[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8365 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8365
To amend the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 to modify certain provisions of
that Act.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 13, 2022
Mr. McGovern (for himself and Mr. McCaul) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 to modify certain provisions of
that Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-
China Conflict Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) It has been the long-standing policy of the United
States to encourage meaningful and direct dialogue between
People's Republic of China authorities and the Dalai Lama or
his representatives, without preconditions, to seek a
settlement that resolves differences.
(2) Ten rounds of dialogue held between 2002 and 2010
between the People's Republic of China authorities and the 14th
Dalai Lama's representatives failed to produce a settlement
that resolved differences, and the two sides have not met since
January 2010.
(3) An obstacle to further dialogue is that the Government
of the People's Republic of China continues to impose
conditions on His Holiness the Dalai Lama for a resumption of
dialogue, including a demand that he say that Tibet has been
part of China since ancient times, which the Dalai Lama has
refused to do because it is false.
(4) United States Government statements that the United
States considers Tibet a part of the People's Republic of China
have reflected the reality on the ground that the Government of
the People's Republic of China has exerted effective control
over Tibet.
(5) The United States Government has never taken the
position that Tibet was a part of China since ancient times or
that the means by which the Government of the People's Republic
of China came to exert effective control over Tibet was
consistent with international law or included the free or
meaningful consent of the Tibetan people.
(6) United States Government documents dated January 9,
1919, June 1, 1944, June 17, 1949, April 4, 1951, December 3,
1951, March 23, 1961, and February 14, 1963, listed Tibet as an
entity separate and distinct from China.
(7) Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and Article 1 the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provide that ``All peoples
have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right
they freely determine their political status and freely pursue
their economic, social and cultural development.''.
(8) Under international law, including United Nations
General Assembly Resolution 2625, the right to self-
determination is the right of a people to determine its own
destiny and the exercise of this right can result in a variety
of outcomes ranging from independence, federation, protection,
some form of autonomy or full integration within a State.
(9) United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1723,
adopted on December 20, 1961, called for the ``cessation of
practices which deprive the Tibetan people of their fundamental
human rights and freedoms, including their right to self-
determination.''.
(10) In a December 30, 1950, note to the Governments of the
United Kingdom and India, the Department of State wrote that
``The United States, which was one of the early supporters of
the principle of self-determination of peoples, believes that
the Tibetan people has the same inherent right as any other to
have the determining voice in its political destiny. It is
believed further that, should developments warrant,
consideration could be given to recognition of Tibet as an
independent State.''.
(11) In a June 2, 1951, telegram to the United States
Embassy in New Delhi, the State Department wrote that Tibet
should not ``be compelled by duress [to] accept [the] violation
[of] its autonomy'' and that the Tibetan people should ``enjoy
certain rights [of] self-determination, commensurate with [the]
autonomy Tibet has maintained since [the] Chinese revolution.''
(12) Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a May 26, 2022,
speech entitled ``The Administration's Approach to the People's
Republic of China,'' said that the rules-based international
order's ``founding documents include the UN Charter and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrined concepts
like self-determination, sovereignty, the peaceful settlement
of disputes. These are not Western constructs. They are
reflections of the world's shared aspirations.''.
(13) The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 6901 note),
in directing the United States Government ``to promote the
human rights and distinct religious, cultural, linguistic, and
historical identity of the Tibetan people'' acknowledges that
the Tibetan people possess a distinct religious, cultural,
linguistic, and historical identity.
(14) Department of State reports on human rights and
religious freedom have consistently documented repression by
the People's Republic of China authorities against Tibetans as
well as acts of defiance and resistance by Tibetan people
against the People's Republic of China policies.
(15) Section 355 of the Foreign Relations Authorization
Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 (Public Law 102-138; 105 Stat.
713) stated that it is the sense of Congress that--
(A) ``Tibet, including those areas incorporated
into the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu,
and Qinghai, is an occupied country under the
established principles of international law'';
(B) ``Tibet's true representatives are the Dalai
Lama and the Tibetan Government in exile as recognized
by the Tibetan people'';
(C) ``Tibet has maintained throughout its history a
distinctive and sovereign national, cultural, and
religious identity separate from that of China and,
except during periods of illegal Chinese occupation,
has maintained a separate and sovereign political and
territorial identity'';
(D) ``historical evidence of this separate identity
may be found in Chinese archival documents and
traditional dynastic histories, in United States
recognition of Tibetan neutrality during World War II,
and in the fact that a number of countries including
the United States, Mongolia, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal,
India, Japan, Great Britain, and Russia recognized
Tibet as an independent nation or dealt with Tibet
independently of any Chinese government'';
(E) ``1949-1950, China launched an armed invasion
of Tibet in contravention of international law'';
(F) ``it is the policy of the United States to
oppose aggression and other illegal uses of force by
one country against the sovereignty of another as a
manner of acquiring territory, and to condemn
violations of international law, including the illegal
occupation of one country by another''; and
(G) ``numerous United States declarations since the
Chinese invasion have recognized Tibet's right to self-
determination and the illegality of China's occupation
of Tibet.''.
(16) The joint explanatory statement to accompany division
K of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2022
(Public Law 117-103) states that ``Funds appropriated by the
Act should not be used to produce or disseminate documents,
maps, or other materials that recognize or identify Tibet,
including the Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan
autonomous counties and prefectures, as part of the PRC until
the Secretary of State reports to the appropriate congressional
committees that the Government of the PRC has reached a final
negotiated agreement on Tibet with the Dalai Lama or his
representatives or with democratically elected leaders of the
Tibetan people.''.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States that--
(1) the Tibetan people are a people entitled to the right
of self-determination under international law, including the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
and that their ability to exercise this right is precluded by
the current policies of the People's Republic of China; and
(2) the conflict between Tibet and the People's Republic of
China is unresolved, and that the legal status of Tibet remains
to be determined in accordance with international law.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) claims made by officials of the People's Republic of
China and the Chinese Communist Party that Tibet has been a
part of China since ancient times are historically false;
(2) the Government of the People's Republic of China has
failed to meet the expectations of the United States to engage
in meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his
representatives toward a peaceful settlement of the unresolved
conflict between Tibet and the People's Republic of China; and
(3) United States public diplomacy efforts should counter
disinformation about Tibet from the Government of the People's
Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, including
disinformation about the history of Tibet, the Tibetan people,
and Tibetan institutions including that of the Dalai Lama.
SEC. 5. MODIFICATIONS TO THE TIBETAN POLICY ACT OF 2002.
(a) Tibet Negotiations.--Section 613(b) of the Tibetan Policy Act
of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 6901 note) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) efforts to counter disinformation about Tibet from
the Government of the People's Republic of China and the
Chinese Communist Party, including disinformation about the
history of Tibet, the Tibetan people, and Tibetan institutions
including that of the Dalai Lama.''.
(b) United States Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues.--Section
621(d) of the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 6901 note) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), and (8) as
paragraphs (7), (8), and (9), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
``(6) work to ensure that United States Government
statements and documents counter, as appropriate,
disinformation about Tibet from the Government of the People's
Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, including
disinformation about the history of Tibet, the Tibetan people,
and Tibetan institutions including that of the Dalai Lama;''.
(c) Geographic Definition of Tibet.--The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002
(22 U.S.C. 6901 note) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 622. GEOGRAPHIC DEFINITION OF TIBET.
``In this Act and in implementing policies relating to the Tibetan
people under other provisions of law, the term `Tibet', unless
otherwise specified, means--
``(1) the Tibet Autonomous Region; and
``(2) the Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and
Yunnan provinces.''.
SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS TO COUNTER DISINFORMATION ABOUT TIBET.
Amounts authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available
to carry out section 201(c) of the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of
2018 (22 U.S.C. 2292 et seq.) are authorized to be made available to
counter disinformation about Tibet from the Government of the People's
Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, including
disinformation about the history of Tibet, the Tibetan people, and
Tibetan institutions including that of the Dalai Lama.
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