[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 93 (Monday, June 13, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H3747-H3752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
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TIBET
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. McSally). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 6, 2015, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 30 minutes.
General Leave
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to revise and
extend my remarks and to enter additional materials into the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, this week, Washington, D.C., is blessed
by the presence of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso,
who is visiting the city from June 12 through June 16 for several
events and meetings. This visit provides us not only the opportunity to
listen to the Dalai Lama speak about the modern world and confronting
conflict, but also to take a look at the crisis that faces Tibet and
the Tibetan people and ask why the United States is not doing more to
protect the rights and to support the autonomy of the Tibetan people.
As we seek to comprehend the senseless violence of yesterday's
massacre of at least 49 people in Orlando, Florida, and the wounding of
more than 50 others--most members of the LGBT community and many of
Hispanic descent, all just enjoying their lives on a Saturday night--I
can think of no better source of words of wisdom, tolerance, and peace
than of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.
Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an opinion piece by the Dalai
Lama, entitled: ``The Dalai Lama: Why I'm hopeful about the world's
future.''
[From the Washington Post, June 13, 2016]
The Dalai Lama: Why I'm Hopeful About the World's Future
(By the Dalai Lama)
The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader
of Tibet. Since 1959, he has lived in exile in Dharamsala in
northern India.
Almost six decades have passed since I left my homeland,
Tibet, and became a refugee. Thanks to the kindness of the
government and people of India, we Tibetans found a second
home where we could live in dignity and freedom, able to keep
our language, culture and Buddhist traditions alive.
My generation has witnessed so much violence--some
historians estimate that more than 200 million people were
killed in conflicts in the 20th century.
Today, there is no end in sight to the horrific violence in
the Middle East, which in the case of Syria has led to the
greatest refugee crisis in a generation. Appalling terrorist
attacks--as we were sadly reminded this weekend--have created
deep-seated fear. While it would be easy to feel a sense of
hopelessness and despair, it is all the more necessary in the
early years of the 21st century to be realistic and
optimistic.
There are many reasons for us to be hopeful. Recognition of
universal human rights, including the right to self-
determination, has expanded beyond anything imagined a
century ago. There is growing international consensus in
support of gender equality and respect for women.
Particularly among the younger generation, there is a
widespread rejection of war as a means of solving problems.
Across the world, many are doing valuable work to prevent
terrorism, recognizing the depths of misunderstanding and the
divisive idea of ``us'' and ``them'' that is so dangerous.
Significant reductions in the world's arsenal of nuclear
weapons mean that setting a timetable for further reductions
and ultimately the elimination of nuclear weapons--a
sentiment President Obama recently reiterated in Hiroshima,
Japan--no longer seem a mere dream.
The notion of absolute victory for one side and defeat of
another is thoroughly outdated; in some situations, following
conflict, suffering arises from a state that cannot be
described as either war or peace. Violence inevitably incurs
further violence. Indeed, history has shown that nonviolent
resistance ushers in more durable and peaceful democracies
and is more successful in removing authoritarian regimes than
violent struggle.
It is not enough simply to pray. There are solutions to
many of the problems we face; new mechanisms for dialogue
need to be created, along with systems of education to
inculcate moral values. These must be grounded in the
perspective that we all belong to one human family and that
together we can take action to address global challenges.
It is encouraging that we have seen many ordinary people
across the world displaying great compassion toward the
plight of refugees, from those who have rescued them from the
sea, to those who have taken them in and provided friendship
and support. As a refugee myself, I feel a strong empathy for
their situation and when we see their anguish, we should do
all we can to help them. I can also understand the fears of
people in host countries, who may feel overwhelmed. The
combination of circumstances draws attention to the vital
importance of collective action toward restoring genuine
peace to the lands these refugees are fleeing.
Tibetan refugees have firsthand experience of living
through such circumstances and, although we have not yet been
able to return to our homeland, we are grateful for the
humanitarian support we have received through the decades
from friends, including the people of the United States.
A further source for hope is the genuine cooperation among
the world's nations toward a common goal evident in the Paris
accord on climate change. When global warming threatens the
health of this planet that is our only home, it is only by
considering the larger global interest that local and
national interests will be met.
I have a personal connection to this issue because Tibet is
the world's highest plateau and is an epicenter of global
climate change, warming nearly three times as fast as the
rest of the world. It is the largest repository of water
outside the two poles and the source of the Earth's most
extensive river system, critical to the world's 10 most
densely populated nations.
To find solutions to the environmental crisis and violent
conflicts that confront us in the 21st century, we need to
seek new answers. Even though I am a Buddhist monk, I believe
that these solutions lie beyond religion in the promotion of
a concept I call secular ethics. This is an approach to
educating ourselves based on scientific findings, common
experience and common sense--a more universal approach to the
promotion of our shared human values.
Over more than three decades, my discussions with
scientists, educators and social workers from across the
globe have revealed common concerns. As a result we have
developed a system that incorporates an education of the
heart, but one that is based on study of the workings of the
mind and emotions through scholarship and scientific research
rather than religious practice. Since we need moral
principles--compassion, respect for others, kindness, taking
responsibility--in every field of human activity, we are
working to help schools and colleges create opportunities for
young people to develop greater self-awareness, to learn how
to manage destructive emotions and cultivate social skills.
Such training is being incorporated into the curriculum of
many schools in North America and Europe--I am involved with
work at Emory University on a new curriculum on secular
ethics that is being introduced in several schools in India
and the United States.
[[Page H3748]]
It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the 21st
century does not repeat the pain and bloodshed of the past.
Because human nature is basically compassionate, I believe it
is possible that decades from now we will see an era of
peace--but we must work together as global citizens of a
shared planet.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, by way of welcoming the Dalai Lama, I
would like to say a few words about him and his leadership.
The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, describes himself as a
simple Buddhist monk. He was recognized as the reincarnation of the
previous 13th Dalai Lama when he was only 2 years old, and he was only
6 when he began his monastic studies.
But years before he finished his education, when he was still a
teenager, he was called upon to assume full political power after
China's invasion of Tibet in 1950. When in 1954 he went to Beijing for
peace talks with Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders, he was not yet
20. Five years later, with the brutal suppression of the Tibetan
national uprising in Lhasa by Chinese troops, the Dalai Lama was forced
to escape into exile. Since 1959, he has been living in northern India.
That is more than 60 years of exile.
I have had the opportunity to meet the Dalai Lama on a number of
occasions. He is a warm, generous, compassionate man with a great sense
of humor. He is also a man of peace. He has consistently advocated for
policies of nonviolence even in the face of extreme aggression. In
1989, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent struggle
for the liberation of Tibet. He has received over 150 awards, honorary
doctorates, and prizes in recognition of his message of peace,
nonviolence, interreligious understanding, universal responsibility,
and compassion. His is a voice for tolerance.
Unfortunately, as we all know, Tibet has not been liberated. In the
late 1990s, under the Dalai Lama's leadership, the Tibetan people
formally put aside the goal of independence. Since then, they have been
fighting, peacefully, for their autonomy within China; but that
struggle is not going very well today. Part of the reason it is not
going very well is that the international community seems to be more
interested in not offending China than in vigorously supporting the
human rights of the Tibetan people. It seems to me that my own
government has fallen into that trap.
I am looking forward to the Dalai Lama's visit this week, and I know
that the leadership of the House and my colleagues on both sides of the
aisle will welcome him with the greatest appreciation; but it is easy
to praise the Dalai Lama, to meet with him, and to benefit from his
teachings, yet not lift a finger to help the people of Tibet. The Dalai
Lama and the Tibetan people deserve better.
Madam Speaker, last November I had the honor of joining Democratic
Leader Nancy Pelosi and my colleagues Joyce Beatty, Ted Lieu, Alan
Lowenthal, Betty McCollum, and Tim Walz on a historic congressional
delegation to Tibet, Beijing, and Hong Kong.
I have long raised concerns about China's human rights record in
Tibet. As the first congressional delegation to enter Tibet since the
2008 unrest, our trip was an important opportunity to raise the voices
of the Tibetan people, and we did just that. Everywhere we went, in
every meeting we had, we talked about Tibet. We talked about the Dalai
Lama and his strong bipartisan support in Congress. We talked about the
importance of respect for people's cultures and religions, and we
talked about the need to strengthen and protect all of the human rights
of the Tibetan people.
During the delegation visit, we felt we had a good exchange with
Chinese officials and, especially, with university students both in
Tibet and in Beijing. We saw our trip--and especially the delegation's
visit to Tibet--as an important gesture by the Chinese Government; but
it was also clear to us that our visit was only a first step and that
much more needed to be done. Since our return, we have been looking for
ways to build on our visit and to advance the reforms needed for
meaningful change.
Here are some of the things we identified that need to happen
specifically with regard to Tibet:
The United States needs to open a consulate in Lhasa, Tibet;
More Members of Congress, more journalists, more members of
parliament from other nations, and more people in general, including
members of the Tibetan community here in the United States, need to be
allowed to travel freely to Tibet;
Tibetans in China need to be able to travel freely as well;
The dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama to resolve
longstanding issues of Tibetan autonomy, religious practice, culture,
language, and heritage needs to be renewed.
I came away from our visit believing even more strongly that the
Dalai Lama is part of the solution to resolving Tibetan grievances.
Too often during our trip, we heard from some Chinese officials--not
all, but some--expressions and characterizations of Tibet and the Dalai
Lama that showed that some people's minds and imaginations are stuck in
the past, in old prejudices. This concerned me greatly. The issue is
not the past. The issue is the future of Tibet and its people.
Renewing dialogue must be genuine and productive, and it cannot be
just another guise for wasting time or going through the motions. We
need to see a dialogue based on good faith and on the mutual need to
resolve outstanding issues in a way that is acceptable to all parties.
Undertaking such an initiative would be a positive reflection on the
capacity of Chinese authorities to engage in constructive dialogue, and
it would increase confidence the world over that the government is
committed to reconciliation and ending abuses in Tibet.
The Chinese Government has invested a great deal in Tibet, and that
was very clear to us, but that investment must not come at the price of
an entire culture. You cannot confine a people's culture and heritage--
their very sense of identity--to a museum or to a market of
handicrafts.
The human rights of the Tibetan people must be strengthened and
protected, and I returned from the delegation visit with a renewed
commitment to continue to work with my colleagues in Congress, with
Leader Pelosi, to push for the reforms that are needed to achieve this,
and this is the reason we are here today.
Madam Speaker, I yield to our distinguished Democratic leader, who
led this historic visit to Tibet, Leader Pelosi.
Ms. PELOSI. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for calling this
Special Order this evening.
Special it is, indeed, as we welcome His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, to
Washington, D.C. Tomorrow, in a bipartisan way, House and Senate
Democrats and Republicans will join in welcoming His Holiness. He is
among one of the things we all agree on--his greatness and the honor he
brings us with his visit.
Madam Speaker, I completely associate myself with every word of Mr.
McGovern's comments. He talked about our visit to Lhasa, to Tibet, and
to other places in China. We called him Mr. McGovern's spiritual leader
of our visit. As the co-chair of the Lantos Human Rights Commission of
the House of Representatives, he truly believes, as His Holiness says
and as I heard him say today, that we are all God's children, and that
is how we have to treat each other.
In listening to our colleagues of the previous Special Order, who
were members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who discussed various
issues of justice--social justice, health justice, and the rest--and
who talked about Orlando, it focuses on how special His Holiness' visit
is. In coming the day after the terrible massacre of many in the LGBT
community, it is really something that should be a comfort to all of
us. His Holiness' message of peace, of compassion, of respect for every
person is a message of hope that is needed today, tomorrow, and the
next day, which are the days His Holiness will be here, but it is
needed as we go forward as well. He is a truly great man. When I awoke
this morning so sad about what happened yesterday, I was full of hope
about hearing what His Holiness would have to say about our
responsibilities to each other.
Our colleague mentioned our November CODEL. It was something that
many of us had been hoping to do for many years. We had been trying for
25 years to get a visa to visit Tibet, and
[[Page H3749]]
the President of China gave us that opportunity. We went there to see,
to learn, to observe, and to make judgments. We did not go there to
burn bridges; we went there to build bridges. As Congressman McGovern
said, we saw some areas in which we could work together, and we came
back with some resolve, hopefully, to get other bridge building done.
I have seen His Holiness on many occasions. When he first came to
Congress, I was brand new in Congress. He came under the auspices of
Mr. Lantos, for whom the Human Rights Commission is named, and he
brought us together in a group to listen to His Holiness' plan of
action. It included respect for the environment and autonomy for Tibet
but not independence. That was over 25 years ago that he had been
talking about autonomy. While sometimes the Chinese Government doesn't
accept that characterization, it is why many of us support His
Holiness. As I mentioned earlier, he has friends on both sides of the
aisle on both sides of the Capitol and also down Pennsylvania Avenue.
I remember with great pride when we presented His Holiness with a
Congressional Gold Medal--again, with great bipartisan support.
President Bush came. Not only that--and a bigger honor yet--Mrs. Laura
Bush came as well. What an honor for His Holiness and what an honor for
our country that our President showed that respect.
On that day when we talked about it, we had so many good things to
say about His Holiness. One of the things was his unstinting support
for peace as a positive example of how to make the world a better
place--peace in the world, peace in our country, peace in our
communities, peace in our families, peace in ourselves. That inner
peace is what he has been preaching.
On this trip, we can see His Holiness as he embodies the wisdom and
the courage to maintain what he calls a peaceful mind in a modern
world, and we look forward to hearing what he has to say about that. In
addition to saying we are all God's children and of the respect we need
to have for each other and of the compassion that he advocates, His
Holiness says that great changes start with individuals.
I will tell this story, which, I think, some may find amusing.
His Holiness is a gentle man. While he has big challenges and while
he is the leader and the champion in the advocacy--I wouldn't use the
word ``fight'' as he doesn't like words like that--for respecting the
culture, the language, and the religion of the Tibetan people and the
autonomy for them as a people, he does so in a very gentle way.
I met him here in the Capitol for the first time, and I saw him in
Rio at the time of the Earth Summit in 1992, where he spoke as a
religious leader. We also acknowledged that he was the first winner of
the Nobel Prize--it was part of his proclamation and why he won--for
his contribution in protecting the environment. It was the first
environmental consideration in a Nobel Prize. How beautiful that was. I
have seen him here many times, in California, in New York--you name
it--and in Dharamsala, which is where he lives in India. Anyway, we
were taking a delegation there to visit--a bipartisan, large delegation
to visit him there.
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And we saw some of the people right after the crackdown in Tibet--
coincidentally, we had our trip planned for a long time, but it
happened to occur right after that crackdown. So many people were
coming in from Tibet telling us what they saw there. It was pretty
brutal, the reports that they gave us, and it was so sad.
So later in the day, when we had lunch with the couple hundred lamas
from all over India, that part of India, many of them Tibetan Buddhist
lamas, I explained what I had seen that morning and how transformative
it was to see people get firsthand knowledge of the humanity of man and
that we had to do something about it.
We had our Members there. One was going to help with this, and one
was going to help with that. You know, there were all these things that
we were going to do to help these people.
And then I said what I always said: if freedom-loving people do not
speak out against oppression in Tibet because of our commercial
interests with China, then we surrender all moral authority to speak on
behalf of human rights anywhere in the world. Tibet remains a challenge
to the conscience of the world, and we must respond to that.
When I was finished, His Holiness spoke to the lamas there, and he
said to the lamas: Now, let us all pray so that we could rid Nancy of
her negative attitudes.
Well, I thought I was making the fight, but I am not going to be
holier than His Holiness. A gentle approach is what he thinks is best
and respectful. I take some level of pride in telling our Chinese
friends--and they are our friends. He is your friend, too, in terms of
damping down any, shall we say, exuberance when we learn what we
consider to be grave injustices and human rights violations.
In honor of His Holiness' 80th birthday last summer--Richard Gere is
the chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet and has really
been a champion for His Holiness and the Tibetan people--Richard Gere
and I wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed, and in it we said there is no
better way to honor the Dalai Lama than by standing with him and the
Tibetan people vowing to keep their cause alive. It is a beautiful
culture, indeed.
To hear His Holiness, as I did today, speak in Tibetan, which I
didn't understand except through translation, and have him explain that
the Tibetan language is a beautiful language in specifics, in terms of
explaining Buddhism and matters of faith and philosophy because of its
intricacies. It enhances your appreciation and understanding of
Buddhism to hear it in the words of the Tibetan language, and
translated from Tibetan in terms of the intricacies of the language
that you would need to translate it into English or another language.
So this language is important to the faith of Buddhism. It is
important to the culture. It is important to the families. It is
important, again, to the education of the children. And the attempts on
the part of the Chinese to resettle Han Chinese, dilute the population
of Tibetans in Tibet, is something that would be just really wrong,
just plain and simple wrong. Again, it is a challenge to the
conscience.
This morning, His Holiness spoke at the United States Institute of
Peace, and he said real change comes through action. He said: You all
ask me for my blessing, and people say nice things, but real change
comes through action.
If I understood it correctly in the translation, he said that karma
is not necessarily just about fate. It is about acting, action, taking
action. So we all need to take action in what we believe in.
Again, every opportunity I get--and I thank the distinguished
gentleman, the conscience of our codel and chair of the Tom Lantos
Commission on Human Rights. Every opportunity I get, and this is one of
them that I treasure on the floor of the House, to say what an honor it
is to even be in the same room, the same place with His Holiness, the
Dalai Lama, a revered figure throughout the world.
The Dalai Lama's name is synonymous with everything that is good, and
that is what we emphasized to our Chinese host. We had to move, as Mr.
McGovern said, beyond their outmoded thinking into another place.
In terms of His Holiness, tomorrow when he comes to the Capitol, I
will look forward to thanking him for his tremendous, inspiring
leadership. ``Inspiration'' is such an inadequate word when it comes to
what he is. We thank him for sharing the strength of his determination
in pursuit of peace.
He was speaking about it today in terms of something that might take
some years. We may not see it, some of us--you might, Mr. McGovern; I
might not--a time when the world was completely at peace.
When he laughs, it is something very special. We hear the joyousness
that transcends despair. In his words, we receive a message of hope and
humanity when he is with us. In his presence, we feel inspired to make
a difference, to make a difference in ourselves and in our world.
I talked earlier about President Bush coming to the Congressional
Gold Medal ceremony, and I know that the President will be receiving
His Holiness this week. Presidents have done that over time, which is a
source of great pride for us in our country and in
[[Page H3750]]
the relationship between His Holiness and our President. But it goes a
long way back.
I will just close by saying, when His Holiness was a very little boy
and he became the Dalai Lama, he received a gift from the President of
the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt; and he loved it because
it was a watch, and the watch had the phases of the Moon.
Actually, my Apple watch has the phases of the Sun.
The watch had the phases of the Moon, and how prescient President
Franklin Roosevelt was to send this little boy this watch, who would
become so interested in science and thinking and the brain and faith
and what the connection was among all of those factors.
But again, the relationship between an American President and His
Holiness, the Dalai Lama, goes back to when he was a little boy, and it
persists into his eighties now. That is something that, again, brings
luster to us in our country that we have such a beautiful relationship
with such a spiritual figure in the world.
So I look forward to welcoming him here tomorrow. Again, as I said to
him today: You could not have come at a better time when we are so in
mourning about what happened in Orlando to our LGBT loved ones, to
their families, to the community in Orlando. We are grateful to the
response of our first responders there and our law enforcement
officials and local officials there.
Again, it is the spirituality that we need to recover and draw
strength to go forward to make sure that we minimize any such actions
that hopefully they never happen again. How wonderful that His Holiness
is here to bring us that comfort.
With that, I am pleased and with great gratitude to the gentleman
from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for being such a champion of human
rights throughout the world. He and Mr. Pitts, his Republican
counterpart, as co-chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, do
a great service to our Congress and to our country. They honor our
values, the respect for the dignity and worth of every person,
recognizing that we are all God's children. We all have a spark of
divinity in us, and they always are speaking truth to power. I thank
them for their commitment and for their courage, and to you, Mr.
McGovern, for calling this Special Order today.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished leader for
being here, and I appreciate her leadership on this issue and her
leadership on human rights issues.
One of the things that compels us to be here today is our continued
concern about the human rights situation for the Tibetan people. And
whether it is the latest annual report from the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom or whether it is the U.S. State
Department's most recent human rights report, or almost any other
report, quite frankly, by any major world respected human rights
organization, we see that the conditions for the Tibetan people really
are quite dire.
The Human Rights Watch report, entitled, ``Relentless'' talks about
the detention and prosecution of Tibetans from 2013 to 2015 under
China's ``stability maintenance'' campaign. The report is based on 479
cases of Tibetans detained or tried for political expression or
criticism of government policy.
Human Rights Watch only included cases on which its staff was able to
obtain credible information. One important source was the terrific
database on political prisoners in China that was maintained by the
Congressional Executive Commission on China. Without going into a lot
of details, let me just highlight a couple of takeaways.
Tibetans are now being detained for activities that used to be
considered minor offences or not politically sensitive. Many of those
detained and prosecuted come from parts of society not previously known
for dissent: local community leaders, environmental activists, and
villagers involved in social and cultural activities, as well as local
writers and singers. I can go on and on and on.
I include into the Record the Human Rights Watch report, entitled,
``Relentless,'' Madam Speaker.
Relentless: Detention and Prosecution of Tibetans Under China's
``Stability Maintenance'' Campaign
Summary
We have followed the law in striking out and relentlessly
pounding at illegal organizations and key figures, and
resolutely followed the law in striking at the illegal
organizations and key figures who follow the 14th Dalai Lama
clique in carrying out separatist, infiltration, and sabotage
activities, knocking out the hidden dangers and soil for
undermining Tibet's stability, and effectively safeguarding
the state's utmost interests [and] society's overall
interests.--Statement by Chen Quanguo, Tibet Autonomous
Region Party Secretary, December 2013
This report documents the Chinese government's detention,
prosecution, and conviction of Tibetans for largely peaceful
activities from 2013 to 2015. Our research shows diminishing
tolerance by authorities for forms of expression and assembly
protected under international law. This has been marked by an
increase in state control over daily life, increasing
criminalization of nonviolent forms of protest, and at times
disproportionate responses to local protests. These measures,
part of a policy known as weiwen or ``stability
maintenance,'' have led authorities to expand the range of
activities and issues targeted for repression in Tibetan
areas, particularly in the countryside.
The analysis presented here is based on our assessment of
479 cases for which we were able to obtain credible
information. All cases are of Tibetans detained or tried from
2013 to 2015 for political expression or criticism of
government policy--``political offenses.''
Our cases paint a detailed picture not available elsewhere.
Stringent limitations on access to Tibet and on information
flows out of Tibet mean we cannot conclude definitively that
our cases are representative of the unknown overall number of
political detentions of Tibetans during this period. But they
are indicative of the profound impact stability maintenance''
policies have had in those areas, and of shifts in the types
of protest and protester Chinese authorities are targeting
there.
Information on the cases comes from the Chinese government,
exile organizations, and foreign media. Of the 479 detainees,
153 were reported to have been sent for trial, convicted, and
sentenced to imprisonment. The average sentence they received
was 5.7 years in prison. As explained in the methodology
section below, the actual number of Tibetans detained and
prosecuted during this period for political offenses was
likely significantly higher.
Many detentions documented here were for activities that
the Chinese authorities previously considered to be minor
offenses or not politically sensitive. Many of those detained
came from segments of society not previously associated with
dissent. In addition, many of the detentions took place in
rural areas where political activity had not previously been
reported. From 2008 to 2012, the Tibetan parts of Sichuan
province had posted the highest numbers of protests and
detentions on the Tibetan plateau, but in 2013 the epicenter
of detentions shifted to the central and western areas of the
Tibetan plateau, called the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR)
since 1965, which until 1950 had been under the government of
the Dalai Lama.
Our research found that many of those detained and
prosecuted were local community leaders, environmental
activists, and villagers involved in social and cultural
activities, as well as local writers and singers. In the
previous three decades, the authorities had rarely accused
people from these sectors of Tibetan society of involvement
in political unrest. Buddhist monks and nuns, who constituted
over 90 percent of political detainees in Tibet in the 1980s,
represent less than 40 percent of the 479 cases documented
here.
Almost all the protests and detentions identified in this
report occurred in small towns or rural townships and
villages rather than in cities, where most protests and
detentions in prior years were reported to have taken place.
This suggests that dissent has increased in rural Tibetan
areas, where nearly 80 percent of Tibetans live.
Our data also shows an overall decline in the total number
of Tibetans detained for political offenses between 2013 and
2015, though this may be an artifact of the limitations on
information, detailed in the methodology section below.
Notably, however, the totals for these three years are
significantly higher than for the 10 years before 2008 when
stability maintenance policies were expanded following major
protests centered in Lhasa (Ch.: Lasa), the capital of the
TAR.
The changing nature of unrest and politicized detention in
Tibet correlates with new phases in the stability maintenance
campaign in the TAR and other Tibetan areas. Since 2011,
authorities have intensified social control and surveillance
at the grassroots level, particularly in the rural areas of
the TAR. This has included the transfer of some 21,000
officials to villages and monasteries in the TAR, where they
are tasked with implementing new management, security, and
propaganda operations, and, more recently, the deployment of
nearly 10,000 police in Tibetan villages in Qinghai. This has
led to a surge in the creation of local Communist Party
organizations, government offices, police posts, security
patrols, and political organizations in Tibetan villages and
towns, particularly in the TAR.
The implementation of these measures appears to explain
many of the new patterns of detention, prosecution, and
sentencing documented in this report. It was only after the
[[Page H3751]]
rural phase of the stability maintenance policy in the TAR
was implemented from late 2011 that the number of protests
and resulting detentions and convictions increased
dramatically in that region.
These detentions, occurring primarily in rural areas,
indicate that the stability maintenance policy in the TAR has
entered a third phase. The first phase entailed paramilitary
operations in the immediate wake of the 2008 protests in
Lhasa, when the authorities detained several thousand people
suspected of involvement in those protests or associated
rioting. The second phase, which began in late 2011 and is
ongoing, involved the transfer of officials to run security
and propaganda operations in villages, as described above.
The third phase, which dates to early 2013, has involved
increasing use of the surveillance and security mechanisms
established during the second phase in rural villages of the
TAR to single out activities deemed to be precursors of
unrest. This has meant that formerly anodyne activities have
become the focus of state attention and punishment, including
social activities by villagers that had not previously been
put under sustained scrutiny by the security forces.
In the eastern Tibetan areas--comprising parts of Qinghai,
Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan provinces--politicized detentions
also appear to correlate with stability maintenance measures.
But in these areas, the government's measures have been aimed
primarily at stopping self-immolations by Tibetans protesting
Chinese rule, most of which have taken place in the eastern
areas. Beginning in December 2012 the authorities there
conducted an intensified drive to end self-immolations among
Tibetans that resulted in a sharp increase in detentions and
prosecutions of Tibetans for alleged connections to self-
immolations, often with tenuous legal basis.
The government's introduction of grassroots stability
maintenance mechanisms in the TAR and of measures against
self-immolation in the eastern areas, including in many
previously quiet rural areas, has resulted in certain Tibetan
localities becoming sites of repeated protests and
detentions, producing what could be called protest ``cluster
sites,'' previously unseen in Tibetan areas. These localities
saw greater numbers of politicized detentions, recurrent
cycles of protest and detention, higher average sentencing
rates compared to other areas, and longer sentences for
relatively minor offenses.
During 2013-2015, lay and religious leaders of rural
communities often received unusually heavy sentences for
expressions of dissent, especially if they were from a
protest cluster site. Having a sensitive image or text on
one's cellphone or computer could also lead to a long prison
sentence, especially though not only if it had been sent to
other people. Among those who received the longest sentences
were people who tried to assist victims of self-immolations,
leaders of protests against mining or government construction
projects, and organizers of village opposition to unpopular
decisions by local officials. Such activities, most of which
were not explicitly political and did not directly challenge
the legitimacy of the state, received markedly longer
sentences than people shouting slogans or distributing
leaflets in support of Tibetan independence.
The incidents described in this report indicate that
outbursts of unrest and waves of politicized detentions
occurred in specific localities at certain times rather than
being evenly dispersed across the Tibetan areas. But the
range of locations and the different social levels of
protesters involved suggest that political, environmental,
and cultural discontent is widespread among Tibetans in many
parts of the plateau.
Deaths and ill-health of detainees also continued to be a
serious problem in the period covered by this study. Fourteen
of those detained, 2.9 percent of the total, were reported to
have died in custody or shortly after release, allegedly as a
result of mistreatment.
The cases also involve the detention of children, including
a 14 and a 15-year-old, both monks, and at least one 11-year-
old child detained after his father self-immolated.
The detentions, prosecutions, and convictions documented
here reflect the impact of intensive new efforts by officials
in Tibetan areas to prevent any repeat of the Tibet-wide
protests that occurred in the spring of 2008. Yet the new
policies have led to apparently unprecedented cycles of
discontent in certain rural areas, and an overall increase in
the types of activities that are treated as criminal
challenges to the authority of the Communist Party or the
Chinese state. The failure of the central government and
local authorities to end these abusive policies and roll back
intrusive security and surveillance measures raises the
prospect of an intensified cycle of repression and resistance
in a region already enduring extraordinary restrictions on
basic human rights.
Recommendations
To the Government of China
Unconditionally release from custody all persons detained
without charge or convicted for peacefully exercising their
rights to freedom of expression and belief, or for other
conduct protected by international human rights law.
Allow independent observers--including journalists, human
rights monitors, and United Nations special procedures--
unimpeded access to all areas covered by the ``stability
maintenance'' campaign to verify the extent of human rights
violations stemming from the campaign's implementation.
Ensure that all persons taken into custody have immediate
access to lawyers and family members. Those taken into
custody should be released unless promptly brought before a
court and charged with an offense.
End the collective punishment of community members for the
actions, criminal or not, of local leaders or other members
of their community.
Conduct credible, transparent, and impartial investigations
into all incidents from 2013 to 2015 that resulted in alleged
extrajudicial killings, or alleged torture or other ill-
treatment in custody. Make the findings of those
investigations public and fairly prosecute anyone responsible
for such abuses.
Conduct credible, transparent, and impartial investigations
into arbitrary detentions and deaths stemming from the March
2008 protests in Lhasa and across Tibetan areas.
End interference by officials, party representatives, and
the security forces in monasteries and other religious
institutions.
To the United Nations
The UN secretary-general should urge China to honor the
offer it made before the Human Rights Council in March 2009
to invite the UN high commissioner for human rights ``at a
time mutually convenient to both sides.''
The UN high commissioner for human rights should
specifically request to visit the Tibetan Autonomous Region
and Tibetan Autonomous Areas in Qinghai and Sichuan
provinces.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, as well as the
special rapporteurs and working groups on torture, enforced
disappearances, and independence of judges and lawyers,
should reiterate their requests to visit the region to assess
the human rights situation.
To Concerned Governments
Urge the Chinese government to implement the following
measures in Tibetan areas: provide information on all persons
detained in connection with protests; end arbitrary detention
and torture and other ill-treatment in detention; impartially
investigate the use of excessive or lethal force by the
security forces; and discipline or prosecute as appropriate
members of the security forces implicated in serious abuses.
Extend full and active support to the international
investigation into the Tibetan protests led by the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Urge the Chinese government to review the official policies
and practices in Tibetan areas that have contributed to
unrest.
Speak out, when cooperating with China on law enforcement
or counterterrorism efforts, against the use of trumped-up
public order and terrorism allegations to persecute or
curtail the human rights of ethnic groups.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, this Congress has weighed in many times
and in many ways on United States policy concerning Tibet. One of the
most significant things we did was to approve the Tibetan Policy Act of
2002, which is supposed to guide U.S. Government policy. It encourages
dialogue between the Chinese Government and representatives of the
Dalai Lama, and it created the post of Special Coordinator for Tibetan
Issues within the Department of State.
Last July, in recognition of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama's 80th
birthday, the House approved H. Res. 337, which cited the Tibetan
Policy Act. In that resolution, Congress strongly encouraged the
Government of the People's Republic of China and His Holiness to hold
substantive dialogue, without preconditions, in order to address
Tibetan grievances and secure a negotiated agreement for the Tibetan
people.
We also called for the establishment of a U.S. consulate in Lhasa.
We urged the immediate and unconditional release of Tibetan political
prisoners, including the 11th Panchen Lama, and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche,
a Tibetan monk who tragically and unnecessarily died in Chinese custody
shortly after.
We called on the United States Government to underscore that any
government's interference in the Tibetan reincarnation process is a
violation of the internationally recognized right to religious freedom.
We called upon the Government of China to allow U.S. officials and
journalists and other citizens unrestricted access to Tibetan areas of
China, as we allow Chinese officials and citizens access to the United
States' territory.
We asked that the United States and international governments,
organizations, and civil society renew and reinforce initiatives to
promote the preservation of the distinct religious, cultural,
linguistic, and national identity of the Tibetan people.
We urged the United States to use its voice and vote to encourage
development organizations and agencies to design and implement
development
[[Page H3752]]
projects that fully comply with the Tibet Project principles. These
principles are meant to ensure that the needs of the Tibetan people
guide all development in Tibetan areas; that their projects respect
Tibetan culture, traditions, knowledge, and wisdom; and that the
development initiatives neither provide incentives for nor facilitate
the migration and settlement of non-Tibetans into Tibet, nor the
transfer of ownership of Tibetan land or natural resources to non-
Tibetans.
All of these recommendations for what the United States Government
should be doing are just as valid today as they were last year because
very little progress has been made in the last year. I say ``very
little'' because we have acknowledged the important gesture China made
in allowing last fall's codel to travel to Tibet, but that is about all
that has happened, and the Dalai Lama is about to be a year older.
If we are not going to get moving on those longstanding
recommendations, let me suggest some other things we could try. We
could start a campaign to get China to allow the Dalai Lama to return
to Tibet. Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says
that everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within
the borders of each state and, two, everyone has the right to leave any
country, including his own, and to return to his country. It is time to
let the Dalai Lama return to his country.
This House could pass a bill that I introduced, the Reciprocal Access
to Tibet Act, basically saying that, if the Chinese Government
restricts U.S. officials and U.S. citizens access to Tibet, then we
should consider limiting the access of Chinese officials when they
visit the United States.
We could make sure that the U.S. Government invites the Dalai Lama to
every event on every occasion where his decades of knowledge,
experience, and reflections would be helpful for addressing the world's
problems. The Dalai Lama is a world spiritual and philosophical leader
who should be contributing to global debates on countering violent
extremism and on fostering peace in war-torn countries. These are just
a couple of topics on which I am convinced we could all benefit from
his wisdom.
We could insist that Tibet be part of our climate change discussions
with China. Climate change is one of the few topics on which the U.S.
and China have found common ground. It is a critically important topic
for Tibet, given its fragile environment and its critically important
reserves of freshwater. Tibet is warming three times as fast as the
rest of the world, but it is absent from the global climate change
debate.
{time} 2115
The Chinese leadership has acknowledged at the highest levels the
scale of the environmental crisis it faces. Conserving the Tibetan
Plateau is surely a shared interest, and it can only be achieved with
the full participation of the Tibetan people.
It is time to rally around some of these ideas or to find others. It
is time to do something different on Tibet. It is time for us to think
differently and to think out of the box on ways that we can advance
dialogue with China, not in a confrontational way, but in ways to get
China to understand the importance of recognizing the human rights of
the Tibetan people and recognizing the importance of His Holiness the
Dalai Lama and allowing him to return to his homeland.
Madam Speaker, many of my colleagues wanted to be here today to speak
on this. I include the statements of the gentleman from Massachusetts
(Mr. Capuano) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Walz) in the
Record.
Last week the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), the gentleman
from Wisconsin (Mr. Pocan), and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Sensenbrenner) submitted their statements to the Record.
In closing, again, I would urge all of my colleagues to join with the
leader and myself in welcoming His Holiness the Dalai Lama to
Washington, D.C., to the United States, wishing him good health and
praying that reconciliation between the Tibetan people and the Chinese
Government happens very, very soon.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. WALZ. Madam Speaker, I believe that the U.S. must remain
committed to defending human rights and personal freedoms both within
the U.S. and abroad. As our country continues to advance U.S.-China
relations, we must never forget the people of Tibet. Restrictions on
human rights and religious freedom in Tibet have been a growing concern
to many. As a member of the Congressional Executive Committee on China,
I share this concern. While Chinese investments have undoubtedly helped
to modernize Tibet, these investments must not come at the expense of
the rich cultural, linguistic, and religious heritage of the Tibetan
people. We must continue to support the protection of traditional
Tibetan culture.
As you may know, I had the opportunity to be one of the first groups
of Americans to travel to China and teach Chinese high school students
in 1989. During that trip, I also traveled to Tibet in 1990 and, most
recently, I have returned as a member of the Congressional Delegation
visiting China and Tibet. The boosted economic growth, higher household
incomes, and constructed railway projects have facilitated the rapid
modernization of the Tibet Autonomous Region. However, we need to
continue to have constructive dialogues with China to ensure the
preservation of traditional Tibetan culture and Tibet's fragile
ecology.
The Congressional Delegation trip to Tibet provided an opportunity to
have a healthy dialogue, and I want to thank our Chinese friends for
engaging with us in a discussion over the most sensitive issues
concerning Tibet. As a southern Minnesotan, I understand the importance
of spurring economic growth while simultaneously protecting natural
wonders and culture. With this in mind, I believe that Tibetans must
receive the necessary rights that will allow them to protect their
culture, language, religion, and environment.
The U.S. was founded on the ideas of universal freedom, and I believe
that we must continue to urge the Chinese government to provide less
regulated religious freedom to the Tibetans. I strongly believe that a
critical step to achieving religious freedom in Tibet is including the
Dalai Lama in future dialogues. I have had the pleasure of meeting His
Holiness on three occasions, and I share his desire to preserve Tibetan
culture and resolve other issues concerning Tibet. Lastly, I encourage
the Chinese government to agree to establish a U.S. Consulate in the
Tibetan city of Lhasa because I believe diplomacy and talking through
our concerns and partnerships under the lens of transparency can only
strengthen the relationship between our two countries.
I will continue to support attempts to have productive dialogues with
the Chinese government concerning the future of Tibet. Improvements in
the quality of life, access to clean water, and access to health care
services in Tibet must also include efforts to preserve the Tibetan way
of life.
Mr. CAPUANO. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to His Holiness the
Dalai Lama. He has come to Washington to be present when the National
Endowment for Democracy (NED) awards its Democracy Service Medal
posthumously to another heroic spiritual leader, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche,
who died in captivity in China in July of last year. The NED will also
honor the Central Tibetan Administration, based in Dharamshala, India,
for its commitment to freedom and democracy. It is fitting, too, as
Prime Minister Nahrendra Modi concludes his visit, to recognize the
generosity India has shown to exiles seeking political and religious
liberty within its borders.
With His Holiness and with all Tibetans, we grieve for all they have
endured since the Chinese invasion, the sorrows of those who live in
exile and the sufferings of those who remain. I am outraged that
oppression and murder continue unabated. With His Holiness and with
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche's cousin Geshe Nyima, representing his bereaved
family, we mourn the shameful persecution and tragic death of a man
committed to nonviolence. I urge the House to approve H. Res 584,
urging President Obama to seek an independent investigation of his
death and to call publicly for an end to the repressive policies of the
People's Republic of China in Tibet. It has been in committee for many
months.
Elie Wiesel, like His Holiness awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, exhorts
us: There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but
there must never be a time when we fail to protest. Indeed, we do
protest, and further we should never cease to hold oppressors
accountable. The people of Tibet, inspired by the Dalai Lama, continue
to cherish their culture and traditions. I wish them all his faith and
courage, today, tomorrow and every day until Tibet is free.
____________________