(TibetanReview.net, Aug28’20) – The United States Republican National Committee’s executive committee had decided on Jun 10, 2020 to adopt the same platform it had for the 2016 election cycle, which contained a strong reference to the issue of Tibet, noted Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet Aug 27. It has expressed concern, however, that the Democrats’ draft 2020 platform has no references to Tibet.
The 2016 Republican platform had stated: “[C]ultural genocide continues in Tibet and Xinjiang, the promised autonomy of Hong Kong is eroded, the currency is manipulated, our technology is stolen, and intellectual property and copyrights are mocked in an economy based on piracy.”
And the Democratic Party’s platform for 2016 had stated: “We will promote greater respect for human rights, including the rights of Tibetans.”
And the group hopes the adopted version of the Democratic platform, which is not yet public, does not overlook the issue of Tibet.
The group said it was perplexed by the decision made by the Democratic National Committee to delete the reference to Tibet that was in its 2016 platform from its draft 2020 platform. Noting that the United States had a strong history and tradition of bipartisan support for the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people, it said the situation in Tibet had worsened in recent years with China imposing lockdown-like conditions for the entire Tibetan population even before the current pandemic.
President Donald Trump has adopted a strongly-anti-China stand to seek support for his re-election and for winning the House and Senate for his party. And he has painted the Democratic Party candidate for President, Joe Biden, who is leading in the polls, as weak on China.
However, adopting a platform position on Tibet does not necessarily translate into strong support for Tibet. The Trump Administration never appointed a Special Coordinator on Tibetan issues, as mandated under a congressional Act and for which appointments had been made under all past presidents.
