[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 17848-17849]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

 SENATE RESOLUTION 643--CALLING FOR GREATER DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE DALAI 
  LAMA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA REGARDING RIGHTS FOR THE PEOPLE OF 
                     TIBET, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mr. SMITH (for himself and Mr. Feingold) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 643

       Whereas, on April 25, 2008, China's official news agency 
     Xinhua expressed the willingness of the Government of China 
     to meet with envoys of the Dalai Lama;
       Whereas, on May 4, 2008, Special Envoy of His Holiness the 
     Dalai Lama Lodi Gyari and Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen met with 
     Chinese Executive Vice Minister Zhu Weiqun and Executive Vice 
     Minister Sithar for one day of talks, in which the Government 
     of China alleged that the Dalai Lama instigated the March 
     2008 unrest in autonomous Tibetan areas of China, and was 
     sabotaging the Olympic Games;
       Whereas Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party 
     of China, released a statement after this meeting saying that 
     his Government of China was committed to a ``serious'' 
     dialogue with the Dalai Lama;
       Whereas, at the United States-European Union (EU) Summit on 
     June 10, 2008, the United States and the European Union 
     issued a joint statement welcoming the decision by the 
     Government of China to hold talks with representatives of the 
     Dalai Lama, and urged ``both parties to move forward with a 
     substantive, constructive and results-oriented dialogue at an 
     early date'';
       Whereas the Envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's Kelsang 
     Gyaltsen and Lodi Gyari visited Beijing from June 30 to July 
     3, 2008, to conduct the seventh round of the Tibetan-Chinese 
     dialogue;
       Whereas, during these talks, the Government of China issued 
     a new set of demands, including that the Dalai Lama prove 
     that he does not support Tibetan independence or disruption 
     of the Olympic Games in Beijing;
       Whereas the Dalai Lama has stated multiple times he does 
     not favor the independence of Tibet and is instead seeking 
     negotiations to address the legitimate grievances of, and 
     provide genuine autonomy for, the Tibetan people within the 
     People's Republic of China, and is committed to non-violence;
       Whereas the Dalai Lama has repeatedly and publicly declared 
     his support for the Olympic Games in China, as well as his 
     intention to attend the opening ceremony, if invited;
       Whereas, at the conclusion of the July round of talks, 
     officials of the Government of China did not accept a 
     proposal by the representatives of the Dalai Lama to agree to 
     a joint statement supporting a continuation of the dialogue 
     process;
       Whereas Special Envoy Lodi Gyari said on July 5, 2008, that 
     the talks with the Government of China, called for by the 
     international community, were ``disappointing and 
     difficult'';
       Whereas, in contrast to the opinion of Special Envoy Lodi 
     Gyari, President George W. Bush said on July 6, 2008, that 
     ``it looks like there's some progress, at least in the talks 
     with the Dalai Lama'';
       Whereas officials of the Government of China subsequently 
     stated that the talks with the Dalai Lama's envoys are only 
     about the Dalai Lama's personal future, rather than about the 
     future of Tibet;
       Whereas the Office of the Dalai Lama on July 17, 2008, 
     restated its position that the talks are about ``the future 
     of 6,000,000 Tibetans in Tibet and not His Holiness the Dalai 
     Lama'';
       Whereas, on July 11, 2008, the European Parliament adopted 
     a resolution that ``welcomes the resumption of contacts, 
     after the events of March 2008 in Lhasa, between the 
     representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese 
     authorities'' and ``encourages the two parties to intensify 
     these contacts so as to establish the bases for mutual trust, 
     without which it will be impossible to arrive at a mutually 
     acceptable political solution'';
       Whereas, on the official stage during the Olympic torch's 
     relay through Lhasa on June 21, 2008, China's Communist Party 
     chief in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Zhang Qingli, 
     said, ``Tibet's sky will never change and the red flag with 
     five stars will forever flutter high above it. . . . [W]e 
     will certainly be able to totally smash the splittist schemes 
     of the Dalai Lama clique.'';
       Whereas, in reference to Zhang Qingli, the International 
     Olympics Committee said in a rare rebuke that it ``regrets 
     that political statements were made during the closing 
     ceremony of the torch relay in Tibet''; and
       Whereas China's People's Armed Police troops have been sent 
     to monasteries in Tibetan areas to give monks ``relevant 
     information'' about the Olympics, and Chinese authorities 
     have stepped up ``patriotic education'' campaigns designed to 
     conform the religious practices of Tibetan Buddhists to 
     Communist Party rules, including forcing monks and nuns to 
     denounce the Dalai Lama: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) urges the Dalai Lama or his representatives and the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China to begin earnest 
     negotiations, without preconditions, to provide for a 
     mutually agreeable solution that addresses the legitimate 
     grievances of, and provides genuine autonomy for, the Tibetan 
     people;
       (2) urges that the talks in October 2008 between the 
     Government of China and the Dalai Lama should focus on the 
     welfare, cultural, political, and religious autonomy of the 
     Tibetan people, and not on the person of the Dalai Lama;
       (3) affirms that the human rights of Tibetans and their 
     right to practice religion free of government regulation is 
     not an internal matter of any one country;
       (4) urges the President to take a more personal and engaged 
     interest in the successful conclusion of these negotiations, 
     both unilaterally and in coordination with United States 
     allies; and
       (5) calls on the United States Government to press the 
     Government of China--
       (A) to respect freedom of speech and freedom of 
     association, as required by international law and as 
     enshrined in the Constitution of China and to release those 
     who have committed no crime other than peaceful protest; and
       (B) to end the ``patriotic education'' campaign against lay 
     and clerical Tibetans and allow Tibetans to practice their 
     religion freely.

  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a resolution with 
my colleague, Senator Feingold, supporting the human rights and 
religious freedom of Tibetans.
  Last March, I was one of many people worldwide who watched as Tibetan 
demonstrations in China exploded into violence. These protests 
reflected long-standing frustration with the harsh measures imposed on 
Tibetans by the Government of China. Among other harassment, Tibetans 
can be required to undergo propaganda-based ``political education,'' 
detained without judicial due process, and are forbidden from 
possessing pictures of the Dalai Lama. After the March 2008 unrest, 
much of the international community urged China and the Dalai Lama to 
enter a positive, results-based dialogue on the human rights of 
Tibetans living. Unfortunately, these pleas have apparently fallen on 
deaf ears in Beijing. After the

[[Page 17849]]

latest round of Tibetan-Chinese dialogue from June 30 to July 3, the 
Tibetan representatives expressed disappointment that the two sides 
could not even agree on a joint resolution calling for more talks. 
Progress, it seems, has been almost non-existent.
  As a result, Senator Feingold and I are introducing a resolution 
urging that the talks--real, results-oriented talks--continue. We also 
call for the United States to press the Government of China to make a 
serious commitment to the human rights and religious freedom of 
Tibetans living on its soil, and an end to forced ``political 
education'' of Tibetans. The aim of the dialogue between the Government 
of China and the Dalai Lama must include an end to harassment of lay 
and religious Tibetans, and genuine autonomy for ethnically Tibetan 
regions.

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