[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2856-S2857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 744. Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. Young) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2226, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which 
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle D of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1269. PROMOTING A RESOLUTION TO THE TIBET-CHINA 
                   CONFLICT.

       (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the 
     ``Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Conflict Act''.
       (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) It has been the longstanding policy of the United 
     States to encourage meaningful and direct dialogue between 
     People's Republic of China authorities and the Dalai Lama or 
     his representatives, without preconditions, to seek a 
     settlement that resolves differences.
       (2) Ten rounds of dialogue held between 2002 and 2010 
     between the People's Republic of China authorities and the 
     14th Dalai Lama's representatives failed to produce a 
     settlement that resolved differences, and the two sides have 
     not met since January 2010.
       (3) An obstacle to further dialogue is that the Government 
     of the People's Republic of China continues to impose 
     conditions on His Holiness the Dalai Lama for a resumption of 
     dialogue, including a demand that he say that Tibet has been 
     part of China since ancient times, which the Dalai Lama has 
     refused to do because it is false.
       (4) United States Government statements that the United 
     States considers Tibet a part of the People's Republic of 
     China have reflected the reality on the ground that the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China has exerted 
     effective control over Tibet.
       (5) The United States Government has never taken the 
     position that Tibet was a part of China since ancient times 
     or that the means by which the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China came to exert effective control over Tibet 
     was consistent with international law or included the free or 
     meaningful consent of the Tibetan people.
       (6) United States Government documents dated January 9, 
     1919, June 1, 1944, June 17, 1949, April 4, 1951, December 3, 
     1951, March 23, 1961, and February 14, 1963, listed Tibet as 
     an entity separate and distinct from China.
       (7) Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and 
     Political Rights and Article 1 of the International Covenant 
     on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provide that ``All 
     peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of 
     that right they freely determine their political status and 
     freely pursue their economic, social and cultural 
     development.''.
       (8) Under international law, including United Nations 
     General Assembly Resolution 2625, the right to self-
     determination is the right of a people to determine its own 
     destiny and the exercise of this right can result in a 
     variety of outcomes ranging from independence, federation, 
     protection, some form of autonomy, or full integration within 
     a state.
       (9) United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1723, 
     adopted on December 20, 1961, called for the ``cessation of 
     practices which deprive the Tibetan people of their 
     fundamental human rights and freedoms, including their right 
     to self-determination''.

[[Page S2857]]

       (10) In a December 30, 1950, note to the Governments of the 
     United Kingdom and India, the Secretary of State wrote that 
     ``The United States, which was one of the early supporters of 
     the principle of self-determination of peoples, believes that 
     the Tibetan people has the same inherent right as any other 
     to have the determining voice in its political destiny. It is 
     believed further that, should developments warrant, 
     consideration could be given to recognition of Tibet as an 
     independent State.''.
       (11) In a June 2, 1951, telegram to the United States 
     Embassy in New Delhi, the State Department wrote that Tibet 
     should not ``be compelled by duress [to] accept [the] 
     violation [of] its autonomy'' and that the Tibetan people 
     should ``enjoy certain rights [of] self-determination, 
     commensurate with [the] autonomy Tibet has maintained since 
     [the] Chinese revolution.''.
       (12) Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a May 26, 2022, 
     speech entitled ``The Administration's Approach to the 
     People's Republic of China'', said that the rules-based 
     international order's ``founding documents include the UN 
     Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which 
     enshrined concepts like self-determination, sovereignty, the 
     peaceful settlement of disputes. These are not Western 
     constructs. They are reflections of the world's shared 
     aspirations.''.
       (13) The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-228; 22 
     U.S.C. 6901 note), in directing the United States Government 
     ``to promote the human rights and distinct religious, 
     cultural, linguistic, and historical identity of the Tibetan 
     people'', acknowledges that the Tibetan people possess a 
     distinct religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical 
     identity.
       (14) Department of State reports on human rights and 
     religious freedom have consistently documented repression by 
     the People's Republic of China authorities against Tibetans 
     as well as acts of defiance and resistance by Tibetan people 
     against the People's Republic of China policies.
       (15) Section 355 of the Foreign Relations Authorization 
     Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 (Public Law 102-138; 105 
     Stat. 713) stated that it is the sense of Congress that--
       (A) ``Tibet, including those areas incorporated into the 
     Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai, is 
     an occupied country under the established principles of 
     international law'';
       (B) ``Tibet's true representatives are the Dalai Lama and 
     the Tibetan Government in exile as recognized by the Tibetan 
     people'';
       (C) ``Tibet has maintained throughout its history a 
     distinctive and sovereign national, cultural, and religious 
     identity separate from that of China and, except during 
     periods of illegal Chinese occupation, has maintained a 
     separate and sovereign political and territorial identity'';
       (D) ``historical evidence of this separate identity may be 
     found in Chinese archival documents and traditional dynastic 
     histories, in United States recognition of Tibetan neutrality 
     during World War II, and in the fact that a number of 
     countries including the United States, Mongolia, Bhutan, 
     Sikkim, Nepal, India, Japan, Great Britain, and Russia 
     recognized Tibet as an independent nation or dealt with Tibet 
     independently of any Chinese government'';
       (E) from``1949-1950, China launched an armed invasion of 
     Tibet in contravention of international law'';
       (F) ``it is the policy of the United States to oppose 
     aggression and other illegal uses of force by one country 
     against the sovereignty of another as a manner of acquiring 
     territory, and to condemn violations of international law, 
     including the illegal occupation of one country by another''; 
     and
       (G) ``numerous United States declarations since the Chinese 
     invasion have recognized Tibet's right to self-determination 
     and the illegality of China's occupation of Tibet''.
       (16) The joint explanatory statement to accompany division 
     K of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2023 
     (Public Law 117-328) states that ``Funds appropriated by the 
     Act shall not be used to produce or disseminate documents, 
     maps, or other materials that recognize or identify Tibet, 
     including the Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan 
     autonomous counties and prefectures, as part of the People's 
     Republic of China until the Secretary of State reports to the 
     appropriate congressional committees that the Government of 
     the People's Republic of China has reached a final negotiated 
     agreement on Tibet with the Dalai Lama or his representatives 
     or with democratically elected leaders of the Tibetan 
     people.''.
       (c) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United 
     States that--
       (1) the Tibetan people are a people entitled to the right 
     of self-determination under international law, including the 
     International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 
     International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural 
     Rights and that their ability to exercise this right is 
     precluded by the current policies of the People's Republic of 
     China; and
       (2) the conflict between Tibet and the People's Republic of 
     China is unresolved, and that the legal status of Tibet 
     remains to be determined in accordance with international 
     law.
       (d) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) claims made by officials of the People's Republic of 
     China and the Chinese Communist Party that Tibet has been a 
     part of China since ancient times are historically false;
       (2) the Government of the People's Republic of China has 
     failed to meet the expectations of the United States to 
     engage in meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his 
     representatives toward a peaceful settlement of the 
     unresolved conflict between Tibet and the People's Republic 
     of China; and
       (3) United States public diplomacy efforts should counter 
     disinformation about Tibet from the Government of the 
     People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, 
     including disinformation about the history of Tibet, the 
     Tibetan people, and Tibetan institutions including that of 
     the Dalai Lama.
       (e) Modifications to the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002.--
       (1) Tibet negotiations.--Section 613(b) of the Tibetan 
     Policy Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-228; 22 U.S.C. 6901 note) 
     is amended--
       (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting ``; and''; and
       (C) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(4) efforts to counter disinformation about Tibet from 
     the Government of the People's Republic of China and the 
     Chinese Communist Party, including disinformation about the 
     history of Tibet, the Tibetan people, and Tibetan 
     institutions including that of the Dalai Lama.''.
       (2) United states special coordinator for tibetan issues.--
     Section 621(d) of the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (Public Law 
     107-228; 22 U.S.C. 6901 note) is amended--
       (A) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), and (8) as 
     paragraphs (7), (8), and (9), respectively; and
       (B) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
       ``(6) work to ensure that United States Government 
     statements and documents counter, as appropriate, 
     disinformation about Tibet from the Government of the 
     People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, 
     including disinformation about the history of Tibet, the 
     Tibetan people, and Tibetan institutions including that of 
     the Dalai Lama;''.
       (3) Geographic definition of tibet.--The Tibetan Policy Act 
     of 2002 (Public Law 107-228; 22 U.S.C. 6901 note) is amended 
     by adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 622. GEOGRAPHIC DEFINITION OF TIBET.

       ``In this Act and in implementing policies relating to the 
     Tibetan people under other provisions of law, the term 
     `Tibet', unless otherwise specified, means--
       ``(1) the Tibet Autonomous Region; and
       ``(2) the Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and 
     Yunnan provinces.''.
       (f) Availability of Amounts to Counter Disinformation About 
     Tibet.--Amounts authorized to be appropriated or otherwise 
     made available to carry out section 201(c) of the Asia 
     Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 2292 et seq.) 
     are authorized to be made available to counter disinformation 
     about Tibet from the Government of the People's Republic of 
     China and the Chinese Communist Party, including 
     disinformation about the history of Tibet, the Tibetan 
     people, and Tibetan institutions, including that of the Dalai 
     Lama.
                                 ______