[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 29 (Monday, March 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2055-S2056]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            NGAWANG CHOEPHEL

  Mr. JEFFORDS. I thank my colleague. I will be very brief. I 
understand Senate Resolution 19, concerning the imprisonment of Tibetan 
ethnomusicologist Ngawang Choephel may be coming to the floor later in 
the day, and I want to speak in favor of it. It will be most useful if 
we pass this legislation, and I will be most pleased to vote for the 
passage of this legislation.
  This case has a special resonance in Vermont because Mr. Choephel was 
a Fulbright scholar at Middlebury College from 1993 to 1995, and has 
hundreds of friends throughout the State. He is well known as a 
talented and compassionate individual, who cares deeply about the 
culture of the Tibetan people.
  Indeed, it was while he was researching and recording traditional 
folk song and dance in Tibet in the fall of 1995 that he was arrested 
by the Chinese authorities and held incommunicado. It was over a year 
before the Chinese Government acknowledged in letters to me and other 
Members of Congress that he was in custody.
  The charges filed against him by the Chinese Government--that he was 
in Tibet to spy for the Dalai Lama, shocked and outraged those of us 
who know Ngawang well. His subsequent conviction at a secret trial and 
an incredible 18-year sentence are an injustice and have been widely 
and justifiably condemned by society in general.
  I hope this resolution will help to convince Beijing to reconsider 
its actions in this case, and to release Ngawang immediately and 
unconditionally. The Chinese Government needs to understand that its 
handling of this and other human rights cases, and its continued 
repression of the minority rights in Tibet, are serious setbacks to the 
Chinese-American relationship and make it difficult to pursue 
cooperation in other areas.
  I yield to my good colleague and friend from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I thank my friend and colleague from 
Vermont. I thank him for his strong support on the issue of Ngawang 
Choephel. He and I have heard from so many Vermonters who met Ngawang 
Choephel at his time in Middlebury and feel as we do.
  I also thank Senator Moynihan for his support of this former 
Middlebury College student and this Fulbright scholar, and also for his 
support of other prisoners of conscience in Tibet. Senator Moynihan has 
been a stalwart supporter of Tibet and its people for as long as I can 
remember. The fact he has sponsored this resolution gives added weight 
to it.
  Like so many in Vermont, I was outraged when I heard of Mr. 
Choephel's 18-year prison sentence in December. This followed a secret 
trial and followed a year of incommunicado detention. The Chinese 
Government has not released a shred of evidence that Mr. Choephel 
committed any crime. In fact, I understand the entire 16 hours of 
videotape that he sent out of Tibet prior to his arrest contained only 
footage of traditional Tibetan music and dance. That is what he studied 
at Middlebury College and that is the reason he returned to Tibet.
  The frustrating aspect of this is that China has done so much to 
destroy a lot of the tradition of Tibet, the history, the writings, the 
music, the dance. Mr. Choephel was simply preserving for future 
generations what is so important in this ancient, ancient culture. When 
the Chinese authorities finally acknowledged that Mr. Choephel had been 
arrested, and they did not do that until a year after he disappeared 
despite numerous inquiries on his behalf, the State Department called 
for his immediate release. Even after he was convicted, the Chinese 
Government refused to release any information to support the charge 
against him.
  Many of us suspect that his arrest and sentence were intended to 
intimidate the Dalai Lama's supporters in the United States. The Dalai 
Lama's supporters have voiced their support for Mr. Choephel, but I am 
not aware of any relationship between Mr. Choephel and the Dalai Lama. 
If the Chinese authorities' purpose was to scare off these supporters, 
they are going to be disappointed. It is only going to embolden those 
like myself who support Tibet and its people.
  I have written several letters to Chinese and United States 
officials, as has Senator Jeffords and Representative Sanders and 
others. I was in Beijing in November, and I asked President Jiang Zemin 
personally about the case of Ngawang Choephel, and I raised the case of 
Ngawang Choephel with the other Chinese authorities with whom I met. 
Just last week I sent letters to President Jiang Zemin and Vice 
President Gore. The Vice President is due to travel to China in the 
near future. Those letters were signed by the Democratic leader, 
Senator Daschle, and by Senators Feinstein, Glenn, Kempthorne, and 
Dorgan, all of whom were on the November delegation to China.
  Of course there have been all kinds of articles and editorials on Mr. 
Choephel's behalf in this country.
  I said to the Chinese that here, at a time when we are celebrating 
the 50th anniversary of the Fulbright Scholarship Program, a Fulbright 
scholar from Vermont is arrested unjustly. It shows a lack of any sense 
of history on the part of the Chinese in this because, of course, the 
first Fulbright scholarships 50 years ago were used in China. Now, on 
the 50th anniversary of the Fulbright scholarship, the Chinese arrest a 
person who was simply recording an ancient culture.
  So, our resolution calls for the release of Ngawang Choephel. It 
urges United States officials to raise his case in their meetings with 
China's officials, to support a resolution on human rights in Tibet and 
China at the U. N. Commission on Human Rights, to urge the Chinese 
Government to allow international human rights groups to monitor human 
rights in Tibet, and to support an exchange program for Tibetan 
students. It says, instead of bringing the curtain down on Tibet, open 
the doors to Tibet, open them to this wonderful, wonderful culture.
  The resolution makes clear to the Chinese Government that the United 
States Senate considers improvements and respect for human rights in 
China and Tibet a priority. There would be no better way for the 
Chinese Government to demonstrate sincerity on human rights than to 
release Mr. Choephel.
  This resolution and the support for Mr. Choephel that we all share 
are not intended to embarrass or unfairly single out China. We want 
relations between our two great countries to improve. But our purpose 
is to call attention to a terrible mistake that has been made in the 
hope that China's Government will review the case and set Mr. Choephel 
free. I intend to keep writing and speaking about Ngawang Choephel 
until that day comes. So I thank Senator Moynihan for his leadership as 
well as the other dozens of Members of Congress, the hundreds of 
Vermonters, and Americans around the country who have signed letters in 
support of Ngawang Choephel.
  The Chinese should look at the names on these resolutions. This is 
not a Democrat or Republican issue, not conservative or liberal issue. 
It goes across the political spectrum in this body. What it says is 
that we are as interested in human rights as anybody else. It also 
says, when you have an ancient culture like the Tibetans', an ancient 
religion, ancient music, ancient writings and speakings, they cannot be 
stamped out by anybody and they should not be stamped out by anybody. 
The Chinese should respect the culture of the Tibetans.

[[Page S2056]]

  The Tibetans pose no threat to the People's Republic of China. But 
actions in trying to suppress, to eliminate, to destroy their religion, 
their culture, their music and their writings, that poses a threat to 
all, including those of us in the United States, the greatest democracy 
on Earth.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent a letter about Mr. Choephel to 
Vice President Gore signed by all Members of the Daschle delegation to 
China be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                Washington, DC, February 11, 1997.
     Hon. Albert Gore,
     The White House,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Vice President: We learned recently that you plan 
     to visit China this spring. We were in Beijing in November, 
     where we met with President Jiang Zemin. Among the issues 
     Senator Leahy raised with the President was the case of a 
     Tibetan named Ngawang Choephel, a former Fulbright scholar at 
     Middlebury College in Vermont where he studied and taught 
     enthnomusicology. When he returned to Tibet in 1995 to make a 
     video about transitional music and dance, he was detained on 
     charges of spying and held incommunicado for 15 months. Last 
     month, after a secret trial, he was sentenced to 18 years in 
     prison.
       Mr. Choephel sent many hours of video footage to India 
     before he was detained, which we understand deals only with 
     traditional music and dance. Other than referring to an 
     alleged ``confession,'' the Chinese have never produced any 
     evidence to support the charge that Mr. Choephel engaged in 
     epsionage on behalf of the United States or anyone else. The 
     State Department has urged the Chinese to release him.
       We believe the Chinese government has made a tragic 
     mistake. Over forty Members of Congress have signed letters 
     to President Jiang and the Chinese Ambassador calling for Mr. 
     Choepel's release. We urge you to stress the administration's 
     view that Mr. Choephel should be released, and to ask 
     President Jiang to personally look into this case.
           Sincerely yours,
     Patrick Leahy,
     Thomas a. Daschle,
     Dianne Feinstein,
     John Glenn,
     Byron L. Dorgan,
     Dirk Kempthorne.
                                                                    ____

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I urge all Senators to support this 
resolution.
  I do not see others on the floor seeking recognition. Could I ask the 
Chair what the parliamentary situation is?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate is in morning business with a 
limitation on speaking for 5 minutes except by unanimous consent. That 
time will expire at 3 p.m.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I see other Senators have come to the floor 
so I will yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BAUCUS. How many minutes do I have, Mr. President?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Five minutes.
  Mr. BAUCUS. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Baucus pertaining to the introduction of S. 415 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')

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