The Resolve Tibet Act has only been in Congress for a few weeks, but it’s already getting support from leaders in other countries.
A British Member of Parliament praised the bill in a written post shortly after Reps. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas, introduced the bill in the US House of Representatives last month.
Meanwhile, a Senator in Australia gave a recent floor speech hailing the global parliamentarians’ convention where the Resolve Tibet Act was announced.
The Resolve Tibet Act—whose full title is the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Conflict Act—will recognize Tibet’s status as unresolved under international law and support the Tibetan people’s right to self-determination.
The bill aims to pressure China to resume negotiations with the envoys of the Dalai Lama for the first time since 2010.
The Resolve Tibet Act is currently gathering cosponsors in the House.
United Kingdom
Navendu Mishra, a UK Member of Parliament, expressed his support for the bill in a recent statement on his website.
“Indeed, a bipartisan bill introduced by US lawmakers … would make it official government policy that Tibetans have the right to ‘self-determination’ as well as putting in legislation that the dispute over Tibet’s status remains ‘unresolved,’” wrote Mishra, who just turned 33 and began serving in Parliament in 2019.
Mishra added that the Resolve Tibet Act will aid the work of the Dalai Lama. “Such efforts,” he said, “are vital in the long-running dispute and help to keep Tibet at the forefront of Government’s minds when the eyes of the world are focused on the conflict in Ukraine and other global issues.”
Mishra also criticized the human rights abuses, religious freedom violations and destruction of culture that have been key parts of China’s brutal, decades-long occupation of Tibet.
It would be fitting, Mishra said, “for governments around the world to support Tibet, bring China to the negotiating table, and ensure that all rights of Tibetans are respected.”
“Their voices must continue to be heard,” he said, “and I will continue to use my position in Parliament to raise this issue.”
Australia
In Australia, Senator Janet Rice raised Tibet in a speech she gave near the start of the new Parliament.
In her remarks, Rice—a longtime Tibet supporter who has served in government for nearly two decades—said it was a “great privilege” to take part in the 8th World Parliamentarians’ Convention on Tibet in Washington, DC in June.
During the convention, McGovern and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the Resolve Tibet Act.
In her speech, Rice read the convention’s declaration, which calls on parliaments to “hold their governments accountable for upholding international law in regard to Tibet,” including by:
- respecting and promoting the Tibetan people’s inalienable right to self-determination
- refraining from expressly or implicitly recognizing the Chinese government’s claim to sovereignty over Tibet
- treating Tibet as an occupied country and not as a part of China
- taking coordinated action to achieve a resolution to the China-Tibet conflict through dialogue and negotiations between the parties without preconditions.
“I have come back to this place from the convention fired up about the role that Australia and this Senate can play to achieve justice for the people of Tibet,” Rice said.
Rice ended her remarks by encouraging her fellow senators to meet with Tibetans during an upcoming Lobby Day in September organized by the Australia Tibet Council, a partner of the International Campaign for Tibet.
Tibet Lobby Day
In the United States, ICT is working with fellow organizations to host Tibet Lobby Day in Washington, DC on Sept. 22-23.
The event will bring Tibetan Americans and Tibet supporters to the US Capitol to meet with members of Congress and Congressional staff.
During Tibet Lobby Day, participants will ask their representatives to support Tibet and to cosponsor the Resolve Tibet Act.