[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 23, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E725-E727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CHAIRMAN BENJAMIN A. GILMAN'S ADDRESS TO THE III WORLD PARLIAMENTARIAN 
                          CONVENTION ON TIBET

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 23, 1997

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, today, here at the offices of the House of 
Representatives, the III World Parliamentarian Convention on Tibet was 
held. The keynote address for this impressive gathering of elected 
representatives of Parliaments was given by His Holiness, the Dalai 
Lama of Tibet, who is here in Washington, DC, for this conference.
  One of the true highlights of this parliamentary convention was an 
address by our distinguished colleague and the chairman of the House 
International Relations Committee, Congressman Benjamin A. Gilman of 
New York. Mr. Speaker, I am inserting this excellent address of our 
colleague in the Record, and I urge all of my colleagues to give his 
fine remarks thoughtful and careful attention.

    Statement by the Honorable Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman, House 
International Relations Committee, III World Parliamentarian Convention 
                        on Tibet, April 23, 1997

       Mr. GILMAN. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, your 
     Holiness and distinguished participants. Thank you Lodi for 
     your kind words. It is a special honor for the House 
     International Relations Committee and the Congress to host 
     this third international parliamentarian convention on Tibet.
       I am pleased to welcome His Holiness The Dalai Lama, 
     Professor Rinpoche, the Chairman of the Assembly of Tibetan 
     People's Deputies, and all the distinguished legislators, 
     academics, participants and guests joining us today. It is 
     fitting that this historic meeting takes place under the roof 
     of the ``House of the people'' by a worldwide community of 
     legislators, scholars and experts.
       As I drove down from New York last evening after spending 
     the last two days celebrating the Passover Holidays with my 
     family, the significance of our meeting here today reminded 
     me of the similarities between our two people's and indeed 
     the similarities between righteous efforts of any people for 
     freedom and G-d given rights.
       During Passover the Jewish people celebrate their freedom 
     from slavery and are reminded of their ancestors' wandering 
     in the

[[Page E726]]

     desert for forty years. The family sedar centers around 
     recalling the persecution of the Jews by the Pharaoh, the 
     efforts made to free the Jews, the promises made by G-d, 
     their plight in the desert and the meaning of the sedar's 
     different foods, drinks and rituals. But most significant of 
     all is the family gathering recounting the story of how a 
     powerless non violent religious nation regained its rights.
       As we gather together today I strongly feel that same sense 
     of family * * * that same motivation for coming together. 
     Some of you have traveled very long distances and are 
     sacrificing precious time and money to help the Tibetan 
     people. Others are volunteering your services so that this 
     can happen. But most significant of all is the selflessness 
     of the deed and the joy of doing what is right.
       Today, we are a family gathering together to learn from the 
     past, to enjoy good company and to help our Tibetan and 
     Chinese brothers and sisters regain the freedom that is 
     rightfully theirs. The result of our deliberations which will 
     be delivered to the Secretary General of the United Nations 
     and various governments are intended to bring those leaders 
     into the family to give them the opportunity to strengthen 
     and to be a part of our unity of effort.
       Most of you know the statistics: The Chinese destruction of 
     over 6,000 monasteries, the death of 1.2 million Tibetans (a 
     third of the population), the tight control of religion by a 
     foreign atheist government, the public humiliation of monks 
     and nuns. The Tibetans have lost everything, their great 
     teachers, their lands and monasteries, and now due to a 
     diabolical ``final solution''--a population transfer program 
     of massive numbers of Chinese into Tibet--many Tibetans are 
     very rapidly losing their identity, language and self 
     respect.
       The Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem some two 
     thousand years ago, and sent the Jews into exile from their 
     holy land. The Chinese destruction and current occupation of 
     Tibet is every bit as cruel and brutal to the Tibetans. The 
     very strict control of Tibet's religious institutions by 
     atheist communist officials is not only unimaginable 
     blasphemy to Tibetans but to all of the world's great 
     religious traditions.
       The extent to which China's past and present leaders are 
     personally responsible for these policies is very 
     distressing. For example it was Deng Xiaoping who directed 
     the People's Liberation Army into Tibet and oversaw its 
     destruction. Just three years ago it was reported that at an 
     internal Central Communist Party meeting, President Jiang 
     Zemin asserted that, religion is one of the biggest threats 
     to Communist Party rule in China and Tibet. Subsequently, 
     Premier Li Peng signed decrees number 144 and 145 which 
     restrict worship, religious education, distribution of Bibles 
     and other religious literature, as well as restricting 
     contact with foreign coreligionists.
       The totalitarian Chinese government has created official 
     religious organizations that control all religious worship, 
     activity, and association in China and Tibet and supplant the 
     independent authority of the Roman Catholic Church, 
     independent Protestant churches, and independent Buddhist, 
     Taoist, and Islamic associations. Indeed, the Bureau of 
     Religious Affairs is headed by a rigid communist who is 
     hostile to all religion.
       The Bureau is controlled by the United Front Work 
     Department of the Chinese Communist Party. The Party was 
     behind the sentencing of a 76-year-old Protestant leader to 
     15 years in prison for distributing Bibles, the sentencing of 
     a 65-year-old evangelical elder to an eleven-year prison term 
     for belonging to an evangelical group outside the government-
     sanctioned religious organizations and the sentencing of a 
     60-year-old Roman Catholic priest to two years of 
     ``reeducation through labor'' for unknown charges. He had 
     previously spent 13 years in prison because of his refusal to 
     renounce ties with the Vatican. During this past Easter, the 
     regime arrested Peter Xu who is perhaps the most important 
     evangelical leader of the underground Protestant church. He 
     founded the New Birth house church networks, reportedly to 
     have 4 million members. At this time there are four Catholic 
     Bishops imprisoned or in detention.
       The Communist Party and the Bureau of Religious Affairs are 
     also responsible for the kidnapping of the 6-year-old Panchen 
     Lama and his family who have been detained for almost two 
     years, and their whereabouts are still unknown. Scores of 
     Tibetan Buddhists who refused to participate in the Chinese 
     sham enthronement of Beijing's ``Panchen Lama'' have been 
     sent to prison and one of their spiritual leaders committed 
     suicide rather than take part in the charade.
       Mine you, these people are not spending lengthy periods of 
     their life in horrible prison conditions for peacefully 
     advocating political pluralism or democracy. They are being 
     severely punished merely for pursuing their religious 
     beliefs.
       Pro dmeocracy advocates in China and Tibet are going 
     through equally hard times. The recently released State 
     Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices in 
     China and Tibet states that ``in 1996 the authorities stepped 
     up efforts to cut off expression of protest or criticism. All 
     public dissent against the party and government was 
     effectively silenced by initimidation, exile, the imposition 
     of prison terms, administrative detention, or house arrest. 
     No dissidents were known to be active at year's end.'' Not 
     even the former Soviet Union managed such complete repression 
     against the refuseniks.
       The State Department Report goes on to say: ``Although the 
     Government denies that it holds political prisoners, the 
     number of persons detained or serving sentences for 
     `counterrevolutionary crimes' or `crimes against the state,' 
     or for peaceful political or religious activities are 
     believed to number in the thousands. Persons detained during 
     1996 included activists arrested for issuing petitions or 
     open letters calling for reforms and greater democracy.''
       Having checkmated all resistance in Tibet and China the 
     dictators have been successfully applying similar strategies 
     in the international arena. Just last week, representatives 
     of the unelected government in Beijing once again succeeded 
     in Geneva at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights to have a 
     no-action motion adopted on the consideration of a resolution 
     regarding human rights violations in Tibet and China. The 
     Beijing dictatorship elevated its international bullying to 
     new heights by threatening Denmark. If Denmark introduced a 
     human rights resolution regarding China, the resolution 
     would, according to the Chinese ``become a rock that smashes 
     on the Danish government's head.''
       Such statements and the shameful action by Beijing of 
     introducing a no-action motion are insults and a disgrace to 
     the Commission on Human Rights. No country should be able to 
     utilize its economic or political power to attempt to block 
     international scrutiny of its human rights record. And no 
     civilized country on the face of the earth would permit its 
     diplomats, spokesmen or leaders to make such pernicious 
     remarks.
       Within the past year Beijing officials have made similar 
     public threats against Germany, New Zealand, Australia and 
     Taiwan if they permitted His Holiness to visit their 
     countries and if their leaders were to meet with Him. China's 
     diplomats have been flying all over the world promising 
     stadiums, roads, government buildings, purchases of airplanes 
     and other forms of trade and assistance in order to bully, 
     threaten and cajole Commission members to vote with them in 
     Geneva.
       Three years ago, leaders of many nations that are currently 
     members of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights urged 
     President Clinton to de-link U.S. trade with China to its 
     human rights violations. They argued that the human rights 
     issue ought to be considered separate and apart from trade 
     and economic matters and last week they ignored the hypocrisy 
     of trading their values and principles away.
       Democracy is on the run and having a difficult time 
     establishing itself throughout Asia because democracies 
     throughout the world, including our own nation, have put 
     short term economic gains for powerful companies ahead of the 
     long term benefits of democracy and the rule of law. Although 
     most western CEO's intimately understand and are usually 
     supportive of the role that an independent judiciary has on 
     controlling corruption, which in turns helps to maintain 
     profitable business ventures, they are mesmerized by what 
     George Will of the Washington Post calls the ``beguiling 
     chimera'' of the China market. Almost every deal with China 
     requires a substantial technology transfer that quickly 
     evaporates their profitable sales.
       Every year around now since 1989, members of the business 
     community visit Capitol Hill to speak with us about the need 
     for a Most Favored Nation trading status for China and to 
     warn against containment versus engagement of the government 
     in Beijing. But I submit to you that the containment versus 
     engagement discussion is a straw man. In a healthy family, 
     members discuss issues, come to agreements and then follow 
     through on their words with deeds. Engagement continues even 
     when a punishment occurs. If many important agreements are 
     broken and a sibling never stands up for his or her rights 
     then the other one usually turns into a bully. At which point 
     the family and the aggrieved sibling will both be responsible 
     if the belligerent's behavior affects the larger community.
       The Tibetans and all of us here today are bearing our 
     responsibility to the world community by calling attention to 
     the crises of leadership in both the People's Republic of 
     China and in any other government that fails to be alarmed, 
     and to take strong action against the manipulation of 
     religion and destruction of a people.
       Such a people who have a particular commitment to G-d that 
     characterizes their whole national identity, who are the 
     victims of the most vicious oppression, who might be 
     miraculously delivered against the odds precisely by 
     continuing to hold to their special relationship to G-d 
     rather than by practicing the ways of the Pharaoh, need all 
     of our support.
       We are a family. We are here to bring out the best in all 
     of our members. Your very presence gives the Tibetans and 
     Chinese people hope for the future.
       I urge you during the next two days to chart out a program 
     of action where together we can take a multilateral approach 
     in helping His Holiness and the people of Tibet. Many of us 
     in the House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats, are 
     prepared to work with you.
       Lodi, I want to convey to you and your staff at the 
     International Campaign for Tibet and to all the volunteers 
     here today doing the hard work of making this happen, my 
     deepest appreciation and respect.
       To the leaders in Beijing, we ask for their suggestions on 
     how we can assist them in

[[Page E727]]

     dealing with their past in order that they may then embrace 
     the necessary values that will sustain their nation in the 
     future. In this same unity of spirit we ask that they let our 
     people go.
       May their decisions and your deliberations lead to freedom 
     and peace for the Tibetan and Chinese people.
       G-d bless.

                          ____________________