[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 30 (Tuesday, March 11, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2153-S2155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 REGARDING UNITED STATES OPPOSITION TO THE PRISON SENTENCE OF TIBETAN 
                   ETHNOMUSICOLOGIST NGAWANG CHOEPHEL

  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed 
to the immediate consideration of calendar order No. 22, Senate 
Resolution 19.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 19) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate regarding United States opposition to the prison 
     sentence of Tibetan ethnomusicologist Ngawang Choephel by the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China.

  The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, Ngawang Choephel is lonely, locked up in a 
Chinese prison in Tibet. I do hope, Mr. President, that somehow, 
through Radio Free Asia or other means, he will learn that the Senate 
of the United States is sincerely concerned about him and will continue 
to work for his freedom--as we will for all prisoners of conscience in 
China and Tibet.
  Senate Resolution 19 proposes to put the U.S. Senate on record in 
support of the release of Mr. Choephel, a strong resolution on China 
and Tibet at the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva and access to 
Tibet for internationally recognized human rights group.
  This resolution assures Tibetans--those in Nepal and India where they 
wait for the day they can reclaim their homeland, and those inside 
Tibet where they resist the cultural, religious, and political 
oppression of the Chinese Central Government--we in the United States 
have not forgotten you. We are with you. We will always be with you.
  Yesterday, March 10, was Tibet National Uprising Day, the anniversary 
of Tibet's 1959 uprising against the Chinese occupation.
  For almost 40 years, the Tibetan people have been resisting Chinese 
occupation, while working to preserve their culture in exile in India 
and Nepal. Repression inside Tibet has been raised to a level not seen 
since the Cultural Revolution. China has absorbed large portions of 
Tibet into neighboring provinces and conducted a concerted campaign to 
dilute Tibet's population through the relocation of Han Chinese. 
Tibet's leaders fear that Tibetans are now in the minority inside 
Tibet.
  China seeks to limit the number of young people who enter religious 
life. Monks are forced to undergo political indoctrination and to 
renounce the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama himself is the focus of 
virulent attacks. His photograph is banned. China has detained the 
Panchen Lama, a young boy who is the reincarnation of Tibet's second 
most important religious figure, and selected its own rival Panchen 
Lama. The number of political prisoners has

[[Page S2154]]

increased dramatically--Ngawang Choephel, the subject of this 
resolution is just one case. There are many, many others.
  Yesterday was also the opening day of the U.N. Human Rights 
Commission in Geneva. Mr. President, Senate Resolution 19 reminds 
President Clinton and his administration of their responsibility to 
support and bring about the passage of a strong resolution on China and 
Tibet at Geneva, and to raise relentlessly Mr. Choephel's case, and 
other cases, with the Chinese Government, while pressing for access to 
Tibet by human rights monitors.
  The administration must take this responsibility seriously and 
sincerely. However, according to news reports, the administration's 
position on a China resolution at the Commission is just a bargaining 
chip in United States-China relations. There are frequent reports that 
the United States may drop, or soften, a resolution at Geneva in 
exchange for some future progress on human rights in China.
  We have been down this road before with the administration. It is 
difficult to fathom what the administration believes it is achieving by 
rushing to entice China with softer positions on human rights, on 
proliferation, or on Hong Kong. Last year, the administration itself 
reports, human rights in China deteriorated. The President himself 
admitted that his engagement policy has not brought results. It makes 
no sense to mute or abandon our objections to China's record at the 
U.N. Human Rights Commission in exchange for nebulous commitments. The 
administration must tell the truth at Geneva.
  In Burma, as well, the administration has recognized a marked 
deterioration in human rights over the past year. For several months, 
the administration has been reviewing its policy toward Burma in order 
to determine whether to impose a ban on new United States investment. 
The administration last year signed into a law specifying criteria for 
imposing an investment ban--first, restrictions on, physical harm to, 
or the exile of Aung San Suu Kyi, or second, widespread repression of 
the democratic opposition.
  The SLORC regime is doing both, and the administration knows it. 
Since last summer, the SLORC has conducted a campaign of intimidation, 
arrests, disappearances, and some executions of democratic activists, 
and those close to them. Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly been kept from 
meeting and communicating with her supporters. Her phone service has 
been periodically cut. Her car was attacked.
  Throughout all of this, the administration continued to review the 
law. It's time to follow the law. By failing to do so, the 
administration has signaled both the SLORC and our allies in the region 
that the United States isn't serious about supporting democracy or 
combating drug trafficking in Burma.
  Now comes a new tragedy in Burma. For the past few weeks, the SLORC 
has been waging a campaign against the ethnic Karen rebels, the only 
major ethnic army which has not yet signed a cease-fire with the 
regime. The Karen, who are Christian, will not submit to SLORC's 
control. The Thai Army has been repatriating refugees to Burma--in 
violation of international law. The carnage on the border provides yet 
another reason to invoke sanctions on the SLORC regime not just because 
it's the decent thing to do, but because U.S. law requires it.
  The Karen National Union was one of several ethnic nationalities 
which agreed in January to a common platform of support for democracy, 
opposition to Burma's membership in ASEAN, rejection of the rigged 
constitutional convention and the SLORC's cosmetic actions against 
narcotics production and trafficking, and opposition to foreign 
investment.
  The Karen National Union is part of the democratic opposition in 
Burma. The massive and brutal attacks on the KNU by the SLORC regime 
clearly trigger the Cohen-Feinstein condition on widespread repression 
of the democratic opposition.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, yesterday, March 10, marked the 38th 
anniversary of the Tibetan uprising, at a time when many Tibetan 
citizens gave their lives to defend their freedom and to prevent the 
Dalai Lama from being kidnaped by the Chinese Army. For those who stand 
with the Tibetan people, it is a day to consider what can be done to 
lend support to their aspirations. The United States Senate will mark 
the occasion by adopting this resolution Senate Resolution 19, 
introduced on the first day of the 105th Congress, condemning the 
egregious prison sentence imposed by the Chinese Government on Hgawang 
Choephel. The Foreign Relations Committee has considered the measure 
and unanimously reported-out the resolution last week.
  Mr. Choephel, a Tibetan ethnomusicologist and Fulbright Scholar, 
returned to Tibet in July 1995 to prepare a documentary film about 
traditional Tibetan performing arts. He was detained in August 1995 by 
the Chinese authorities and held incommunicado for over a year before 
the Government of the People's Republic of China admitted to holding 
him, and finally charged him with espionage in October 1996.
  On December 26, 1996, the Chinese Government sentenced Ngawang 
Choephel to an 18-year prison term plus 4 years subsequent deprivation 
of his political rights following a secret trial. This is the most 
severe sentence of a Tibetan by the Chinese Government in 7 years.
  The imprisonment of Ngawang Choephel reflects the broader conflict 
between Tibetans and Chinese. Mr. Choephel's arrest, and harsh 
sentence, appear to stem from his collecting information to preserve 
Tibetan performing arts. Such treatment of Tibetans is indicative of 
the extreme measures the Chinese Government continues to take to 
repress all forms of Tibetan cultural expression. To the Chinese 
Government, which views Tibetan religion and culture as an impediment 
to successfully unifying Tibet with the ``motherland,'' such efforts 
are reactionary. As we have seen, they are so threatening that Mr. 
Choephel has been sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for his efforts. 
The New York Times editorial on January 2 explains:

       The basis of Ngawang Choephel's conviction is unclear, but 
     even taping Tibetan culture for export could qualify as 
     espionage under Chinese law. Since its invasion of Tibet in 
     1950, Beijing has gradually increased its efforts to erase 
     Tibet's identity. China has arrested those who protested the 
     takeover and tried to eradicate the people's affection for 
     the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama.

  My first encounter with this transcending issue came with my 
appointment as Ambassador to India a near quarter-century ago. In 1975, 
along with my daughter Maura Moynihan, I visited China as a guest of 
George Bush, who was then Chief of our U.S. Liaison Office in Peking. 
By this time, I was persuaded the Soviet Union would break up along 
ethnic lines. But I was not prepared for the intensity of ethnic 
tensions in the People's Republic. One was met at the Canton railroad 
station by a giant mural of Mao surrounded by ecstatic non-Chinese 
peoples who occupy more than half the nominal territory of the People's 
Republic. In Beijing, 3-year-olds in the Neighborhood Revolutionary 
Committee of Chi Eh Tao nursery school sang a patriotic song for us 
which began:

       We will grow up quickly to settle the border regions. We 
     will denounce and crush Lin Piao and Confucious

  A refrain which ended:

       We will each grow a pair of industrial hands.

  Much of that Stalinoid dementia has disappeared from the coastal 
regions of China, at least for the moment, but not from Tibet. My 
daughter Maura has traveled to Tibet several times. After her most 
recent trip last year, she wrote in the Washington Post of the Chinese 
assault on Tibetan religion and culture:

       Beijing's leaders have renewed their assault on Tibetan 
     culture, especially Buddhism, with an alarming vehemence. The 
     rhetoric and the methods of the Cultural Revolution of the 
     1960s have been resurrected--reincarnated, what you will--to 
     shape an aggressive campaign to vilify the Dalai Lama.

  The resolution before us records the United States Senate's response 
to these Chinese policies. We reject Chinese efforts to ``erase Tibet's 
identity'' and their ``assault on Tibetan culture.'' Tibetans must be 
free, not only to preserve their identity and culture, but to determine 
their future for themselves.
  In the words of the International Commission of Jurists in 1960, 
``Tibet demonstrated from 1913 to 1950 the conditions of statehood as 
generally accepted under international law.'' The

[[Page S2155]]

Government of the People's Republic of China should know that as the 
Tibetan people and His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet go forward on 
their journey toward freedom the Congress and the people of the United 
States stand with them.
  I thank all my colleagues who have cosponsored this resolution. In 
particular I would like to recognize the long commitment that the 
chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Senator Helms, has shown in 
support of Tibetans and thank him for joining me in this effort today. 
I would also thank both Senators from Vermont, who have remained 
engaged in this matter since it was made known and for their joining me 
as a cosponsor of this measure.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to commend the Senate's 
passage of Senate Resolution 19, regarding United States opposition to 
the prison sentence of Tibetan ethno-musicologist Ngawang Choephel by 
the Government of the People's Republic of China. I am proud to be an 
original cosponsor of this resolution, which was introduced by Senator 
Moynihan, and was successfully reported out of the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee last week.
  This resolution expresses the Senate's strong sense that Ngawang 
Choephel should be released from the prison where he has been held in 
since 1995. It also urges the United States to raise the issue of his 
release with Chinese officials, to promote a resolution at the U.N. 
Human Rights Commission, and to seek access for human rights monitors 
in Tibet.
  Mr. Choephel, a Tibetan national who--with the support of a Fulbright 
scholarship--studied ethno-musicology at Middlebury College in Vermont, 
was detained by the Chinese authorities in Tibet in August 1995. After 
being held incommunicado for a year, he was charged with espionage in 
October 1996. In December of that year, the Chinese sentenced him to a 
18-year prison term following a secret trial.
  Mr. Choephel was preparing a documentary film about traditional 
Tibetan performing arts when he was detained. The State Department says 
there is no evidence that his activities were anything but academic. 
Unfortunately, Mr. Choephel's arrest and sentence appear consistent 
with previous Chinese actions to repress cultural expression in Tibet.
  The U.S. State Department and several human rights organizations, 
including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, note that China 
consistently denies Tibetans their fundamental human rights. According 
to the most recent State Department Human Rights report, Chinese 
authorities continue to commit widespread and well-documented human 
rights abuse, in violation of internationally accepted norms. Credible 
reports include instances of death in detention, torture, arbitrary 
arrest, detention without public trial, and intensified controls on 
religion and on freedom of speech and the press, particularly for 
ethnic Tibetans.
  Since its occupation of Tibet in 1949, the Chinese have also been 
responsible for the destruction of much of Tibetan civilization. The 
arrest of Mr. Choephel, who was engaged in efforts to preserve Tibetan 
culture, reflects China's systematic attempt to repress cultural 
expression in Tibet.
  It is crucial that the Senate continue to send the signal that human 
rights abuses should not be tolerated, and should figure prominently in 
foreign policy deliberations. As a member of the Senate Subcommittee on 
Asia, I feel that the United States must continue to urge China to 
respect Tibet's unique religious, linguistic, and cultural traditions 
and observe fundamental human rights in Tibet and elsewhere.
  Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the resolution 
appear at this point in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 19) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, is as follows:

                               S. Res. 19

       Whereas the Chinese Government sentenced Ngawang Choephel 
     to an 18 year prison term plus 4 years subsequent deprivation 
     of his political rights on December 26, 1996, following a 
     secret trial;
       Whereas Mr. Choephel is a Tibetan national whose family 
     fled Chinese oppression to live in exile in India in 1968;
       Whereas Mr. Choephel studied ethnomu- sicology at 
     Middlebury College in Vermont as a Fulbright Scholar, and at 
     the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala, 
     India;
       Whereas Mr. Choephel returned to Tibet in July 1995 to 
     prepare a documentary film about traditional Tibetan 
     performing arts;
       Whereas Mr. Choephel was detained in August 1995 by the 
     Chinese authorities and held incommunicado for over a year 
     before the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     admitted to holding him, and finally charged him with 
     espionage in October 1996;
       Whereas there is no evidence that Mr. Choephel's activities 
     in Tibet involved anything other than purely academic 
     research;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     denies Tibetans their fundamental human rights, as reported 
     in the State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights 
     Practices, and by human rights organizations including 
     Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Asia;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China is 
     responsible for the destruction of much of Tibetan 
     civilization since its invasion of Tibet in 1949;
       Whereas the arrest of a Tibetan scholar, such as Mr. 
     Choephel who worked to preserve Tibetan culture, reflects the 
     systematic attempt by the Government of the People's Republic 
     of China to repress cultural expression in Tibet;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China, 
     through direct and indirect incentives, has established 
     discriminatory development programs which have resulted in an 
     overwhelming flow of Chinese immigrants into Tibet, including 
     those areas incorporated into the Chinese provinces of 
     Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Quinghai, and have excluded 
     Tibetans from participation in important policy decisions, 
     which further threatens traditional Tibetan life;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China, 
     withholds meaningful participation in the governance of Tibet 
     from Tibetans and has failed to abide by its own 
     constitutional guarantee of autonomy for Tibetans;
       Whereas the Dalai Lama of Tibet has stated his willingness 
     to enter into negotiations with the Chinese and has 
     repeatedly accepted the framework Deng Xiaoping proposed for 
     such negotiations in 1979;
       Whereas the United States Government has not developed an 
     effective plan to win support in international fora, such as 
     the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, to bring 
     international pressure to bear on the Government of the 
     People's Republic of China to improve human rights and to 
     negotiate with the Dalai Lama;
       Whereas the Chinese have displayed provocative disregard 
     for American concerns by arresting and sentencing prominent 
     dissidents around the time that senior United States 
     Government officials have visited China; and
       Whereas United States Government policy seeks to foster 
     negotiations between the Government of the People's Republic 
     of China and the Dalai Lama, and presses China to respect 
     Tibet's unique religious, linguistic, and cultural 
     traditions: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) Ngawang Choephel and other prisoners of conscience in 
     Tibet, as well as in China, should be released immediately 
     and unconditionally;
       (2) to underscore the gravity of this matter, in all 
     official meetings with representatives of the Government of 
     the People's Republic of China, United States officials 
     should request Mr. Choephel's immediate and unconditional 
     release;
       (3) the United States Government should take prompt action 
     to sponsor and promote a resolution at the United Nations 
     Commission on Human Rights regarding China and Tibet which 
     specifically addresses political prisoners and negotiations 
     with the Dalai Lama;
       (4) an exchange program should be established in honor of 
     Ngawang Choephel, involving students of the Tibetan Institute 
     of Performing Arts and appropriate educational institutions 
     in the United States; and,
       (5) the United States Government should seek access for 
     internationally recognized human rights groups to monitor 
     human rights in Tibet.

                          ____________________