[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 30 (Thursday, February 15, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1167-S1168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE RESOLUTION 408--COMMEMORATING THE 59TH ANNIVERSARY OF TIBET'S
1959 UPRISING AS ``TIBETAN RIGHTS DAY'', AND EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE
HUMAN RIGHTS AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OF THE TIBETAN PEOPLE AND THE
TIBETAN BUDDHIST FAITH COMMUNITY
Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Cruz) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations:
S. Res. 408
Whereas March 10, 2018, marks the 59th anniversary of the
1959 uprising in Tibet, during which the people of Lhasa,
fearing for the life of the Dalai Lama, surrounded his
residence, organized a guard, and called for the withdrawal
of Chinese forces from Tibet and the restoration of Tibet's
freedom;
Whereas Chinese statistics estimate 87,000 Tibetans were
killed, arrested, or deported to labor camps during the
suppression of the 1959 uprising, which also forced the Dalai
Lama and tens of thousands of other Tibetans to flee into
exile;
Whereas March 10, 2018, also marks the 10th anniversary of
a series of protests in Lhasa, which spread across Tibet, and
which were suppressed by Chinese forces;
Whereas, according to the Department of State, the
Government of the People's Republic of China is engaged in
the severe repression of Tibet's unique religious, cultural,
and linguistic heritage, and is engaged in gross violations
of human rights in Tibet, including extrajudicial detentions,
disappearances, and torture;
Whereas, in the ten years since the 2008 protests, at least
152 Tibetans in Tibet are known to have self-immolated, with
statements or records left by these self-immolators calling
for freedom for Tibet and the return of the Dalai Lama;
Whereas, in 1991, Congress resolved its sense that Tibet is
an occupied country under the established principles of
international law whose true representatives are the Dalai
Lama and the Tibetan government in exile as recognized by the
Tibetan people;
Whereas, in 1961, with the support of the United States,
the United Nations General Assembly recognized the Tibetan
people's ``fundamental human rights and freedoms, including
the right to self-determination'';
Whereas, on October 18, 2007, Congress awarded the
Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama, finding that he
is recognized around the world as a leading figure of moral
and religious authority, and is the unrivaled spiritual and
cultural leader of the Tibetan people;
Whereas Buddhists in Tibet, the United States, India,
Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia, Russia, and other countries where
followers of Tibetan Buddhism reside look to the Dalai Lama
for religious leadership and spiritual guidance;
Whereas, in its 2017 annual report, the United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom noted that
``[t]he Chinese government claims the power to select the
next Dalai Lama with the help of a law that grants the
government authority over reincarnations,'' which purports to
require all Tibetan Buddhist leaders to obtain the approval
of the Government of the People's Republic of China in order
to reincarnate;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China
has interfered in the identification and installation of
reincarnated leaders of Tibetan Buddhism, as part of its
efforts to maintain control over Tibet, including in 1995
arbitrarily detaining the recently identified 11th Panchen
Lama, then a six-year-old boy, and purporting to install
China's own candidate as Panchen Lama;
Whereas, in 2011, the 14th Dalai Lama declared that the
responsibility for identifying a future 15th Dalai Lama will
rest with officials of the Dalai Lama's private office and
that ``apart from the reincarnation recognized through such
legitimate methods, no recognition or acceptance should be
given to a candidate chosen for political ends by anyone,
including those in the People's Republic of China'';
Whereas, in 1981, the United Nations General Assembly
passed the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of
Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or
Belief, which provides that freedom of religion shall include
the freedom to ``train, appoint, elect or designate by
succession appropriate leaders called for by the requirements
and standards of any religion or belief''; and
Whereas Congress has long held that the right to freedom of
religion undergirds the very origin and existence of the
United States, and that freedom of religious belief and
practice is a universal human right and fundamental freedom:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes March 10, 2018, as ``Tibetan Rights Day'';
(2) affirms its recognition of His Holiness the 14th Dalai
Lama for his outstanding contributions to peace, nonviolence,
human rights, and religious understanding;
(3) affirms its support for the Tibetan people's
fundamental human rights and freedoms, including their right
to self-determination and the protection of their distinct
religious, cultural, linguistic, and national identity;
(4) expresses its sense that the identification and
installation of Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders, including
a future 15th Dalai Lama, is a matter that should be
determined solely within the Tibetan Buddhist faith
community, in accordance with the inalienable right to
religious freedom;
(5) expresses its sense that any attempt by the Government
of the People's Republic of China to identify or install its
own candidate as a Tibetan Buddhist religious leader,
including a future 15th Dalai Lama, is invalid interference
in the right to religious freedom of Tibetan Buddhists around
the world, including in Tibet as well as the United States
and elsewhere; and
(6) calls on the Secretary of State to fully implement the
provisions of the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (subtitle B of
title VI of Public Law 107-228; 22 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), in
cooperation with like-minded states where appropriate,
including that--
(A) representatives of the United States Government in
exchanges with officials of the Government of the People's
Republic of China should call for and otherwise promote the
cessation of all interference by the Government of the
People's Republic of China or the Chinese Communist Party in
the religious affairs of the Tibetan people;
(B) the United States Ambassador to the People's Republic
of China should meet with the 11th Panchen Lama, who was
arbitrarily detained on May 17, 1995, and otherwise ascertain
information concerning his whereabouts and well-being; and
(C) the Secretary of State should make best efforts to
establish an office in Lhasa, Tibet, to monitor political,
economic, and cultural developments in Tibet.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senators Feinstein and
Cruz in cosponsoring a resolution recognizing the 59th anniversary of
the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule--March 10, 2018 as ``Tibetan
Rights Day.''
Fifty-nine years ago, Tibetans took a stand, together, for the
freedom of their homeland. The people of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa,
fearing for the life of the Dalai Lama, surrounded his residence,
organized a guard, and called for the withdrawal of Chinese forces from
Tibet and the restoration of Tibet's freedom. Chinese statistics
estimate 87,000 Tibetans were killed, arrested, or deported to labor
camps during the suppression of the 1959 uprising, which also led to
the forced exile of the Dalai Lama and tens of thousands of other
Tibetans.
Today, 59 years later, the Government of the People's Republic of
China remains engaged in the severe repression of Tibet's unique
religious, cultural, and linguistic heritage, and is engaged in gross
violations of human rights in Tibet, including extrajudicial
detentions, disappearances, and torture. At least 152 Tibetans in Tibet
are known to have self-immolated in protest in the past decade. Yet the
Tibetan people have not given up their struggle for fundamental human
rights and freedoms. We stand by the Tibetan people, who have long been
our unwavering friends.
We also stand by the rights of Tibetan Buddhists, not just in Tibet
but around the world, who should be able to determine their own
religious leadership in accordance with their inalienable right to
religious freedom. According to the U.S. Commission on International
Religious Freedom, the Chinese government claims the power to
[[Page S1168]]
select the next Dalai Lama with the help of a law that grants the
government authority over reincarnations. That is absurd. The
identification and installation of Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders,
including a future 15th Dalai Lama, is a matter that should be
determined solely within the Tibetan Buddhist faith community.
We can foster closer, cooperative relations with China, but until
China works with Tibetan leaders to pursue a new way forward, their
reputation in the community of nations, and their ability to act as a
global power, will remain deeply tarnished. I urge other Senators to
join in support of this resolution, and to pass it before the important
anniversary commemoration on March 10, 2018.
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