By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Dec. 28: Days after the US Congress passed the Tibetan Policy and Support bill to strengthen Washington’s stance on key issues concerning Tibet and Tibetans, incumbent US President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on Sunday.
The bill that supplements and strengthens the Tibet Policy Act of 2002 is welcomed by the exile Tibetan government or the Central Tibetan Administration’s President Dr. Lobsang Sangay who lauded the bill to be “profoundly historic”. President Trump earlier this week refused to sign the bill demanding larger stimulus checks in the COVID relief bill, causing a brief delay.
“This legislation sends a powerful message of hope and justice to the Tibetans inside Tibet and bolsters US support for the protection of Tibetan people’s religious freedom, human rights, environmental rights and exile Tibetan democracy like never before,” President Sangay said.
“On behalf of the CTA and six million Tibetans, I extend deepest gratitude to President Trump for signing the profoundly historic bill. I would also like to thank once again the US Congress for passing the bill, especially the bill sponsors Senators Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin; and Congressmen Jim McGovern and Chris Smith for introducing it in the House and Senate. Thanks to everyone who contributed to making this a reality,” he added.
The bill becomes official US policy on the issue of reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, reaffirming that the right to choose future reincarnations, rests exclusively within the authority of the current Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhists, and the Tibetan people. And the US government will impose sanctions against Chinese government officials if any interference is reported.
TPSA is a revised bill from the historic Tibet Policy Act of 2002, which addressed Tibetan people’s human rights, environmental rights, religious freedom, and the welfare of Tibetan democracy in exile. The bipartisan bill commended the Tibetan spiritual leader for his implementation of democratic governance and also applauded the exile community for successfully adopting the system to choose their own leaders. Moreover, it formally recognized the Dharamshala-based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), also known as the exile Tibetan government, as the sole legitimate institution that reflects the aspirations of the Tibetan diaspora.
In addition, TPSA authorizes a number of appropriations for Tibet and Tibet related issues for each fiscal year from 2021 to 2025; $1,000,000 for the Office of the US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues; $675,000 for the Tibetan scholarship program established under the Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign Relations Provisions Act of 1996; $575,000 to carry out “Ngawang Choephel Exchange Programs”; humanitarian assistance through food, medicine, clothing, medical and vocational training for Tibetan refugees in South Asia; $8,000,000 to support activities for Tibetan communities in TAR and in other communities in China; $6,000,000 for programs to promote and preserve Tibetan culture and language development; $3,000,000 for strengthening the capacity of Tibetan institutions for governance, information, research and international outreach; $3,344,000 and $4,060,000 for Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) respectively for reporting on Tibet and Tibetans.
Washington-based rights group International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) which was part of the core lobby group for the bill said that the bill would dramatically upgrade the US support for Tibetans, “By passing the TPSA, Congress has not only upgraded its overall support for Tibet, but specifically laid a marker down on the global stage declaring that the international community will not accept China’s interference in the Dalai Lama’s succession and will oppose China’s human rights abuses in Tibet for as long as they continue. China’s plan to appoint the next Dalai Lama is the culmination of its decades-long effort to destroy the Tibetan people’s unique religion, culture and identity, as well as their sacred and globally important environment. We thank the United States for its bold leadership and look forward to other countries adopting their own versions of this legislation.”
One Response
This is a victory o f sorts for Tibet. It is historic because never before a western democracy took the liberty to engage in a religious sermon to a communist regime who is bend upon to use religion as a tool to score political points. Western democracies have the concept of separation of Church from the State and therefore they don’t normally indulge in religious matters when dealing with nation states. Religious freedom is what they normally call upon to uphold to states like communist China but rarely have they ever brought up an issue where an individual like the Dalai Lama and his future is involved.
This has never happened before till now. The reason that it was never an issue until now is that it is an exclusively religious issue that is decided by the Dalai Lama himself and the high Lamas of Tibet. It was nobody else’s business least of all communist China. However, after the illegal occupation of Tibet, communist China politicised the Dalai Lama issue in order to control and use the tradition of reincarnation for their own political agenda. The Chinese have no one else to blame except themselves.
Their foolishness, total disregard for Tibetan traditional religious practises and Tibetan people’s religious sensitivity made the Dalai Lama reincarnation issue an explosive topic which the Tibetans simply can’t afford to lose. The issue of the Dalai Lama is at the heart of Tibet’s national identity, religious belief and unity of the Tibetan nation. With Tibet’s present predicament, the Dalai Lama issue assumes even more portent as a rallying point for national liberation from foreign occupation. The people of Tibet have reposed their hopes in the person of Dalai Lama for the sun of freedom to shine one day in Tibet.
The Tibet policy and Support Act (TPSA) passed by Congress on bipartisan basis and signed by President Trump is not going to stop the Chinese communists from choosing a candidate of their choosing. However, what the TPSA does is, it delegitimises the Chinese candidate on the international stage. This is a victory for the Tibetan people.
Tibetans should try to organise a meeting between The Dalai Lama and President Trump personally before he leaves office or meet the Sikyong to convey the gratitude of all six million Tibetans for this noble act of supporting the Tibetan people in their quest for national liberation, cultural preservation and religious freedom. Our thanks goes to each and every senator on both sides of the aisle in the US Congress and especially to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Bill sponsor Marco Rubio, Ben Cardin, Congressmen Jim McGovern and Chris Smith for introducing it in the senate.