried out in man-machine dialogue way, and it was the first time for our state to evaluate the leading cadres’ ability and psychological quality. It was also the first time to use modern talent evaluation technique,” the report said.

The ICT statement quoted the report in the state media as saying that in Kardze (administered by Sichuan, and part of the Tibetan area of Kham) “candidates are required to answer questions according to their true feelings and ideas” as part of a “progressive training of cadres” since April 7, and that a lie detector had been installed to “verify the authenticity” of answers.

It added the “introduction of lie detectors to test even Communist Party officials represents an escalation of the CPC’s efforts to assert its dominance in a climate it has created of fear and mistrust”.

Earlier this month, the Communist Party accused its own officials in Tibet Autonomous Region of donating funds to the India-based Dalai Lama, described by Beijing as a separatist conspiring to carve out an independent Tibetan state.

The unnamed officials were also accused of joining underground pro-independence organisations and leaking secrets to overseas groups.

Their activity “severely undermines the party’s fight against separatism”, a Communist Party magazine quoted an official as having written.

United States Congressional Delegation Briefs Press On Dharamsala Visit

Source: http://tibet.net/2017/05/united-states-congressional-delegation-briefs-press-on-dharamsala-visit/

Dharamshala: The U.S. Democratic House Leader, Nancy Pelosi and members of the recent bipartisan congressional delegation to India and Nepal held a press conference today at HVC Studio A in Washington D.C. to reiterate support for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his efforts to ensure Tibetan religion, culture, language and human rights.

Leader Nancy Pelosi said the chief concern of the delegation was “the brutal conduct of the Chinese government to erase the culture, language and the religion of the Tibetan people and the challenges facing Tibetans in other countries.”

“Our delegation provided us with the wonderful opportunity to see the aspirations of the Tibetan people first hand, especially the eyes of the Tibetan school children in Dharamshala.”

“The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world,” she said.

“China weighs more heavily on any country, corporation or personality who speaks out for the Tibetan people. It uses its economic status or any leverage to silence the voices of friends of Tibet. If we do not speak out against repression in China and Tibet, because of their economic power, we lose all moral authority to speak about human rights anywhere in the world.”

Representative Eliot Engel said, “I deeply appreciate India’s hosting more than 150,000 Tibetans refugees in India since 1959, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama who has been an inspiration for people all around the world. This refugee Tibetan community who is central Tibetan authority has really become moral, democratic, self governance holding elections and working for the interest of its people even in the most aggressive circumstances. We also have a situation where many of these Tibetan people are also in Nepal. We urged government of Nepal to give these people certain rights. Unfortunately, many of them are stateless and caught between the two borders.”

Representative Engel further said that United States support the one-China policy and that there’s no contradiction between the one china policy and the asks of Tibetan people for genuine autonomy.

“There’s no contradiction in its strategy; the Chinese government should fulfill its promise for the people of Tibet for genuine autonomy and resume its dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama at the earliest opportunity.”

“Tibetans should be free to practice and preserve a very distinct religious cultural linguistic heritage without the fear of persecution. If you stay with them as long as we did, you will realize that its distinct, very much distinct from the people running China from Beijing,” he said.

The eight-member bipartisan delegation led by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of the U.S. House of Representatives visited Dharamshala on a two-day official visit from 10-11 May. Central Tibetan Administration organised a public felicitation in honor of the congressional delegation’s visit to Dharamshala. The ceremony was graced by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and attended by Tibetans and supporters in droves.

China and India renew war of words over Tibet
April 24, 2017

By Lucy Hornby and Aliya Ram

Financial Times, April 20, 2017 – China and India have renewed a war of words over the north-eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, a Tibetan Himalayan region claimed by Beijing, after China said it would “standardise” six place names in the territory.

The announcement of the new romanised spellings for three towns and three mountain passes by China’s ministry of civil affairs is the country’s latest move to stake its claim over an area that came under formal Indian control in a series of 19th-century boundary agreements between the Manchu Qing empire and the British government in India.

India responded on Thursday by insisting that Arunachal Pradesh was “an integral part” of India. “Nothing can change that,” the foreign ministry in New Delhi said. “We have an established bilateral mechanism to discuss the boundary question with China and it has made progress. We seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.”

Beijing’s current claims over Arunachal Pradesh — which it calls South Tibet — rest on its control over the rest of Tibet, the vast mountain territory it invaded and seized in 1950. The decision to release new names follows a dispute over a visit to a Buddhist monastery in Arunachal this month by the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who lives in exile in India.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the “standardisation” was in line with Chinese regulations on the management of geographical names: “These names reflect from another angle that China’s territorial claim over South Tibet is supported by clear evidence in terms of history, culture and administration.”

Earlier this week Mr Lu said India-China relations had been damaged for some time.“What is imperative now is for the Indian side to take concrete actions to honour its solemn promises on Tibet-related issues”, he said, calling on New Delhi to “never again use the 14th Dalai Lama to undermine China’s core interests”. The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since 1959 when he fled Lhasa following a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. The influential leader is reviled by Beijing, which views him as a threat to China’s control of Tibet.

After a previous visit to the Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh by the Dalai Lama in 2009, China stopped recognising the Indian passports of people born in the state. Rather than normal visas, it issued travel permits stapled into their passports. The dispute escalated as both countries included maps in newly issued passports showing the conflicting claims.

The ageing Dalai Lama has resisted attempts by Beijing to put forward its own candidate for his reincarnated successor. He has said the reincarnated spiritual leader will not be born in Chinese territory.

An alternative option of identifying his successor in Mongolia — which the Dalai Lama visited late last year — seems to be ruled out by China’s growing political and economic influence over its landlocked neighbour.

The place name “standardisation” adheres to a playbook China has followed in the case of other border territories it claims, for instance the uninhabited Tokyo-controlled islands known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, and atolls in the South China Sea. According to the process, a first step is to have the territory in question recognised as “disputed” by an international audience.

“The motivation might be to show historical claim and historical ownership of the disputed territory,” said Jian Zhang, associate professor at the University of New South Wales. “Naming does carry significance in terms of a country’s claim to a disputed territory.”

Additional reporting by Emily Feng in Beijing

Five detained following self-immolation in Tibet
April 24, 2017

Radio Free Asia, April 19, 2017 – Police in western China’s Sichuan province detained five Tibetans following the April 15 self-immolation of a 39 year-old father of four, severely beating at least three suspected of close ties to the protest, Tibetan sources say.

Three of those taken into custody were identified as Konchok Gyaltsen, Nyima Tsering, and Tsering Gyatso, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

“They were detained on an allegation that they had possession of the mobile phone of Wangchuk Tseten, who self-immolated on April 15,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

All three were severely beaten during questioning, the source said.

Before staging his protest, Tseten had called the three to tell them where his phone could be found, the source said.

“Two of them were later released, but the third is still being held,” he said, adding, “The police took the phone away, and they never learned what information was contained on it.”

Two other Tibetans, still unidentified, were also detained on suspicion of having filmed video of Tseten’s protest, the source said.

‘Engulfed in flames’

Tseten, a native of Nyagrong (in Chinese, Xinlong) county in Sichuan’s Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, set himself ablaze at about 7:00 a.m. in a public square of the main town of the prefecture’s Kardze county, sources told RFA in earlier reports.

“It seems that he drank a large quantity of kerosene before he lit himself on fire, and also poured it over his body,” another local source said.

“His body was completely engulfed in flames, so it seems there is little chance that he survived.”

As he burned, Tseten called out for the long life of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, RFA’s source said.

“His body was taken away by the police,” he said.

Security forces were quickly sent to question Tseten’s relatives, “raising tensions in his home town,” the source said.

Tseten’s protest brought to 148 the number of self-immolations by Tibetans living in China since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009. Of these, 125 are known to have died.

The previous protest was on March 18, when a 24-year-old Tibetan farmer named Pema Gyaltsen, also from Nyagrong, set himself on fire in Kardze. His fate remains unclear.

Most protests feature demands for Tibetan freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959.

Reported by Kunsang Tenzin and Sangye Dorjee for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Tibetan refugees to get Indian passports
April 24, 2017

By Abhinav Gargi

Times of India, April 18, 2017 – Tibetan refugees born in India during 1950-87 will soon be able to get Indian passports, according to a new policy by the Centre.

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) accepted a Delhi high court ruling from last year that had asked for Tibetan refugees to be considered Indian citizens. The government informed Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva that it has accepted his September 2016 verdict that nationality of Tibetans, born in India during the specific period, cannot be questioned under the Citizenship Act.

The policy change came into effect from March 2017 and is expected to benefit thousands of Tibetans living in India in forced exile.

The MEA directed all passport offices in India and abroad to process pending applications of Tibetan Refugee applicants born in India between 26/01/1950 to 01/07/1987 for the issue of passports, and treat them as Indian citizens by birth.

Latest rules also specify that if the police verification report in the cases of such applicants from local police or security agencies of the government is received as “adverse” because the refugee is not an Indian citizen by birth, it will be treated by the authorities as “cleared.”

Earlier the home ministry had argued that it considers requests for citizenship by Tibetans residing in India on a case-by-case basis, but the HC ordered it to consider applications of all Tibetans and not ask them to certify their nationality. Till then the MHA was issuing identity certificate/ residential permit instead of passports to the Tibetan Refugees.

With MEA issuing new rules, HC declared five petitioners before it to be Indian citizens and entitled to a passport, asking the government to issue them travel documents in four weeks. The petitioners had gone to court arguing they were wrongly denied passports despite having other proofs of citizenship including voter ID cards.

Tibetan activist sues Swiss authorities over unfair treatment at rally
April 17, 2017

SwissInfo.ch, April 13, 2017 – A Tibetan activist has filed a lawsuit against Bern’s cantonal police as well as the capital’s security director. He says that Tibetan demonstrators were treated unfairly during the recent visit of the Chinese president.

The Swiss News Agency, reported on Wednesday night that the Tibetan man has accused the Bernese cantonal police and the city of Bern’s Security Director, Reto Nause, of abuse and coercion. The man was among the Tibetans who gathered for a rally in Bern during Xi Jinping’s state visit in January.

The police presence was particularly strong, partly to prevent scenes such as those that accompanied the visit of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin in 1999 when Tibetan demonstrators unfurled “Free Tibet” banners on parliament square.

So this time, Tibetans were not allowed to gather on parliament square – unlike a Chinese group that stood there to welcome their president with flags. Instead, the city of Bern permitted the Tibetans to hold their rally on a nearby square before Xi’s arrival on January 15. Hundreds held a loud but peaceful protest. They called on Xi to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama and to stop the torture of Tibetan prisoners.

Later in the day, a group of young Tibetans started a second demonstration without city permission. Police stopped the demo and arrested some of the protesters. Critics, including left-wing politicians, have complained that the Swiss desire not to offend the Chinese took precedence over the Tibetans’ right to freedom of expression.

As Nause pointed out in January, the Tibetans had permission to demonstrate at Waisenhausplatz, the square on the opposite side of the street from parliament square. Police had been ordered not to tolerate any additional rallies.

“One China” Policy Should Exclude Tibet?
Apr 10, 2017 Sri Lanka Guardian Columnists, Diplomacy, Feature, N.S.VenkataramanNo comments

Tibet has been an independent country for hundreds of years and was occupied by China by force. Many Tibetans including the Dalai Lama had to flee Tibet to protect their safety and stay alive to fight for Tibet.

by N.S.Venkataraman