Whereas, beginning on March 10, 2008, Tibetans and Tibetan
Buddhist monks began demonstrations in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet
Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China;
Whereas those protests spread to elsewhere in the Tibet
Autonomous Region and to Tibetan autonomous areas in the Sichuan, Gansu, and
Qinghan provinces of China;
Whereas long-suppressed resentment prompted violent
clashes between demonstrators and government forces in the streets of Lhasa,
resulting in innocent civilian casualties, the burning of buildings, and
extensive property damage;
Whereas Chinese and Tibetan sources report dozens of
fatalities and the arrest of more than 1,000 protesters in the Tibet Autonomous
Region and surrounding Tibetan areas of China;
Whereas Tibet is the center of Tibetan Buddhism and the
Dalai Lama is the most revered figure in Tibetan Buddhism;
Whereas the Government of China continues to restrict the
rights of Tibetan Buddhists to practice their religion freely;
Whereas the Dalai Lama has condemned the violence that
began on March 14, 2008, and announced his continuing support for the Olympic
Games to be held in Beijing, China;
Whereas the Dalai Lama has specifically stated that he
does not seek independence for Tibet from China and has called for negotiations
to bring about meaningful autonomy for Tibet that allows Tibetans to maintain
their distinctive identity within China;
Whereas the Constitution of the People's Republic of China
guarantees freedom of religious belief for all citizens, but the 2007 Annual
Report on International Religious Freedom of the Department of State states
that [d]uring the period covered by this report, the Government [of
China]’s respect for freedom of religion remained poor
; and
Whereas, following the demonstrations that began on March
10, 2008, the Government of China began severely restricting access to
journalists and diplomats and creating a shortage of independent verification
of the situation on the ground in Tibet: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
(1)condemns the
violence in Tibet and calls for restraint by the Government of the People’s
Republic of China and the people of Tibet;
(2)calls for a
dialogue between the leadership of the Government of China and His Holiness the
Dalai Lama on meaningful religious and cultural autonomy for Tibet within China
and urges that these discussions take place with all deliberate speed;
(3)calls for the
release of individuals who protested in a peaceful manner and for medical care
for those injured and wounded in the violence that followed the
protests;
(4)calls on the
Government of China to cease its efforts to enter monasteries to ‘reeducate’
monks and nuns, to respect the right of the people of Tibet to speak of the
Dalai Lama and possess his photograph, and to respect and protect basic human
rights, as provided in the Constitution of the People's Republic of
China;
(5)calls on the
Government of China to honor its commitment to allow international journalists
free access to China from mid-2007 to October 17, 2008;
(6)calls on the
Government of China to provide a full accounting of the March 2008 protests in
Tibet, the response of the Government of China, and the manner and number of
detentions and deaths that occurred following the protests; and
(7)both—
(A)calls on the
United States Department of State to fully implement the Tibetan Policy Act of
2002 (22 U.S.C. 6901 note), including the stipulation that the Secretary of
State seek to establish an office in Lhasa, Tibet, to monitor political,
economic, and cultural developments in Tibet
, and also to provide
consular protection and citizen services in emergencies; and
(B)urges that the
agreement to permit China to open further diplomatic missions in the United
States should be contingent upon the establishment of a United States
Government office in Lhasa, Tibet.