Tibetan people deserve their dignity — and their rights

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/08/17/opinion/dalai-lama-tibet-china/

Our visit was to India — not Tibet — because the Dalai Lama has lived in exile there for the past 65 years, forced to flee after his native homeland was brutally taken over and occupied by China.

Earlier this summer, I was part of a bipartisan congressional delegation that traveled to Dharamshala, India, to meet with the Dalai Lama.

Our visit was to India — not Tibet — because the Dalai Lama has lived in exile there for the past 65 years, forced to flee after his native homeland was brutally taken over and occupied by the People’s Republic of China.

For decades, the United States has played a complicated role in the resulting dispute — pledging support for the people of Tibet while also accepting China’s sovereignty over the region. In recent years, and rightfully so, the Chinese government has come under increasing scrutiny for violating the rights of the Tibetan people and attempting to erase their language, culture, religion, and way of life. For America to help right these wrongs, we must demand that China start treating the people of Tibet with dignity and respect. We have more tools in the toolbox — now is the time to use them.

Visiting with His Holiness was an incredibly powerful and moving experience. As the world’s best-known Tibetan leader, he has inspired millions with his belief in the oneness of all humanity and the importance of human dignity. I have been guided by his commitment to nonviolence and his dedication to preserving the one planet we all share. In a world consumed by turmoil, his leadership is as relevant and as necessary today as ever.

Yet it is the Tibetan people who the Dalai Lama represents who are most on my mind after my trip — those still in Tibet, who every day must confront the Chinese government’s unceasing efforts to erase their existence, and those scattered in diaspora communities all over the world, doing their utmost to keep their history and memory alive.

Our visit to Dharamshala was a vivid reminder of these two realities. The Tibetans we met in India are there because of Chinese repression. The thriving community and solid institutions they have built — including the democratically self-governing Central Tibetan Administration — are evidence of their strength and resilience as a people. But the underlying dispute over the Tibetan right to self-determination is unresolved.

The week before our bipartisan delegation departed for India, the House voted overwhelmingly to pass the Promoting a Peaceful Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act, a bill I authored. This legislation affirms America’s support for Tibetan self-determination and requires the State Department to counter false information about Tibet — such as the PRC claim that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times. Correcting the historical record is one step the United States can take to support the Tibetan people.

China has criticized this new legislation with the tired accusation that it constitutes interference in China’s internal affairs. In fact, the PRC sanctioned me for my role in calling out their horrific human rights record — an action that only serves to highlight how afraid their leadership is of free and open debate, and how they seek to punish and silence those who disagree with them.

I will wear their sanctions as a badge of honor, and I will continue to call on the Chinese government to honor its existing obligations under international human rights law. As a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, China has accepted that “all peoples have the right to self-determination.” Self-determination can take many forms; the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way Approach, which seeks genuine autonomy for Tibetans in China, is one example.

The United States must continue to pressure Chinese officials to stop their efforts to erase Tibetan culture. Tibetans must be able to speak their language, practice their religion, educate their children, and preserve their history as they see fit. Tibetan political prisoners should be released. And the Dalai Lama’s successor, the Panchen Lama — forcibly disappeared by the Chinese government in 1995 — should be allowed to live his life in freedom. The Dalai Lama should be allowed to return to Tibet if he wants and meet with his people.

The United States must also urge the Chinese government to negotiate in good faith with the Dalai Lama, the Central Tibetan Administration, or whoever Tibetans decide, to ensure a future in which Tibetans preserve their dignity and all of their rights. There is no obstacle to negotiation on the Tibetan side. It is past time for the PRC to return to the table. If they were to take these steps, the international community would respond positively.

Finally, America must uplift the voices of Tibetans in the diaspora and support their initiatives to preserve their culture and memory. At the end of the day, this comes back to the Tibetan children who greeted us upon our arrival in Dharamshala. We seek a better future for their sake.

Despite our differences, China and the United States must learn to peacefully coexist. But peaceful coexistence doesn’t mean staying silent when we disagree — we have different principles and values, and those values compel the United States to stand up until the human rights of the Tibetan people are respected.

America must stand in solidarity with the people of Tibet for as long as that takes.

Jim McGovern is a US representative from Massachusetts and cochair of Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Congress.

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I am sending peace and love to China's President and doing Tonglen too. I hope that he will change his mind and heart towards Tibetan people.

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Dalai Lama says living in exile has been beneficial

https://www.tibetanreview.net/dalai-lama-says-living-in-exile-has-been-beneficial/

 While still hoping to be back in his homeland after over half a century of being a guest of the government of India, the Dalai Lama has said living in exile as a refugee has been beneficial for him in terms of developing global connections, spreading the message of the Buddha, and raising awareness about Tibet. He has made the remarks on Aug 16 while addressing a public in Ithaca City of New York state during a brief stopover enroute to New York City from Syracuse where he has been undergoing physical therapy.

“By coming into exile, I had an opportunity to travel around the world explaining the essence of Buddhism to a wider audience, building a human-to-human connection that has proved to be beneficial and connect with many people globally,” the Tibetan service of rfa.org Aug 16 quoted the exile Tibetan spiritual leader as saying.

“People around the world today feel a deep sense of closeness and unity with Tibet and Tibetans,” the 89-year-old 1989 Nobel Peace laureate has said, spiritual leader during his first visit to the Dalai Lama Library and Learning Center that was established by his India-based Namgyal Monastery.

“If I had not been a refugee, I may be sitting on a high throne in Lhasa, Tibet,” he has told the gathering of over 100 Tibetans and other well-wishers.

Speaking during his one-hour stop at the centre, the Dalai Lama has reaffirmed his commitment to serve the Tibetan people and promote the Buddhist tradition, and emphasized the importance of preserving their religious and cultural heritage.

The centre, which opened to the public in Sep 2023, includes a digital audio archive with 40,000 hours of the Dalai Lama’s teachings, about 4,000 books with translations of ancient texts on the evolution of Buddhist thought, and Buddhist artifacts from India and Tibet, the report noted.