[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 110 (Wednesday, July 30, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8379-S8380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR U.S. POLICY TOWARD TIBET

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, today the New York Times reports 
an important advance in United States diplomacy. Secretary of State 
Albright has agreed to appoint a special coordinator to oversee 
American policy toward Tibet. This brings to fruition the vision of our 
beloved former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator 
Pell, who introduced a bill (S. 2554) at the end of the 103d Congress 
to establish a position in the Department of State to coordinate United 
States policy on Tibet.
  Since 1959, the Tibetans have suffered the liberation of their 
country by the Communist Chinese. Tibet is a remote land. Tibetans at 
that time had no interest in relations with other countries. No 
interest in joining the newly formed United Nations. Perhaps if Tibet 
had, we would have paid more attention when it was invaded.
  Now it's time to pay attention. Most importantly, we must focus on 
efforts to bring the Tibetans and the Chinese to the negotiating table 
to resolve their differences. The situation requires far more attention 
within the administration and a special coordinator can provide 
appropriate attention. While the Dalai Lama has stated repeatedly his 
willingness to begin negotiations, the Chinese continue to issue 
denials. As my daughter Maura wrote in a Washington Post article in 
April:

       Most policy makers do not realize that the Dalai Lama is 
     not seeking territorial sovereignty for his captive nation; 
     nor is he asking to be reinstated as the head of the 
     theocratic government that ruled Tibet prior to the Chinese 
     invasion. In an address to the European Parliament in 1988 in 
     Strasbourg, France, the Dalai Lama offered the Chinese 
     control of Tibet's military and diplomatic affairs if they 
     would allow the Tibetan people a measure of self-governance 
     and non-interference in religion and culture.

  That is certainly a magnanimous offer. The response from the Chinese? 
Silence.
  In creating this new position, we make clear that we have heard this 
reasonable offer and intend to pursue it. As Lodi Gyari, the able 
diplomat who represents the Dalai Lama in Washington, is quoted in the 
New York Times today:

       If the United States is consistent and sincere and vigorous 
     in trying to persuade the Chinese Government to come to a 
     settlement, I strongly believe it will happen.

  The new post will also allow closer scrutiny of human rights abuses 
in Tibet, which continue at an appalling level. I would note, as the 
author of the provision which resulted in a separate Tibet report in 
the State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights 
Practices, that the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, led by 
Assistant Secretary Shattuck, has done a superb job in documenting

[[Page S8380]]

the situation in Tibet. The excellent information the Bureau collects 
will be more readily acted upon by an officer focused solely on Tibet.
  For too long, Tibet has fallen between the cracks of United States 
foreign policy. Such neglect has led Abe Rosenthal to wonder if 
Tibetans are not ``Endangered Species,'' as he asked in the New York 
Times on May 21, 1994:

       Is anybody protecting, please, another of God's endangered 
     species, which happens to be human, the Tibetans? Not yet. 
     Neither the Republic nor the Empire nor any other nation, 
     great or small, does anything about the Tibetans, except 
     India, which gives them refuge when they can escape their 
     cage.
       Would it help to say that just as there are laws against 
     slaughtering hawksbill turtles, there are international laws 
     against genocide--the elimination of nations and cultures? 
     Probably not.

  This is a rather somber note on which to end, yet the situation in 
Tibet is grave. I am pleased that the Secretary has decided to appoint 
a new special coordinator for Tibet and both Congress and the 
Administration can devote more attention to this ``Endangered 
Species.''
  Mr. President, I ask that the article on the position be printed in 
the Record.
  The article follows:

                [From the New York Times, July 30, 1997]

       Albright to Name Special Aide On U.S. Policy Toward Tibet

                         (By Steven Lee Myers)

       Washington, July 29.--Secretary of State Madelene K. 
     Albright told Congressional leaders today that she would 
     appoint a new ``special coordinator'' to oversee American 
     policy toward Tibet.
       The announcement, which came in response to Democratic and 
     Republican pressure in Congress, could create new diplomatic 
     strains with China.
       The United States has never had diplomatic relations with 
     Tibet, which it regards as part of China, but the creation of 
     the new position would significantly raise the profile of 
     Tibetan affairs within the Government, according to 
     Administration and Congressional officials familiar with the 
     plan.
       ``We are prepared to have someone working in the State 
     Department to see that the religious freedom of Tibetans is 
     promoted and that their ethnicity is respected,'' a senior 
     Administration official said, speaking on condition of 
     anonymity.
       The new coordinator, however, would not have the rank of 
     ambassador, with the diplomatic credentials to act on behalf 
     of the United States, nor would the appointment bestow any 
     diplomatic recognition on Tibet. In that sense the idea would 
     fall short of recent proposals in both the House and the 
     Senate, which the Administration has opposed.
       But the appointment is likely to rankle China, which has 
     repeatedly accused other nations of interfering with internal 
     matters by raising concerns over Tibet.
       President Clinton met in April with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's 
     exiled spiritual leader, and promised to raise Tibet as a 
     prominent issue when he meets President Jiang Zemin of China 
     in the fall. The meeting with the Dalai Lama, a so-called 
     drop by during the Tibetan's session with Vice President Al 
     Gore that stopped short of an official visit, prompted 
     protests from Beijing.
       ``I see this as a step in the right direction,'' said Lodi 
     Gyari, president of the International Campaign for Tibet and 
     a former aide to the Dalai Lama. ``I hope this is 
     the beginning of a trend. If the United States is 
     consistent and sincere and vigorous in trying to persuade 
     the Chinese Government to come to a settlement, I strongly 
     believe it will happen.''
       Ms. Albright, visiting Singapore today, discussed the 
     appointment in a telephone call with leaders of the Senate's 
     Committee on Foreign Relations and the House's Committee on 
     International Relations, which are considering new 
     legislation to force the appointment of an envoy with 
     ambassadorial rank, a move the Administration opposes.
       The details of the position--including the scope of the 
     duties and resources--were not disclosed.
       After the meeting, an aide to a Senate Republican said, 
     ``We want to make sure this is not one guy sitting in the 
     bowels of the State Department with no influence over policy 
     in Tibet.''
       The special coordinator would have a broad mandate to 
     orchestrate the Administration's policies internally and also 
     to meet with Tibetan officials, including the exiled leaders 
     based in India, officials said. The officials said the 
     coordinator would also act as a mediator between Chinese and 
     Tibetan officials, trying to restart contacts.
       China seized Tibet in 1950.
                                  ____


                    U.S. to Press for Pol Pot Trial

                        (By the New York Times)

       Singapore, July 29.--Ms. Albright said today that the 
     United States would continue to press for an international 
     war crimes trial for Pol Pot, the former Cambodian leader.
       ``What we do think is very important is that Pol Pot be 
     tried,'' she said in a briefing for journalists traveling 
     with her to Asia. ``We consider him a war criminal.'' She 
     added that the United States sought to have him tried ``by 
     some procedure that is internationally accepted.''
       She acknowledged that earlier explorations into using 
     Canadian or Dutch law had run into complications, but said 
     American officials were continuing to search for the right 
     site and method for a trial.

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