[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 60 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 60

    Recognizing the plight of the Tibetan people on the forty-first 
  anniversary of Tibet's 1959 Lhasa uprising and calling for serious 
  negotiations between China and the Dalai Lama to achieve a peaceful 
                  solution to the situation in Tibet.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 10, 1999

   Mr. Mack (for himself, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. Lott, Mr. Brownback, Mr. 
Wellstone, Mr. Helms, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Ashcroft, and Mr. 
Feingold) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

                             March 9, 2000

        Committee discharged; considered, amended, and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Recognizing the plight of the Tibetan people on the forty-first 
  anniversary of Tibet's 1959 Lhasa uprising and calling for serious 
  negotiations between China and the Dalai Lama to achieve a peaceful 
                  solution to the situation in Tibet.

Whereas during the period 1949-1950, the newly established communist government 
        of the People's Republic of China sent an army to invade Tibet;
Whereas the Tibetan army was ill equipped and outnumbered, and the People's 
        Liberation Army overwhelmed Tibetan defenses;
Whereas, on May 23, 1951, a delegation sent from the capital city of Lhasa to 
        Peking to negotiate with the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China was forced under duress to accept a Chinese-drafted 17-point 
        agreement that incorporated Tibet into China but promised to preserve 
        Tibetan political, cultural, and religious institutions;
Whereas during the period of 1951-1959, the failure of the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China to uphold guarantees to autonomy contained in 
        the 17-Point Agreement and the imposition of socialist reforms resulted 
        in widespread oppression and brutality;
Whereas on March 10, 1959, the people of Lhasa, fearing for the life of the 
        Dalai Lama, surrounded his palace, organized a permanent guard, and 
        called for the withdrawal of the Chinese from Tibet and the restoration 
        of Tibet's independence;
Whereas on March 17, 1959, the Dalai Lama escaped in disguise during the night 
        after two mortar shells exploded within the walls of his palace and, 
        before crossing the Indian border into exile two weeks later, repudiated 
        the 17-Point Agreement;
Whereas during the ``Lhasa uprising'' begun on March 10, 1959, Chinese 
        statistics estimate 87,000 Tibetans were killed, arrested, or deported 
        to labor camps, and only a small percentage of the thousands who 
        attempted to escape to India survived Chinese military attacks, 
        malnutrition, cold, and disease;
Whereas for the past forty years, the Dalai Lama has worked in exile to find 
        ways to allow Tibetans to determine the future status of Tibet and was 
        awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in 1989;
Whereas it is the policy of the United States to support substantive dialogue 
        between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Dalai 
        Lama or his representatives;
Whereas the State Department's 1999 Country Report on Human Rights Practices 
        finds that ``Chinese government authorities continued to commit serious 
        human rights abuses in Tibet, including instances of torture, arbitrary 
        arrest, detention without public trial, and lengthy detention of Tibetan 
        nationalists for peacefully expressing their political or religious 
        views.'';
Whereas President Jiang Zemin pointed out in a press conference with President 
        Clinton on June 27, 1997, that if the Dalai Lama recognizes that Tibet 
        is an inalienable part of China and Taiwan is a province of China, then 
        the door to negotiate is open;
Whereas all efforts by the United States and private parties to enable the Dalai 
        Lama to find a negotiated solution have failed;
Whereas the Dalai Lama has specifically stated that he is not seeking 
        independence and is committed to finding a negotiated solution within 
        the framework enunciated by Deng Xiaoping in 1979; and
Whereas China has signed but failed to ratify the International Covenant on 
        Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, 
        Social and Cultural Rights: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) March 10, 2000 should be recognized as the Tibetan Day of 
        Commemoration in solemn remembrance of those Tibetans who sacrificed, 
        suffered, and died during the Lhasa uprising, and in affirmation of the 
        inherent rights of the Tibetan people to determine their own future; and
            (2) March 10, 2000 should serve as an occasion to renew calls by the 
        President, Congress, and other United States Government officials on the 
        Government of the People's Republic of China to enter into serious 
        negotiations with the Dalai Lama or his representatives until such a 
        time as a peaceful solution, satisfactory to both sides, is achieved.