By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, July 4: The Republican MP Scott Perry on Thursday tweeted that the resolution has been introduced in the US Congress, calling on US President Biden to declare Tibet an independent country. “After 70+ years of illegal occupation of Tibet by the murderous Chinese Communist Party, it’s well past time for the US to take action. That’s why I’m proud today to introduce a resolution calling on President Biden to declare Tibet an independent country,” he tweeted in the backdrop of July 1st celebrations held in China.
The resolution stated that the US must reject “seven-decade long illegal occupation of Tibet by the forces of the Chinese Communist Party” and asserted that the US would provide relief to “long-suffering people and reinforce its reputation as a strident defender of global human rights.” This bill recognized all the three provinces of Amdo, Kham and U-Tsang, as a separate, independent country.
The 2021 Tibet bill also urged the Biden administration to recognize the “democratically elected government of Tibet, presently named as the Central Tibetan Administration, [as] the only governing authority of Tibet.” It also entailed sanctions on individuals who are responsible for or complicit in, directly or indirectly, supporting the occupation of Tibet. A similar resolution drafted by Scott Perry on May 19 last year only recognized the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) or the Tibetan province of U-Tsang as an independent country.
Last year when the bill was introduced, many in the Tibetan community speculated the use of TAR in the resolution as a misnomer. One of the fellow researchers at Tibet Policy Institute, Tenzin Lhadon published an Op-ed on Phayul stating that the wording of the bill implicated a distorted narrative of Tibet. “The solitary fact that the bill worded Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of the PRC rather than calling the region as Tibet indicates how far the Chinese narrative and propaganda has advanced into Washington. The Bill might have antagonized Beijing, but it also presented a distorted historical representation of Tibet and the Tibetan struggle.”
Representative Perry signed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission’s bipartisan letter to the previous US Secretary of State in May 2019. The letter urged the Trump Administration to promptly implement key legislations on Tibet including Tibet Policy Act of 2002 and the 2018 Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act passed by Congress to guide United States policy on Tibet.
6 Responses
Kudos to Scott Perry of USA lawmaker who has the heart to support and speak for the less fortunate human beings like the Tibetans who had become the victim of the cruel and hungry communist Chinese illegal occupation of Tibet in 1959. I wish there are more people like him who whose voice could make a lot of difference in shinning light on Chinese bullying and brutality of innocent and defenceless independent country-Tibet before 1959.
PETOP
I couldn’t agree with you more ཧཱི་TIBET. I strongly support ཧཱི་TIBET’S comments.
Perhaps we should learn by now that American politics does nothing but harm to the political situation of Tibet. Take for example what happened in 1987, when HH presented the Five-Point Peace Plan in US Human Rights Caucus which was followed by series of protests by the Tibetans in Tibet who saw bright hope that America is backing the Tibetan cause. That didn’t end up well and only further ignited tight surveillance and control.
Similar situation happened when HH was awarded the US Congressional Gold Medal in late 2007. This fueled the fire in series of protests in 2008 which resulted in nothing other than tragedy and tighter Chinese control.
Furthermore, the question of ‘Tibet’s Independence’ is a huge slap in the face of CTA and His Holiness’s Middle-Way Approach which seeks for peaceful solution within the framework of China.
Personally, I see politics going on between America and China that does no good other than harm for the Tibetan people and their cause.
Perhaps Scott Perry should visit the Navajo Nations, or other Indian reservations scattered throughout the American West. Or how about Hawaii or Alaska which didn’t become states until 1959? Interesting the same year that the Dalai Lama went into exile. Is he pushing for Tibet to become the 51st state?
Does making things difficult for the Tibetans living in Qinghai, Kham and U-Tsang help him make more money for his backers in the hydrotechnology industry?
If the Tibetans in Tibet are unable to drive the trajectory of their heritage, it’s unlikely much is going to be achieved by farangs. How many Tibetans living in exile decide to go back and change things? Perhaps get into the Politburo and try influencing change from there? Didn’t Tibet and China co-exist in harmony for many eons? Throw in the wrench of internal politics of China from WWII and it seems achieving consensus isn’t that easy. Perhaps there are lessons there from Taiwan?
This is a most welcome show of solidarity with the Tibetan people by Senator Scott Perry. Communist China is the cause of all the instability in South China Sea, East China Sea, Eastern Ladakh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. It’s also the God father of the murderous Burmese regime. It’s constant threat to Taiwan and supporting terror groups in Pakistan are destabilising the Asia-Pacific region and South Asia. It’s trying to debunk American supremacy and achieve Chinese communist hegemony.
Like the danger communism posed in the 1960s and 70’s, once again Chinese communism is on the march. Communist China is supporting dictatorial regimes like Burmese regime, Cuba, Assad of Syria, North Korea, Hunsen of Cambodia, Putin of Russia and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus. It’s supporting illiberal, despotic and dictatorial regimes across the world in order to discredit and destroy democracy. The complete suppression of democracy in Hong Kong and the threat it poses on Taiwan are stark reminders that China is once again exporting communism. This is a great danger to all freedom loving peoples of the world.
Make no mistake, the communist regime in China is now the single greatest threat to world stability and international peace and tranquility. It is building a war machine that seeks to over throw the US as the unrivalled super power and world leader and impose its obnoxious communist totalitarianism over the world. This is unacceptable to the entire world whose people cannot remain hostage to a vile regime that sees democracy as chaos and autocracy as stability.
Communist China must be challenged and the best way to do it is to cut it to size. Tibet is an occupied country and has been recognised as such by the US Congress and also as militarily occupied territory. Now is the time to recognise the Exile Government known as Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) as the legitimate Government that represents the six million Tibetans of the three provinces of Kham, Amdo and U-Tsang. This is the way to deal with Chinese ethnocide and cultural genocide in Tibet for the last seven decades.
If the US wants to protect South Asia from being over-run by communism, the most important jigsaw in the puzzle is to protect India’s democracy. In order to protect India’s vibrant democracy, India must be free from foreign threats such Chinese invasion and encroachment of its territory as well as China and Pakistan instigated terrorism in Kashmir. At the moment, India is a victim of China-Pakistan nexus in fomenting terrorism and border incursions that has a destabilising impact on India. The axis of two Nuclear powered enemies hand in glove with each other greatly diminishes India’s ability to be a active player in world affairs. China and Pakistan are deliberately undermining India’s rise by constantly waging a covet war. In order to relieve India from having to face two arch enemies, Tibet must become independent to give India full attention to its arch rival Pakistan. This will create a power balance in the region that is more conducive for India to take its role as the torchbearer of freedom and democracy in South Asia and beyond. The US Government must be steadfast in itself resolve to protect democracy and for that purpose must show the will and wisdom to declare Tibet an independent zone of peace between the two Asian
His Eminence Scott Perry,
We humbly wish you longevity and health for thinking long suffering Tibetan refugees.
Such great beings are rare and precious in the world. I fold my hands and pay my gratitude .
Long live His Eminence Scott Perry