Published by: World Tibet Network News, Wednesday, May 22 1996 (Part I)

Source: International Campaign for Tibet

For Immediate Release May 21, 1996 Contacts: Karen Davis Bhuchung Tsering

(202) 785-1515

Amidst the most severe clamp down in Tibet since martial law was imposed in 1989, President Bill Clinton announced yesterday that he will renew Most Favored Nation (MFN) trading status for the People's Republic of China for another year. The President's announcement to a group of business executives paid only lip service to human rights concerns in China and Tibet, and was notable for its failure to mention that Chinese government repression in Tibet is intensifying. It was also devoid of specifics on how the Administration's policy of "engagement" with China, which includes granting unconditional renewal of MFN, is helping to improve the plight of the Tibetan people.

"The President's decision to renew MFN for China without even expressing concern over a serious wave of repression in Tibet is indicative of a policy which simply isn't working," said Lodi Gyari, President of International Campaign for Tibet (ICT).

The President's speech yesterday morning to the Pacific Basin Economic Council in Washington, D.C., was long on details about his Administration's efforts to promote U.S. trade and economic opportunities in Asia. However, it mentioned human rights only 5 times and excluded a condemnation of the Chinese government's indefensible human rights record, such as the continued incarceration of prisoners of conscience, the use of forced labor, and the denial of religious freedom. The speech also avoided making a reference to repression in Tibet, the disappearance of the Panchen Lama and his family or to U.S. support for negotiations between the Dalai Lama and Chinese leaders.

The announcement could not have come at a worse time for Tibetans, who are undergoing possibly one of the toughest periods of repression since the imposition of martial law in 1989. Chinese authorities have recently imposed a ban on the display of photos of the Dalai Lama in monasteries, schools, public buildings, private businesses and homes in Tibet. Reports indicate that dozens of badly injured monks and nuns were brought to a hospital in Lhasa, Tibet's capital, last week, after an apparent beating by Chinese police sent to enforce the ban. In a separate incident, Chinese authorities fired on monks at Ganden monastery, severely wounding at least one monk. Unconfirmed reports say two monks were killed. The State Department has yet to make a statement of concern about these disturbing reports.

Last month, ICT released a report, "A Season to Purge," which provided evidence that the Chinese government has stepped up its campaign to deny Tibetans their right to freely practice their Buddhist faith. This deterioration in religious freedom in Tibet coincides with the decline in U.S. pressure on China to abide by internationally-recognized standards of human rights in China and Tibet.

ICT believes that the U.S. government should use its considerable leverage with China to be a forceful advocate on behalf of the Tibetan people in their ongoing struggle for human rights and democratic freedoms. Because the Clinton Administration has chosen to downplay the importance of human rights in the U.S.-China dialogue, we will now be looking to Congress to keep human rights on the agenda. During the upcoming MFN debate, we call on Members to pass legislation that limits or conditions the full granting of MFN for China.

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The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is a Washington-based Tibet monitoring and advocacy group. Established in 1988 as a non-profit organization, ICT promotes human rights and democratic freedoms for Tibetans.