US President Donald Trump has enacted a law that requires the State Department to punish Chinese officials who bar American officials, journalists, and other citizens from going freely to Tibetan areas in Chinas far west.
The new American law, which was enacted on Wednesday, is called the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act. As per the new law, US secretary of state, who is now Mike Pompeo, must submit a report to the Congress within 90 days. The report will have details about the level of access to Tibetan areas that is granted to Americans by Chinese officials.
The secretary is then supposed to determine which Chinese officials are responsible for placing any potential limits on foreigners traveling to Tibet. The Chinese officials found placing restrictions will then be barred from getting visas to the United States or their active visas will be revoked. The secretary of state must make this assessment annually for a period of five years.
The laws objective is to force Chinese officials to lower the limits they impose on travel to Tibetan areas.
For too long, China has covered up their human rights violations in Tibet by restricting travel, Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts and the bills House sponsor, said in a written statement, according to the New York Times.
US citizens, including government officials, reporters, and tourists, who wish to enter Tibetan areas are routinely rejected. The few who are allowed entry in are forced to stay on strictly-controlled official tours, where the true plight of the Tibetan people remains hidden, officials said, as per a PTI report.
The situation has been cumbersome for Tibetan-Americans, who are almost and always denied the right to make a pilgrimage visit to their ancestral land and to meet their family members there, community members said.
How has China responded?
In a severe reprimand to the US Congress, China said American lawmakers had grossly interfered in Chinas domestic affairs. The relevant bill has disregarded the facts, grossly interfered in Chinas internal affairs, and violated the basic norms of international relations, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a press briefing. China is firmly opposed to this and has already made solemn representations to the US, Lu added, as per a report in the South China Morning Post.
China has warned the US that it would take “forceful measures” to resolutely safeguard its own interests after Trump signed the new law.
China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), on Thursday night, expressed strong indignation and firm opposition to the United States for enacting the law.
The act is against the basic norms of international relations and a gross interference in China’s domestic affairs, a statement issued by the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee said. It has sent a seriously wrong message to “Tibetan independence” forces, the statement said, as per a PTI report.
China-Tibet tensions
History
Tibet, a region on the Tibetan Plateau in Asia, spans about 2.4 million square kilometres. Tibet has been has been occupied and ruled by China since 1951.
From 1950 to 1959, China peacefully liberated and democratically reformed Tibet, ending the old feudal serfdom where brutality was rife. In 1950, the newly established Communist regime in China invaded Tibet, which was rich in natural resources and had a strategically important border with India.
With 40,000 Chinese troops in its country, the Tibetan government was compelled to sign the “Seventeen Point Agreement”, which recognised China’s rule, and sought to protect Tibet’s political system and Tibetan Buddhism.
However, Tibetans across the region continued to resist Chinas armed forces, and China responded with widespread brutality. Sources estimated that up to 260,000 people have died in prisons and labor camps between 1950 and 1984. Moreover, Tibet has the highest poverty rate in China. It is estimated that there are up to 20 million Chinese citizens working in prison camps.
The Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama
The Dalai Lama is essentially the political and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. After the Dalai Lama, the second most important figure is the Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lama has been traditionally involved in identifying the Panchen Lama, while the Panchen Lama is part of the process through which a new Dalai Lama is chosen.
After the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, the 14th Dalai Lama announced Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a 6-year-old child, to be the 11th Panchen Lama. However, only three days after the announcement, Chinese authorities allegedly kidnapped the 6-year-old child and his family, and installed another boy named Gyaincain Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama.
Whats next?
The 14th Dalai Lama has indicated that he might be the last one. He wants the Dalai Lama selection process to be democratised, wherein the Tibetan people get to elect their next leader. By doing this, the Dalai Lama hopes to limit the role of the Beijing-controlled Panchen Lama. However, this method has raised some concerns, as communist China is not known for fair and free elections.
Either way, the Tibetan people continue to suffer human rights abuses every day in Tibet. The thousands of Tibetans living outside their homeland continue to dream of someday returning to a conflict-free Tibet.
Elton Gomes is a staff writer at Qrius