US lawmakers have approved legislation demanding China grant Washington a US consulate in Tibet and clearing the way for sanctions against Chinese officials who interfere in the Dalai Lama’s succession.
The Tibet Policy and Support Act was an amendment to the $1.4 trillion government spending bill. Such amendments attached to spending bills is common practice in Congress.
The White House has reportedly indicated that President Donald Trump will sign the spending bill, making it the law of the land.
The Senate’s approval of the Tibet Act, which was already passed by the House of Representatives, comes amid growing chatter in Washington that the incoming Biden administration may not adopt a very confrontationist approach towards China. According to some experts, Biden is known to be a centrist and his foreign policy choices will be governed by pragmatism, taking allies on board and a more traditional approach towards China.
However, the assumptions about China that informed the policy decision of the Obama administration, when Biden was vice president, may no longer be valid. Under Xi Jinping, China has become increasingly aggressive, making territorial claims all around Asia and more dismissive when other countries question its record on human rights in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
The Bill on Tibet, and what it means
The Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020 (TPSA) calls for the establishment of a US consulate in Tibet’s capital Lhasa and stresses that Tibetans have the absolute right to choose a successor to the Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader.
“The TPSA makes it official United States policy that decisions regarding the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama are exclusively within the authority of the current Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhist leaders and the Tibetan people,” the Tibetan Government-in-exile, which is based in India, said in a statement, welcoming the move by the US.
Beijing has, not surprisingly, urged America to “stop meddling in China’s internal affairs”.
While the Trump administration pushed against China on a number of issues including coronavirus and trade, Biden might decrease some of the rhetoric while playing a more quietly activist role in Tibet and Hong Kong.
In July, the US State Department announced it was barring Chinese authorities from the US found to be restricting tourists, journalists or diplomats and other US officials from entering Tibetan areas.
Interestingly, earlier in May, US lawmaker Scott Perry had introduced a bill to recognise Tibet as an independent country.
While the Biden administration will not go ahead with something so disruptive, human rights in Tibet and China’s attempts to dilute Tibetan culture and engineer massive demographic changes in the region are going to meet pushback from the new White House.
While Beijing considers Tibet to be part of its historical empire, a majority of Tibetans think it was illegally occupied by an expansionist China in the 1950s. China’s Communist Party has crushed dissent and protests in the region for decades. In 2008, the Dalai Lama accused Beijing of waging “cultural genocide” against his people.
The question of the succession of the 14th Dalai Lama, who is based in India, assumes special significance as His Holiness is now 85 years old. China appears determined to push a Beijing-friendly Dalai Lama as the next in line. It’s a prospect that alarms millions of Tibetans and Buddhists around the world. Biden may have to act decisively on this front sooner rather than later.
