(TibetanReview.net, Jun19’24) — Brushing aside China’s warnings as well as expressions of grave concern, a high-level bipartisan delegation from the US Congress led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, and including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, visited Dharamshala and met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and officials of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) over Jun 18-19. The delegation also addressed the Tibetan Parliament in Exile as well as the Tibetan public.
The Dalai Lama welcomed the delegation warmly on Jun 19 morning. It presented to the Dalai Lama a copy of the Resolve Tibet Act bill. He is soon travelling to the US for treatment on a long-postponed nagging knee problem.
After meeting with the Dalai Lama, the delegation addressed a crowd of hundreds of people waving American and Tibetan flags outside his residence. The US lawmakers emphasized their commitment to the Tibetan cause. Pelosi highlighted the recently passed Resolve Tibet Act, which encourages dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Chinese officials.
“This bill is a message to the Chinese government that we have clarity in our thinking and our understanding of this issue of the freedom of Tibet,” btimesonline.com Jun 19 quoted her as saying, receiving enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Launching a blistering attack on Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pelosi said the Dalai Lama’s legacy will live forever but Xi will be gone in a few years. “His Holiness Dalai Lama, with his message of knowledge, tradition, compassion, purity of soul, and love, will live a long time and his legacy will live forever. But you, the President of China, you’ll be gone and nobody will give you credit for anything,” she said during the public felicitation programme at Tsuglagkhang Complex in Dharamshala.
McCaul has reinforced American support for Tibetan self-determination, stating, “Just this week our delegation received a letter from the Chinese Communist Party, warning us not to come here… but we did not let the CCP intimidate us for we are here today,” as the crowd cheered.
The other members of the delegation are Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), House Veterans Affairs Committee; Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Ranking Member, House Foreign Affairs Committee; Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), House Ways and Means Committee; Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), House Rules Committee; and Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), House Foreign Affairs Committee, who all spoke at the public event.
Earlier, on the day of their arrival on Jun 18, the US lawmakers met with officials of the CTA (the Tibetan government-in-exile), which seeks genuine autonomy for a historically ethnographically defined Tibet, as enshrined in the Resolve Tibet Act. They also addressed the Tibetan Parliament in Exile.
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China lashed out at the US lawmakers, especially for their planned meeting with the Dalai Lama and support for the Resolve Tibet Act, vowing to “take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.”
Calling the Dalai Lama an anti-China separatist, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian has said Jan 18: “We are gravely concerned over the relevant reports and urge the US side to fully recognize the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai group, honour the commitments the US has made to China on issues related to Xizang, have no contact with the Dalai group in any form, and stop sending the wrong signal to the world.”
“Xizang” is China’s name for Tibet, which it insists only includes the territory it has demarcated as Tibet Autonomous region, comprising roughly only the western half of Tibet proper.
He has further said Xizang has been part of China since ancient times and its affairs is China’s domestic affairs and no external interference will ever be allowed – assertions explicitly rejected by the Resolve Tibet Act.
“No one and no force should ever attempt to destabilize Xizang to contain and suppress China. Such attempts will never succeed,” Lin has asserted, as reported by timesofindia.com Jun 19.
“We urge the US side to adhere to its commitments of recognizing Xizang as part of China and not supporting ‘Xizang independence.’ The US must not sign the bill into law. China will take resolute measures to firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests,” Lin has added.
But McCaul has said President Biden will sign the bill, which had been two years in the works.