[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 92 (Friday, June 10, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TIBET AND THE VISIT OF HIS HOLINESS THE DALI LAMA TO WASHINGTON, D.C.

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                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 10, 2016

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, His Holiness the Dalai Lama 
will be in Washington, DC next week. As the spiritual leader of 
Tibetans, the Dalai Lama is an energetic and unfailing ambassador for 
human rights and the rights of the Tibetan people. Sadly, his visit 
reminds us again about the dire situation of the Tibetan people inside 
China.
   The Tibetan people have a right to practice their religion, preserve 
their culture, and speak their language. They have a right to do so 
without restriction or interference. The Chinese government does not 
agree. To them, the Tibetans are a people to be pacified. Their faith 
and culture are problems to be solved, not a heritage to be preserved, 
honored, and protected. To them, the Dalai Lama is an agitator and 
revolutionary, not a world-renowned and respected voice for peace and 
harmony.
   The recent State Department Human Rights Report offered a withering 
criticism of the Chinese government's oversight of Tibetan and Tibetan 
areas of China. It said the ``government engaged in severe repression 
of Tibet's religious, cultural and religious heritage by, among other 
means, strictly curtailing the civil rights of China's ethnic Tibetan 
population, including the rights to the freedom of speech, religion, 
association, assembly, and movement.''
   I am the Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. 
Our reporting on Tibet draws similar conclusions about China's rough 
oversight of Tibetans. Over the past several years, the Chinese 
government has constructed more obstacles to efforts by Tibetans to 
preserve their culture and religion.
   Sadly, we know that Tibetans have used self-immolations as a protest 
against the religious and political oversight of the Chinese 
government.
   It is difficult to fathom the despair and desperation felt by 
Tibetans who take this last act of defiance. The Chinese government has 
blamed the Dalai Lama and ``foreign forces'' for self-immolations 
instead of looking at how their own policies created such deep 
grievances.
   The Chinese government also expanded its efforts last year to 
transform Tibetan Buddhism into a state-managed institution. They 
sought to undermine the devotion of the Tibetan people to the Dalai 
Lama and control the process of selecting Buddhist leaders.
   One Chinese government official admitted that control over the 
selection of Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including the next Dalai Lama, 
was ``an important political matter'' and a critical part of the 
Chinese government's ``sovereignty over Tibet.''
   The Chinese government wants a Tibetan Buddhism that is attractive 
to tourists, but which allows the Communist Party to completely manage 
its affairs.
   The UN Special Rapporteur on Religion said recently criticized 
China's efforts to control Tibetan Buddhism and the process of 
selecting leaders. He said ``the Chinese government is destroying the 
autonomy of religious communities . . . creating schisms, and pitting 
people against each other in order to exercise control.''
   This is exactly what the Chinese government has done to other 
religious groups, including Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and Falun 
Gong. When the faithful don't fall in line, they are jailed, harassed 
and bribed until they do.
   Religious freedom is an essential part of dealing with the 
grievances of the Tibetan people, but China's answer is always the 
same--control, manage, and repress. It is counterproductive and it 
violates China's international obligations.
   The China Commission has a prisoner database that contains records 
on 643 known Tibetan political and religious prisoners. 43 percent of 
those detained are monks, nuns, and religious teachers. Almost all were 
imprisoned since 2008.
   Substantive dialogue between the Dalai Lama's representatives and 
the Chinese government and Communist Party have not occurred in the 
past five years. This is the longest break since the dialogue started 
in 2002.
   A government ``White Paper'' on Tibet, published this April, states 
that China will ``only talk with private representatives of the Dalai 
Lama'' to discuss ``the future of the Dalai Lama'' and how he can 
``gain the forgiveness of the central government and the Chinese 
people.''
   Instead of asking for the Dalai Lama's forgiveness for the decades 
of brutal repression, the Chinese government asks for his. This is the 
state of affairs in Xi Jinping's China.
   This is unfortunate and counterproductive. If China's goal is to 
build a ``harmonious society'' in Tibet, it cannot be done without the 
Dalai Lama.
   He is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. His views are 
widely shared by those in Tibetan society, he can be a constructive 
partner for China in addressing continuing tensions, and deep-seated 
grievance, in Tibetan areas.
   In our dealings with Chinese government and officials, Members of 
Congress and the Administration should affirm the peaceful desires of 
the Tibetan people for greater autonomy and freedoms within China.
   We should stress that China's policies are counterproductive, they 
are brutal, and they hurt China's international prestige.
   We also need to speak with a unified voice to end the repression of 
the Tibetan people. U.S. leadership on this issue is critical, because 
our allies in Europe and Asia can be bullied by Chinese threats of 
economic boycotts.
   U.S. officials must demonstrate that Tibet matters, human rights 
matter, and religious freedom matters to U.S.-China relations and 
China's future stability and prosperity.

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