Published by: World Tibet Network News 11/17/97

Testimony of Lodi G. Gyari President, International Campaign for Tibet and Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

House Committee on International Relations Committee

Hearing of the Status of Sino-Tibetan Negotiations

November 6, 1997

Thank you Chairman Gilman and distinguished members of the Committee for the opportunity to testify on the status of negotiations between the Tibetan and Chinese leadership. My name is Lodi Gyari. I am the 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. In a separate and personal capacity, I also have the great honor to serve as the Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Before my departure from service in the Tibetan government in exile, I was, in turn, President of the Tibetan Parliament and a member of the Tibetan Cabinet.

I have appeared before this Committee on several occasions to discuss the consequences of Chinese rule in Tibet. Most recently, I testified on September 10 on the subject of religious persecution in Tibet. The issue for consideration today, the issue of negotiations, is most crucial to the survival of Tibet. The Committee's examination of this issue is particularly timely considering the recent visit to Washington of Chinese President Jiang Zemin and the discussions of Tibet in the White House and the Congress as well the public outcry against the Chinese government's treatment of the Tibetan people that this visit engendered.

Moreover, the presence of Mr. Gregory Craig, the newly appointed Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues brings me great satisfaction, a sentiment I no doubt share with this Committee and its Senate counterpart that assiduously carried this appointment from inception to realization. I am most grateful for the tenacity of Congress who, in the face of misinformed opposition, persevered and preserved the "central objective" of the Special Coordinator position, as described by Secretary Albright, "to promote substantive dialogue between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Dalai Lama or his representatives."

Similarly, I must say that Secretary Albright is to be credited for working together with the Congress during the process of defining the Special Coordinator's mandate. I am confident that Secretary Albright understands what is at stake for the Tibetan people, and I know that His Holiness the Dalai Lama left their meeting in April fully satisfied with her commitment to move the issue of Tibet forward. The naming of Mr. Gregory Craig is a fine example of the level of her interest in Tibet. Mr. Craig is a man of remarkable personal and professional achievement. He has taken on his new responsibilities with enthusiasm and confidence in his ability to succeed. I wholeheartedly support his appointment and look forward to working with him to assure a negotiated settlement for Tibet. Of course, ultimately it is up to the Tibetan and Chinese peoples to resolve the issue of Tibet. Nonetheless, at this time, I believe outside pressure is crucial.

I firmly believe that the cumulative effect of Congressional action on behalf of Tibet, and particularly the position it has taken in support of the Special Coordinator for Tibet, contributed to create a strong impetus going into the U.S.-China presidential summit that bolstered the administration in its pursuit of an agreement by President Jiang to enter into negotiations with His Holiness the Dalai Lama or his representatives.

As I have said publicly for the last several weeks, I welcomed the Clinton-Jiang meeting, in spite of President Jiang Zemin's strongman reluctance to make significant concessions in the area of human rights. There is no question that unless the United States and China are engaged, the United States can have little influence on China's policies towards Tibet. While President Jiang Zemin may have returned to Beijing with added prestige, he also returned a bit wizened in the depth of devotion held by the American people, including Tibetan-Americans, to the cause of human rights and rule of law, and to the cause of genuine self-rule for the Tibetan people.

The Tibetan problem is not simply a problem of continuing human rights violations against the people of Tibet, nor should it be dealt with as such. Human rights violations, social unrest, and environmental degradation in Tibet are the symptoms and consequences of a deeper problem. Fundamentally, the issue of Tibet is an issue of colonial rule: the deliberate oppression of Tibet by China, and resistance to that rule by the people of Tibet. It is aggravated by the mass migration of Chinese into Tibetan territories. It is a perpetually fomenting and potentially destablizing problem for China, and it can be resolved only through negotiations and not, as China would have it, through force, intimidation, and creeping sinocization.

The Dalai Lama has taken every opportunity to articulate his readiness to begin earnest negotiations with the Chinese. He has publicly and privately communicated his position to President Jiang Zemin and the Chinese leadership. Please allow me to place in Congressional records the attached document "Dharamsala and Beijing" a chronological record through March 1996 of our attempts to begin negotiations with the Chinese leadership. Since that date, the Dalai Lama has tried, through private channels, to jump start the process of negotiations.

There has been no substantive outreach by China, although spasmodic low level meetings have occurred principally around such high profile events as the Dalai Lama's visit in March 1997 to Taiwan, consideration of the China resolution at the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, and President Jiang's U.S. visit. These meetings are more aptly described as intelligence gathering sessions for Beijing and have provided neither opportunity for a frank exchange of views nor forward movement towards high level discussions.

The rhetoric employed by the Chinese leadership is to blame the Dalai Lama for the current impasse. He is a "splittist", they say, whose ultimate motive is to destroy the motherland. It may be more appropriate to label the Chinese leadership as "splittist" for it is their suppressive policies towards the Tibetan people that have created and continues to create irreparable damage between the Tibetan and Chinese people. Even those Tibetans who are members of the Community Party elite are mistrusted and made to feel inferior to their Chinese counterparts.

One week after President Jiang's statement at Harvard University that the Dalai Lama should stop all independence activities before negotiations can begin, let me again reiterate for the Committee, with clarity and the authority of my position as Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Dalai Lama's position on negotiations, in its entirety, as it has been repeatedly presented to the Chinese leadership.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is willing to begin negotiations anytime, anywhere and without preconditions. He constructed his "middle way" approach in response to, and within the framework of Deng Xiaoping's stated assurance to us that "anything except independence can be discussed and resolved." The Dalai Lama's framework for negotiations, presented to the U.S. Congress as the Five Point Peace Plan in 1987, and elaborated on before the European Parliament in Strasbourg in 1988, does not call for the independence of Tibet. What the Dalai Lama is striving for is genuine self-rule, genuine autonomy, for Tibet.

The Dalai Lama has no hidden agenda, which is not to say that historically Tibet is not an independent country. Moreover, it is the overwhelming desire of the Tibetan people to regain their national independence. However, because the present policy of the Chinese government in Tibet poses an increasing threat to the very existence of a distinct Tibetan identity, the Dalai Lama has taken the position that his priority is to take whatever steps he must to save his people and their unique cultural heritage from total annihilation.

Obviously any solution to the Tibetan problem must include all the Tibetans and not just those within the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), which both in terms of population and territory represents less than half of Tibet. Let me state for the record that we are not making any territorial claims on China. Ninety percent of the areas that we mention as being Tibetan are also designated in law by the Chinese as Tibetan autonomous areas. I would like to recommend to you an excellent document prepared by two independent researchers, Mr. Steven Marshall and Dr. Susette Cooke, "Tibet Outside the TAR: Control, Exploitation and Assimilation." Their remarkable report is based on 9 months of fieldwork, which entailed more than 30,000 kilometers of ground travel in the area. It is neatly contained on Compact Disc (CD) and they would be pleased to

share it with interested members of the Committee.

In a speech to British Parliamentarians in 1996, His Holiness stated:

"I believe that it is more important to look forward to the future than to dwell in the past. Theoretically speaking it is not impossible that the six million Tibetans could benefit from joining the one billion Chinese of their own free will, if a relationship based on equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect could be established. If China wants Tibet to stay with her, it is up to China to create the necessary conditions. But, the reality today is that Tibet is an occupied country under colonial rule. This is the essential issue which must be addressed and resolved through negotiation."

Negotiations are the only way to promote a peaceful and comprehensive resolution of the Tibetan question. I have had the privilege of having been sent by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to serve on exploratory missions to China in 1982 and again in 1984. Subsequent to these missions, the Dalai Lama presented the Chinese leadership with courageous and farsighted proposals which take into consideration the interest of both the Tibetan and the Chinese people.

He has not, however, escaped criticism from some Tibetans and friends of Tibet who believe he has given up too much to reach the negotiating table. Ambassador Winston Lord, while serving as Assistant Secretary for East Asia, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Dalai Lama had gone more than half way to present a reasonable platform for negotiations. This view, I believe, is shared by his successor and throughout the Department.

It is indeed unfortunate that President Jiang Zemin has so far failed to respond to the Dalai Lama's proposals. President Jiang Zemin emerged from the 15th Party Congress as the undisputed leader of the People's Republic of China. If he believes that time is on his side with regards to Tibet and so elects to do nothing to resolve the issue, he will have made a grave mistake. There is no one in the Chinese power nexus who commands the respect and moral authority of the Dalai Lama, not only in Tibet but in the outlying and potentially destabilizing outer regions of China. The Dalai Lama could be a prestigious and powerful influence for non-violence in the tumultuous years ahead.

Even among Tibetans who are said to be a forward-looking people, I am known as a man of great optimism, and I have always maintained that a solution for Tibet can be found if there is sufficient political will to do so. Therefore, I am gratified with the Secretary's decision to appoint a Special Coordinator for Tibet. As Americans, you should consider the fact that this appointment is in the U.S. self-interest as well. By selecting a serious person of such high caliber within the policy-making apparatus, the United States has once again taken a constructive role in the peace and stability of the Asia Pacific region.

I thank the Committee for the opportunity to speak on the paramount importance of negotiations for the future of Tibet. I respectfully request that you be especially attentive to the issue of negotiations during the weeks ahead as President Jiang seeks to follow up on his American tour. I look forward to continuing to work with the Congress, the administration, and particularly with Mr. Craig, the Special Envoy for Tibetan Issues, in order to reach a peaceful negotiated solution for Tibet.