Published by: World Tibet Network News, Tuesday, June 25, 1996

Congressional Briefing on Human Rights in Tibet June 24, 1996

Hosted by the Congressional Working Group on China Congressional Human Rights Caucus

Three years ago I supported President Clinton's proposal to condition China's Most Nation Trading status on human rights improvement -- and also on opening negotiations with the Dalai Lama. But President Clinton took that option away from us by de-linking trade with China from human rights concerns. Since the de-linking, human rights conditions have worsened. It is time to radically change a trading relationship that subsidizes one of the world's most brutal regimes.

Imagine for a moment that the United States has been invaded and taken over by hostile forces. Imagine soldiers everywhere, policing your every action. The buildings in your neighborhood are being torn down and others being built in their places. Your sister and other women that you know have been sterilized. Your father or husband or wife is in prison and being tortured for merely saying that they wanted their freedom, that they wanted our country back. As I speak these words, I would be arrested for violating a law, and you would be arrested for assembling to listen to them.

Now imagine that the rest of the world was trading with this oppressive government. The rest of the world was doing business with our oppressors and acting like nothing was wrong. You have just imagined the situation that the Tibetan people face even as we speak.

We are in a position to help change China's policies, but instead we are beginning to simply look the other way. Some of our corporations say that their presence is helping to bring about positive change. But by their actions, it is clear that they are motivated purely by greed. Our corporations have little or no intention of developing ways to improve human rights. These corporations are looking for short term profits and are making campaign contributions to politicians in exchange for maintaining a trade relationship that virtually ignores human rights.

As a U.S. citizen I cannot stand idly by and watch as our government and corporations help subsidize the oppression of a fifth of the earth's population and the occupation of Tibet. By granting MFN to China we are fueling one of the most brutal regimes still existing on the planet. More and more people are finding out what is happening there -- amongst young people the word is spreading like wildfire.

It is unacceptable to have policies which promote short-term profits for some of our corporations at the expense of our Tibetan and Chinese brothers and sisters. We must use the freedom that we have to help bring freedom to the people of China and Tibet . We can not pursue our democratic dream at the expense of others. All humanity must realize peace together. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "whatever effects one directly affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality. "

You may ask, why focus on Tibet? There are human rights abuses going on all over the world. What is so significant here? Peoples struggling for freedom who strictly adhere to non-violence are rare today. The Tibetans are one of those rare peoples. Shunning them plays into the hands of those who use violence. The compassionate struggle of the Tibetan people, juxtaposed against the violent repression of the Chinese authorities is like night and day. It is the clearest example of brutality against compassion in the world today.

If people and governments of the world focus on this issue, it is very possible to bring about change. That change will be a powerful symbol for people around the world who believe in non-violence. Right now Tibet is becoming a focus of the world. This Congress can help to turn that focus into positive change.

The vote on Most Favored Nation Trade status for China is a vote between short term profits and compassion. Please vote with your heart.