International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is a non-profit advocacy organization dedicated to promoting human rights and democratic freedoms in Tibet. Our work includes human rights monitoring and reporting, advocating for the rights of Tibetans in national and multinational fora, and pressing for an end to China’s repressive policies in Tibet. Established in 1988, ICT now has more than 100,000 supporters globally, with its headquarters in Washington D.C. and offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Brussels.
As a service to our members and supporters, we have created this questionnaire for the U.S. presidential candidates; it addresses many of the issues we believe are most important to our members, and to the future of Tibet. Because ICT is a non-partisan, 501 (c) (3) organization, we do not endorse or oppose candidates for political office, nor take part in campaigns.
QUESTIONS
1. Religious Freedom in Tibet
The State Department’s 2014 International Religious Freedom Report section on Tibet states that Chinese authorities “severely restricted religious freedom and engaged in widespread interference in religious practices, especially in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and nunneries.” Chinese government interference in long-standing Buddhist practices include efforts to control the selection of reincarnate lamas, including plans to “identify” the reincarnation of the current 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, after he passes away. In public remarks delivered in Geneva during the summer of 2015, U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Sarah Sewall remarked that “[t]he basic and universally recognized right of religious freedom demands that any decision on the next Dalai Lama must be reserved to the current Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist leaders, and the Tibetan people.”
a. If elected, will you publicly state that as a matter of the universally recognized right of religious freedom, the Chinese government should not interfere in the current Dalai Lama’s reincarnation and that the decision must be made according to the current Dalai Lama’s teachings, Tibetan Buddhist practices, and the will of the Tibetan people?
Yes_________ No_________
YES
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) clearly stated desire to control the reincarnation process is reprehensible and an affront to Tibetan Buddhists. I would speak clearly and unequivocally about this issue, placing it in the context of the egregious religious freedom violations by the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that affect all people of faith in that country . This is a theme that I have already raised in my capacity as co-chair of the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). Most recently, in its annual report released in October 2015, the CECC recommended a range of measures aimed at these Chinese violations, including restricting US visa access for perpetrators of abuses against Chinese Tibetans and other minorities, and adopting a whole-of-government approach to promoting Chinese religious freedom and other human rights.
b. If elected, what specific steps will you and your Administration take to promote religious freedom in Tibet?
Comments:
I would move to swiftly to appoint proven, capable individuals to fill the critical roles of Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom and Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, as these are among the key personnel in any administration tasked with prioritizing religious freedom and broader human rights issues in Tibet, and I would make sure that the IRF ambassador isn’t buried in the State Department bureaucracy but rather reporting to the Secretary of State as the senior U.S. government official charged with advancing this most basic human right. I would continue the practice of designating China as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for religious freedom violations, but I wouldn’t stop there. I would make CPC designations annually as the original authorizing legislation stipulates, and I would fully utilize the other tools at my disposal, which Congress granted the Executive Branch in the landmark International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) to levy sanctions commensurate with this dubious designation. More broadly, consistent with the CECC recommendations mentioned above, I would work to ensure that all the various departments and agencies in the Executive Branch were not only aware of the CCP’s transgressions against basic liberties but also incorporated promotion of religious freedom and human rights in their dealings with the PRC. Finally, I would appoint as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs an individual who understands that raising democracy and human rights concerns is a core part of our policy toward China and, for that matter, other countries in the region.
2. Access to Tibet
As the State Department notes in its most recent Tibet Negotiations Report (August 2015), “[p]ermission to travel to the TAR [Tibet Autonomous Region] is routinely denied; from May 2011 to May 2015, 35 trips to the TAR were denied out of 39 requests by U.S. Embassy and consular officials.” U.S. journalists and citizens also face severe restrictions in gaining access to Tibet. However, when traveling within the United States, Chinese diplomats, journalists, and citizens in the U.S. face no similar restrictions.
a. Do you support promoting access to Tibet for U.S. diplomats, journalists, and citizens, including Tibetan Americans, on a reciprocal basis, as we grant Chinese diplomats and others in the United States?
Yes_________ No_________
YES
I am deeply alarmed by the Chinese government’s frequent refusals of requests by U.S. embassy officials, diplomats, journalists and others to travel to the Tibet Autonomous Region. While in the Senate I was pleased to take the lead on a bipartisan letter to Secretary Kerry underscoring the importance of this and related issues. I believe it is vital that independent and impartial monitors be given access to Tibet to assess conditions on the ground.
b. If elected, what additional specific actions will you and your Administration take to ensure that U.S. diplomats, journalists, and citizens are reciprocated with unrestricted access to Tibet?
I would emphasize access to Tibet and make clear to the Chinese government that a U.S. consulate in Lhasa is a priority of my administration. Also on the diplomatic front, no additional Chinese consulates in the U.S. would be approved absent movement on this issue. I would further instruct the Secretary of State when granting diplomats from China access to parts of the U.S. to take into account the extent to which the PRC has granted American diplomats access to China, including Tibetan areas.
With regard to journalists’ access, in Feb. 2014 I co-sponsored bipartisan legislation urging the PRC to take meaningful steps to improve press freedom, and the Oct. 2015 CECC report recommended that the U.S. treat restrictions on the movement of reporters and the flow of information in the PRC as a trade barrier. I would urge the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to address this matter, and I would also consider restricting U.S. visas for executives or administrative personnel from PRC state-owned media.
Turning to the movement of citizens more broadly, my position would be that China can only be strengthened by allowing ideas and people to circulate freely in the country. I am particularly concerned that the CCP has restricted the ability of representatives from international organizations to enter Tibet. Unfortunately, the trends under the current administration have been going in the wrong direction. As the Oct. CECC report noted, a series of “national security”-related laws passed in the last year strengthen Beijing’s hand to engage in crackdowns, arbitrary detentions, and other repressive practices in Tibet and other areas of the country.
3. Meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has met in the White House with the last four U.S. Presidents – George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama– as a global spiritual leader and to discuss the plight of the Tibetan people.
Will you commit to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the White House to discuss religious freedom and other global issues, as well as issues facing Tibet and the Tibetan people?
Yes_________ No_________
YES
I would consider it a great privilege to welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the White House. While President Obama eventually welcomed the Dalai Lama to the White House, it was only after initially shunning such a meeting in October 2009, reportedly in order to curry favor with the Chinese government ahead of a planned visit to the PRC the following month. This was an unnecessary concession to Beijing that sent a message of weakness early in his presidency and came seven months after his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton infamously downplayed the importance of raising human rights concerns with her Chinese interlocutors. I would not make the same mistake.
4. Sino-Tibetan Dialogue
For decades, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has advocated a Middle Way Approach that would provide genuine autonomy for Tibetans within the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese government vilifies him and calls his approach a disguised quest for independence. After nine rounds of dialogue between representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government beginning in 2002, the dialogue stalled in 2010. Administrations of both Democratic and Republican parties have strongly endorsed the dialogue process as a path to a solution, and have recognized the sincerity of the Dalai Lama in supporting autonomy.
a. If elected, will you publicly express support and encourage a negotiated solution on Tibet?
Yes_________ No_________
YES
China’s attempts to vilify the Dalai Lama are well known, although they hit a new low recently when a top government official made the outrageous claim that the Dalai Lama approved of the Islamic State.The CECC’s Oct. 2015 report notes that there was no indication in the past year of official Chinese interest in resuming a dialogue that takes into account the concerns of Tibetans. In fact, an April 2015 government white paper reiterated that PRC officials would “only talk with private representatives of the Dalai Lama” to discuss “the future of the Dalai Lama and some of his followers” and how the Dalai Lama could “gain the forgiveness of the central government and the Chinese people.” Such preconditions are troubling, albeit unsurprising, indicators of the Chinese government’s posture toward a negotiated solution that takes into account the very real and pressing grievances of the Tibetan people.
b. Will you maintain continuity with your predecessors’ expressed support for the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way” approach?
Yes_________ No_________
YES
Contrary to Beijing’s claims, the Dalai Lama has already relinquished his power over Tibet’s future by endorsing a democratic system and devolving his responsibilities for the government-in-exile to an elected leader, following a voting process in 2011 that met international standards. In recognition of this milestone, I co-sponsored a bipartisan resolution in 2012 congratulating the Tibetan people and calling on Beijing to resume a dialogue with Tibetan leaders. I continue to endorse that way forward and would not only maintain continuity with my predecessors on this matter but elevate it in bilateral relations with the PRC.
c. What steps will your Administration take to facilitate substantive negotiations that seek to address the legitimate grievances of the Tibetan people?
As part of the whole-of-government approach mentioned above, my Administration would incorporate advocacy for Tibet negotiations and the redressing of outstanding human rights grievances into all facets of its dealings with Beijing. Some of the particular approaches I have in mind have already been mentioned, including the possible use of trade as well as diplomatic tools. Beyond those bilateral efforts, my administration would exercise leadership by urging other regional countries and international institutions to press Beijing to live up to 21st-century standards of governance with respect to Tibet and other areas.
5. The United States’ relationship with China is perhaps the most complex and multi-faceted of any in the world. Human rights have been an important aspect of this relationship to ensure a peaceful rise of China on the global stage; but the realities of the rise of China as a global power have at times resulted in human rights playing a secondary role in the relationship. Many observers have noted that commitments made by presidential candidates that they will be tough on China, especially on human rights, tend to weaken after a candidate is elected.
a. If elected, how specifically will you integrate human rights into your overall China policy?
You rightly note that candidates hailing from both political parties have at times made commitments while seeking higher office that they have failed to honor after being elected. This is indefensible.
As noted earlier, early in President Obama’s first year in office, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented during a press briefing on her inaugural Asia tour that human rights concerns “can’t interfere” with other important issues such as “the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis, and the security crisis.” Human rights organizations and dissidents alike were rightly dismayed and condemned Clinton for such remarks.
In my presidency, Beijing will not receive a free pass on human rights. As mentioned above, I will implement a whole-of-government approach, instructing all U.S. officials meeting with their Chinese counterparts to demand the unconditional release of political prisoners to include Tibetan political prisoners. Thanks to the work of the CECC, we are in a position to monitor the PRC’s progress on any commitments in this regard. As of September 1, 2015, the CECC’s Political Prisoner Database contained more than 1,800 records of Tibetan political prisoners detained on or after March 10, 2008, the beginning of a period of mostly peaceful political protests throughout the Tibetan plateau. This number is most assuredly incomplete.
I will publicly highlight specific abuses committed by the Communist regime and have each Member of my Cabinet raise individual political prisoner cases with his/her Chinese counterparts. I also will impose consequences, including visa bans, on Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses. I and my senior team will meet regularly with Chinese dissidents and activists – including Tibetans and Uighurs as well as religious believers – to demonstrate support for them. Additionally, I will do all I can to empower Chinese citizens to breach what has been called the Great Firewall of China, so that they can gain accurate news and information online about their country and the world.
b. What level of priority will you give to human rights in the U.S.-China relationship, including the rights of Tibetans and other non-Chinese people suffering under the policies of the Chinese government?
High_________ Moderate_________ Low _________
HIGH
Human rights would play a central role in my administration’s foreign policy, specifically in the context of U.S.-PRC relations, but more broadly as well. We need look no further than the tragic series of self-immolations undertaken in recent years to appreciate the desperation that so many Tibetans experience in the face of Chinese government repression. A central element in my foreign policy would be democracy and human rights promotion for the simple reason that, as I said when we released the CECC report in Oct., “A government that does not respect the rights and basic dignity of its own people cannot be assumed to be a responsible actor in the global arena.” This is not just a view that I have arrived at as a student of foreign policy. I feel deeply about the plight of the Tibetan people because of my own family’s experience fleeing a despotic regime to come to the U.S.Speaking out on human rights abuses wherever they are committed, especially in a country as important and powerful a global player as China, is simply the right, moral thing to do. Left unchallenged by the U.S., Chinese authorities will see no incentive to change their behavior, making it likely that the current crackdown will get worse and emboldening China to continue trying to undermine norms beyond its borders. In addition, Chinese activists look to the United States to speak out against abuses in the spirit of defending universal human rights. We cannot abandon them in their time of need.
6. If elected, would your Administration continue to support programs that assist sustainable development and cultural traditions on the Tibetan plateau as well as humanitarian assistance for Tibetan refugees?
Yes_________ No_________
YES
Some, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, have described the policies pursued by the Chinese government in Tibet as amounting to cultural genocide. I would prioritize programs that seek to protect and preserve Tibetan culture and language as well as those vital programs providing humanitarian assistance to Tibetan refugees. I am troubled by the increasingly tenuous status of Tibetan refugees in Nepal, a small country that has come under tremendous pressure from the PRC. Many Tibetans, including those already in Nepal, are facing new restrictions at precisely the time that Beijing has quadrupled, from 2014 to 2015, foreign direct investment in Nepal.
7. Tibet is known as the earth’s Third Pole, the largest storehouse of fresh water outside the Arctic and Antarctic, and the source of most of Asia’s major rivers, critical to hundreds of millions of people downstream. It is warming nearly three times as fast as the rest of the globe. The Tibetan people have been the stewards of their land for centuries and their expertise is vital to preserve Tibet’s environment.
Will you promote the acknowledgement of Tibet’s critical environmental significance at the international level and urge multilateral and multinational cooperation in ensuring the conservation of water resources and the fragile biodiversity of Tibet, through the direct involvement of the Tibetan people?
Yes ________ No _____
YES
My administration will view promoting the voice of Tibetans on the management of their land and water as an integral part of protecting Tibet’s culture in the face of Chinese efforts to eradicate it. Moreover, this is not just a local issue but a critical matter for the region. Historically, under Tibetan stewardship, the Indus, the Mekong, the Yangtze, the Yellow, the Salween, the Brahmaputra, the Karnali, and the Sutlej Rivers, all of which originate on the Tibetan plateau, provided water not only for China but also Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Now, under the PRC regime, Chinese dams and hydropower plants threaten the access of these other countries, which make up over one-fifth of the world’s population. Safeguarding the future of Tibet’s natural bounty is thus not only a diplomatic and foreign-policy matter but a humanitarian imperative.