Published by: World Tibet Network News 97/05/14 23:15 GMT

Tank you Senator Helms for scheduling this timely hearing on Tibet, so

soon after the Dalai Lama's visit to Washington barely three weeks ago. It

is an honor to appear before this distinguished Committee and in the

company of Senator Pell, Ambassador Kirkpatrick and your other guests.

My name is Lodi Gyari. I am the Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai

Lama and President of the International Campaign for Tibet, a

Washington-based organization dedicated to the promotion of human rights

and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet. I have served in both the

Tibetan Parliament and Cabinet in Exile in Dharamsala, India.

Mr. Chairman, I would like once again to convey my deep appreciation to the

Committee on Foreign Relations for the leadership it continues to take in

the careful examination of the situation in Tibet. As a result, the

Congress and the American people have gained a better understanding of the

impact of China's occupation of Tibet and the Dalai Lama's efforts to halt

the obliteration of the Tibetan identity. This in turn has resulted in the

United States providing the Tibetan people with important programs that

benefit in real ways Tibetans inside Tibet and living in exile, such as:

-- The Voice of America and Radio Free Asia Tibetan language programs

broadcast into Tibet for two precious hours every day. We are looking

forward to longer broadcasts and broadcasts in the Kham and Amdo dialects.

-- Fulbright scholarships for Tibetans have assured that at least in exile

some Tibetans have a chance for higher education in the United States. To

date, more than 100 young Tibetans have had the great privilege of studying

at American universities.

-- Humanitarian assistance to Tibetan refugees has provided temporary

shelter, needed medicines and emergency care for new arrivals. Senator

Feinstein, as well as several Committee staffers, recently visited the

transit center in Katmandu and can attest to the appalling conditions of

the new arrivals from Tibet.

-- The UNHCR Tibet program in Katmandu is completely funded by U.S.

dollars. Without it, many Tibetans would not be able to escape into freedom

as they would receive little or no assistance in their passage through

Nepal to safety in India. Mr. Chairman, while I am grateful to the Nepalese

government and people for a tradition of hospitality extended to the

Tibetan refugees, of late we have become increasingly concerned about

Beijing's influence with the Nepalese authorities.

Situation in Tibet

Nearly 50 years after the People's Liberation Army began its so-called

peaceful liberation of Tibet, China continues to forcibly occupy Tibet; the

situation inside Tibet continues to deteriorate, despite repeated claims

that the Chinese are in Tibet only to help the Tibetan people; human rights

are severely curtailed; and thousands of Tibetans continue to leave their

homeland each year.

Chinese authorities have renewed attacks against the Tibetan Buddhist

culture, reminiscent of practices during the Cultural Revolution. Their

interference in the religious process of choosing the reincarnation of the

Panchen Lama is symbolic of China's contempt for the deep religiosity of

the Tibetan people. Political "re-education" campaigns imposed on monks and

nuns have resulted in mass expulsions, imprisonments and even some deaths.

Just last week, China sentenced Chadrel Rinpoche, an elderly Tibetan monk

who led the original search committee for the Panchen Lama, to six years

for communicating with the Dalai Lama during the search process.

After four decades of Chinese rule, the education of Tibetans is inadequate

and discriminatory, although there is some "lip service" given to the

protection of Tibetan language and literature. In fact, Tibetan children

are taught in the Tibetan language only through the 4th, sometimes 6th

grade. Because most schools are unheated, the cost of buying blankets has

overcome any limited resources dedicated to buying food. Most Tibetan

children drop out of school around 2nd grade and go home where they can be

fed and can lend a hand to families increasingly living in deep poverty.

Those Tibetan children who reach 6th grade are faced with the added

obstacle of the middle school exam which is administered in the Chinese

language only. Experimental Tibetan language programs in upper schools,

including Tibet University in Lhasa, have been severely curtailed, even

though they have been very successful. Even in those programs, however,

Tibetans are most often taught orally in the Tibetan language, but with

Chinese language text books.

Tibetan parents must send their children out to the Tibetan-run schools in

India to receive a traditional Tibetan education -- to learn their mother

tongue, their history, and to live freely in their culture. Monks and nuns

must leave Tibet to practice their religion freely and fully.

But the underlying motivation of every Tibetan who undertakes the dangerous

trip out of Tibet -- or the more than 700 Tibetan political prisoners

languishing in Chinese prisons -- is the sense of Tibetan national identity

which is increasingly threatened each year as Tibetans are forced to live

under the conditions of foreign conquest. As the Dalai Lama has said, there

is a growing desperation in Tibet, a desperation matched only by that of

the Chinese themselves who have failed at every effort to eradicate the

Tibetan identity.

Status of Tibet

Tibet is a land mass of 2.5 million square kilometers with a population of

about 6 million Tibetans. In 1949 and 1950 the independent nation of Tibet

was invaded by troops of the People's Liberation Army, who claimed to be

"peacefully liberating" the Tibetan people. China's unprovoked aggression

violated Tibet's national integrity, killed thousands of innocent people,

and deposed a legitimate government, most certainly not "a peaceful

liberation."

After unsuccessfully appealing to the United Nations, the Tibetan

Government in 1951 was compelled to sign a "17-Point Agreement" devised by

the Chinese government. Even the autonomy guaranteed under the agreement

was soon violated as China moved quickly to consolidate its control over

Tibet.

Despite a wholly inadequate and unprepared military force, the Tibetans'

defiance of the Chinese invaders erupted into a massive revolt by 1956.

According to China's own statistics, 87,000 Tibetans were killed just in

Lhasa and the adjoining areas alone during the 16-month period following

the uprising in Lhasa in March 1959. His Holiness the Dalai Lama was forced

into exile and 80,000 Tibetans followed.

The international response to these events was muted by world events,

geopolitical realities, and Tibet's own isolationism. Although the

international community did not actively become involved in Tibet, in 1959,

1961 and 1965, the United Nations Generally Assembly passed three

resolutions that strongly condemned China for its actions and recognized

the Tibetan people's right to self-determination. The Chinese not only

illegally invaded and occupied independent Tibet, they also divided up the

country. Most of Kham was annexed into the neighboring Chinese provinces of

Sichuan and Yunnan by the Chinese, while a part of Amdo was incorporated

into the Chinese province of Gansu. A major portion of Amdo was renamed

Qinghai and turned into a Chinese province. This has been an attempt to

weaken the unity of the Tibetan people, and to divide and rule, an endeavor

that has not succeeded.

We hear time and time again from China about its historical claim to Tibet.

These claims are simply not true. Prior to the Chinese invasion, Tibet was

a fully functioning independent state. In its 1959 and 1960 reports on

Tibet, the International Commission of Jurists concluded that at the time

of China's invasion, Tibet demonstrated all the necessary conditions of

statehood. The 1960 report states:

"In 1950, there was a people and a territory, and a government which

functioned in that territory, conducting its own domestic affairs free from

any outside authority...Foreign relations of Tibet were conducted

exclusively by the Government of Tibet and countries with whom Tibet had foreign relations are shown by official documents to have treated Tibet in practice as an independent State."

China bases its early claim of sovereignty over Tibet on the understanding

that both Tibet and China formed part of the same empire during the Mongol

and Manchu dynasties. However, unlike China, Tibet was never completely

absorbed into the empire by the Mongols or the Manchus, even though both

the Mongols and later the Manchus periodically exercised strong political

influence in Tibet.

What China chooses to ignore in its arguments on Tibet is that the Mongols

and the Manchus were foreign powers that conquered and ruled China, a fact

clearly accepted by Dr. Sun Yat-sen the "founder of modern China" when he

called for an overthrow of Manchu foreign domination of China. China's

claim to Tibet then is somewhat akin to the United States claiming

sovereignty over Canada based on the logic that Canada, like the United

States, was at one time part of the British empire.

One of the other problems that has confused the historical status of Tibet

is the Euro-centric legalistic interpretation of Tibet's relation with

China. For example, Great Britain incorrectly used the term "suzerainty" to

describe the relationship between China and Tibet beginning in the early

20th century. At that time, competition between the British and Russian

empires over influence in inner Asia began to heat up. Britain would learn

fairly quickly that China was powerless to assert its so-called

"suzerainty."

It is regrettable that the United States administration is prone to

sweeping statements about Tibet's status without qualifying its remarks.

There is no need for me to inform this Committee that the U.S. position on

Tibet was never based on the premise that Tibet was a part of China. It is

an open secret that successive U.S. administrations publicly and covertly

opposed China's annexation of Tibet and made vigorous efforts to support

the Tibetan government to resist the Chinese occupation and refute the

"17-Point Agreement," and to seek international support for the legitimate

rights of the Tibetan people.

Let me cite just one topical example. It is taken from a CRS Issue Brief on

China's MFN Status dated August 12, 1996.

"The United States has applied most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment in trade

as a matter of statutory policy, enacted in 1934, generally to all of its

trading partners. This policy was modified with the enactment of section 5

of the Trade Agreements Extension Act of 1951 (P.L. 82-50), which required

the President to suspend MFN status of the Soviet Union and all countries

of the then Sino-Soviet bloc. Under this statutory mandate, President

Truman suspended China's most-favored-nation status as of September 1, 1951. After China's occupation of Tibet, that country's MFN status was suspended as of July 14, 1952."

This reference, in compendium with all the basic principles of customary

international law, the Charter of the United Nations and other agreements

to which China is a party, make clear that the invasion of Tibet by the

People's Liberation Army was an illegal act. And I commend the United

States Congress for stating as much in the State Department Authorization

Act (P.L. 102-138) signed into law by President Bush in 1991.

I appeal to the Clinton administration which has voiced strong support for

a negotiated settlement of the Tibet issue, and especially to our friends

at the State Department, to refrain from categorical statements on Tibet's

political relationship with China.

Negotiations

Just three weeks ago, in the House International Relations Committee room,

the Dalai Lama addressed the World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet and

once again explicitly stated his commitment to the Tibetan issue within the

framework of "one country, two systems." Mr. Chairman, I have appended his

remarks to my written testimony.

The Dalai Lama is looking to the future to define Tibet's relationship with

China, for it is the next generation of Tibetan and Chinese peoples who

must live within that relationship. Up until now, the Chinese leadership

has stubbornly talked only of the past. Maybe a new Chinese leadership will

see that the road to peace lies ahead, not behind us.

The Dalai Lama's just-concluded, historic visit to Taiwan is bound to have

far-reaching and positive implications for Tibet's relations with Taiwan

and with China. The enormous success of the visit demonstrated that there

is no need for animosity between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples.

Beijing must now own up to the fact that they cannot credibly project the

Dalai Lama and his message as sinister and anti-Chinese. The very fact that

the Dalai Lama has reached out in friendship to Taiwan, even as it lays

political claim to Tibet, corroborates his sincerity in finding a solution

to the Tibetan issue that sets aside the issue of independence.

A new leadership in Beijing can take advantage of the moral leadership of

the Dalai Lama and the international support for his middle way approach,

to bring an end to the ongoing conflict in Tibet. Similarly, many Chinese

people -- those inside China and out --scholars, entrepreneurs, and even

government officials -- have come to understand that their national dignity

and individual decency is diminished by the continued repression of the

Tibetan people.

China's own internal stability is put at risk as unrest in Eastern

Turkistan (Xinjiang), Inner Mongolia and Tibet continue to be handled with

increased repression rather than political solutions. The uncompromised

integrity of the Dalai Lama, and the historic veneration of the Dalai Lama

by the Mongols, should suggest to the Chinese leadership that he could be

key in bringing peace and stability to these border areas. The new

generation of Tibetans, Uygurs and Mongols have come to understand that

they do not have to endure the tremendous persecution and discrimination

they have suffered, and continue to suffer. They are now emerging

ideologically sharpened, conscious of their own rights and eager, like the

Chinese, for the rule of law.

In recent times, some members of China's Politburo have begun to talk about

the supremacy of the Constitution which, at one time, would have been seen

as a blasphemous attack against the Communist Party. It seems the Chinese

are quite comfortable talking about the rule of law, but as the saying

goes, "seeing is believing." The Chinese government can show its commitment

to the rule of law by adhering to its own legal formulation for Hong Kong.

But I should caution that China's commitment to Hong Kong is eerily similar

to the promise of national regional autonomy made to Tibet in 1951.

Mr. Chairman, China has demonstrated with the abduction of the young

Panchen Lama, the naming of the pretender Panchen Lama, and the recent

sentence of the Chadrel Rinpoche, that they are turning their back on

international sentiment in support of a negotiated settlement. Instead,

China's current policy seems to be to await the death of the Dalai Lama and

then force a successor upon the Tibetan people.

Fundamentally, China's abduction of the Panchen Lama is not simply a matter

of reincarnation politics. Rather, it is an act of retribution by an

atheistic socialist state against the free practice of religious freedoms

by the people of Tibet.

Suggested Actions

Mr. Chairman, the Chinese conquest of Tibet in 1949-50 and the history of

Chinese rule of Tibet since that time has been a tragedy for Tibetan and

world civilization and a crime of cultural genocide against the Tibetan

people. If current Chinese policies continue, the tense situation that

already exists inside Tibet could erupt and spread to other regions and

would present China and the international communisty with a far bigger and

dangerous problem. This grave situation can only be ameliorated by the

international community in which the United States must take the lead in

supporting the Dalai Lama's far-sighted and conciliatory initiative.

Therefore, we urge the United States to take the following steps:

1. Elevate the issue of Tibet to an important factor in bilateral relations

with the People's Republic of China;

2. Use economic and political leverage to pressure China to respect Tibet's

distinct religion and culture and to begin Tibet negotiations with the

Dalai Lama on solving the Tibet problem;

3. Establish a senior position within the administration, to be filled in

consultation with the Congress, for the purpose of coordinating U.S. policy

towards Tibet and, in particular, to help initiate the process of

negotiations between the Dalai Lama or his representatives and the Chinese

leadership;

4. Work with the European Union and other countries to formulate a

multilateral approach to the Tibet issue. Raise Tibet in appropriate

international fora, including U.N. organs;

5. Continue humanitarian assistance to Tibetan refugees who flee repression

in Tibet and consider additional assistance until such a time as a

congenial environment for the Tibetan identity exists again in Tibet;

6. Urge China to release immediately the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi

Nyima, and the several hundred other political prisoners in Tibet;

7. Support, monitor, and where necessary, expand and improve the Tibetan

language programs of Voice of America and Radio Free Asia; and

8. Urge China to provide free access to representatives of human rights

monitoring organizations, as well as the international media, to Tibet.

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for this opportunity to testify before your

Committee.