By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, JUN 1: The two largest pro-independence organizations in exile, Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) and Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), on Monday urged the office of US Congressman Scott Perry to amend the language of the bill from Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) to the whole of Tibet in a joint press conference.
The grassroots organizations applauded US Congressman Perry for the introduction of the Free Tibet Act 2020. US Congressman Scott Perry introduced the bill (H.R.6948) in the House of Representatives that would recognize the TAR that includes the traditional Tibetan province of Utsang and part of Kham to be a “separate country” on May 19.
“This bill represents a historic milestone for the Tibetan people who have struggled for freedom and independence from China for the last 70 years and it will go down in history as an important moment when the American people recognized Tibet’s legitimate claim to independence,” said Gonpo Dhundup, President of TYC.
The bill recognizes TAR as an independent country which was formed by the Chinese Communist Party on Sept. 9, 1965, and constitutes almost half the size of actual Tibet. The activists remarked that the three traditional provinces of Tibet; Utsang, Kham, and Amdo, have been oppressed by the Chinese regime and cited “156 self-immolation” cases as examples of Chinese brutality.
Their statement also blamed the Chinese government for its lack of transparency on the COVID-19 pandemic. TYC’s ongoing digital campaign #MakeChinaAccountable2020 for the pandemic is scheduled to end on June 3. It stated that the “practices of censorship and repression endanger people everywhere” and called for the international community to reject China’s strict mode of surveillance and control over its oppressed minorities.
Dorjee Tseten, Executive Director of SFT, said, “We urge world governments to take immediate multilateral action against Beijing’s authoritarian rule by challenging China’s illegal occupation of Tibet and by rejecting ‘One Chine Policy’ in theory and practice. We urge other governments and leaders to take a stronger political stand when dealing with China and introduce similar bills to recognize Tibet as a separate, independent country that remains under China’s illegal occupation.”
The bill has currently been referred to the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The introduction of the bill on May 19 attracted global attention as it pushed to recognize Tibet as being historically independent. US policymakers have introduced in the recent past, bills and sanctions in support of Tibet, including Tibetan Policy Act (2002), Reciprocal Access to Tibet (2018) and the Tibet Policy Support Act (2019).
