(TibetanReview.net, Nov03, 2017) – A draft resolution was introduced in the US House of Representatives on Nov 1, calling on President Donald Trump to make Tibet an important factor in US-China relations, to fully implement the US Tibetan Policy Act of 2002, to promote access for US citizens to Tibet and to encourage China “to enter into a dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives leading to a negotiated agreement with respect to Tibet”. The resolution was introduced on the eve of his visit to China and four other Asian countries.
It was a bipartisan, sense of the Congress resolution cosponsored by Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman Emeritus of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, along with Ted Yoho (R-FL) and Brad Sherman (D-CA), respective Chairman and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
President Trump leaves for his Asia tour on Nov 3, arriving in China on Nov 8. The other countries he will visit during the current, 12-day tour are Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Philippines.
In her statement while introducing the draft resolution, Representative Ros-Lehtinen said, “As we mark the 10-year anniversary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama receiving the Congressional Gold Medal, US policy must work to reverse
China’s dangerous behavior and finally achieve a negotiated solution that includes meaningful autonomy for the Tibetan people.”
She said China’s repression of the Tibetan people represented a serious threat to the region’s stability and must be a higher priority in US foreign policy. She wanted President Trump to use the resolution as a blueprint for Tibet policy in US-Chinese relations, outlining where the United States needs to take a stronger hand and stand up to Beijing’s bullying.
In his statement, Representative Engel wanted president Trump to make it clear that human rights and democratic values were central components of American foreign policy. He said the draft resolution called on the Trump Administration to continue America’s principled support of Tibetan people’s right to preserve their own distinct cultural identity.
