[Lalit K Jha]
MILWAUKEE, 18 Jul: An influential American lawmaker has applauded President Joe Biden for signing into law a bill which enhances US support for Tibet and promotes dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama towards a peaceful resolution of the dispute over the status and governance of the remote Himalayan region.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul on Wednesday said that he is “extremely pleased” that President Biden has signed the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act into law, “despite the administration’s failure to take a position on recognising any future Dalai Lama or implementing the Tibet Policy Act of 2002.”
Last month, McCaul led a congressional delegation to India, sparking anger from China, to highlight the bipartisan support in the US Congress for Tibet, just days after the House-version of this bill passed the House.
“The CCP will stop at nothing to undermine and erase Tibetan culture and strip the Tibetan people of their right to self-determination. It was my honour to lead a bipartisan delegation to India to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and affirm America’s unwavering commitment to Tibet,” he said.
“We cannot let the CCP push its tyrannical agenda to wipe cultures off the map as it sees fit. I was proud to co-introduce this bipartisan bill that empowers Tibet and the international community to stand up for justice and peace,” McCaul said.
In addition to reaffirming American support for the Tibetan peoples’ unique culture and right to self-determination, the legislation also enhances US support for Tibet by working to counter Chinese disinformation, and pushes for negotiations without preconditions between the CCP and Tibet to end their longstanding dispute.
“My administration will continue to call on the People’s Republic of China to resume direct dialogue, without preconditions, with the Dalai Lama, or his representatives, to seek a settlement that resolves differences and leads to a negotiated agreement on Tibet,” Biden said last week in a statement after signing the bill into law.
In June, China had opposed the bill.
“Anyone or any force who attempts to destabilise Xizang to contain or suppress China will not succeed,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian had told reporters in Beijing.
“The US should not sign the bill. China will take resolute measures to defend its sovereignty, security and development interests,” he said.
The 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 and came to India, where he set up the government-in-exile in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh.
From 2002 to 2010, the Dalai Lama’s representatives and the the Chinese government held nine rounds of dialogue that did not produce any concrete outcome.
China views the 89-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader, who is based in India, as a “separatist” who is working to split Tibet from the rest of the country. (PTI)