The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) held a hearing on Wednesday (September 30) on the current human rights situation in Tibet. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Chairman of the Committee, reiterated several times that “we will continue to call attention to what is happening.”
“I think the Chinese government has the illusion that they can wear us down, that we’re only going to have 48 hours of attention, and then we’ll automatically move on to the next issue, or they’ll automatically go away, or someday when His Holiness the Dalai Lama is gone, we’ll automatically stop caring about these things, we’ll stop caring about Tibet,” said McGovern.
“It’s a huge miscalculation. We’re not going to stop, and we’re going to stay focused on these issues.”
During the nearly two-hour online hearing, members of the House, including lawmakers from both parties, were disturbed by the Chinese government’s continued policies on ethnic education for minorities in places like Xinjiang, Tibet and Mongolia.
“All of us are concerned about how Xi Jinping has turned everything into his ‘absolute doctrine’ that all beliefs must conform to his principles,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the committee’s chief Republican Criticism at the hearing.
Sophie Richardson, China Director of Human Rights Watch, who testified, specifically noted that the Chinese government’s “patriotic education” for the younger generation of ethnic minorities is quite worrisome.
She said, “Patriotic education (is being implemented) as young as three or four years old, and I think the result must be obvious, which is the erosion of Tibetan culture and language, more protests, and a deep alienation of parents who really just want bilingual education.
Also present at the hearing were Matteo Mecacci, President of the International Campaign for Tibet, Tenzin Dorjee, Senior Strategic Researcher at the Tibetan Action Center, and Abbot Shigyal Rinpoche of the South Indian Tsashilhunpo Monastery.
During the hearing, Tenzin Dorjee also referred to the Chinese government’s tight surveillance of ethnic minorities.
“This insidious ‘we’re looking at you’ policy controls Tibetans in exile, a campaign to divide the Tibetan community and kill them, and the rise of WeChat has greatly supported this policy (implementation),” Tenzin Dorjee said.
He continued, “While general applications are used as platforms for expression and communication, WeChat is the ultimate tool for censorship and state surveillance. It facilitates Beijing’s transnational crackdown on dissidents and activists abroad.”
Congressman McGovern added that this is the most critical moment in the history of U.S. support for Tibet, as the current Congress has significantly more legislation on China and Tibetan human rights issues than in the past, and he emphasized that there is broad bipartisan consensus on these issues related to human rights in China.
“For the record, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, hold His Holiness the Dalai Lama in high esteem, and we respect him as a man of peace, justice, and non-violence,” McGovern said.
McGovern also called on the Senate to move quickly on the long-delayed Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA).
The Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019 was co-sponsored by Senator McGovern and another CECC Chairman, Republican Federal Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), last September. The bill passed the House of Representatives in late January of this year by an overwhelming vote of 392 for and 22 against.
The bill stipulates that Communist Party officials may not interfere with the reincarnation of future Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including the Dalai Lama, or the U.S. will impose sanctions. The bill also requires the U.S. government to facilitate the establishment of a consulate in Lhasa and to recognize the vision of a central Tibetan administration established by Tibetans in exile as a legitimate representation of Tibetans worldwide.
In 2018, the Tibet Travel Reciprocity Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump. The bill imposes penalties that restrict entry into the United States on Chinese officials who prevent U.S. diplomats, journalists, and tourists from traveling to Tibet.
Committee co-chairman Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, said at the meeting that he, too, hopes that Congress will move forward with the bill as soon as possible.
“I hope we can act on the legislation,” Rubio said, “the ongoing mistreatment of Tibetans in an attempt to deprive them of their ethnic and religious beliefs is outrageous, and it’s all been documented for many years, and we can’t ignore it, and we have to keep abreast of new developments.”
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