The Dalai Lama with members of a bipartisan Congressional delegation that met him on June 19 in McLeod Ganj, India. From left, Nicole Malliotakis, Gregory W. Meeks, Nancy Pelosi, the Dalai Lama, Penpa Tsering, Michael McCaul, Jim McGovern, Ami Bera and Marriannette Miller-Meeks.
A bipartisan US Congressional delegation met the Dalai Lama in McLeod Ganj, India this morning and presented him with a framed copy of the Resolve Tibet Act.
The Act, which among other things says it is US policy that the dispute between Tibet and China remains unresolved in accordance with international law, is now headed for a signature by President Joe Biden.
The presence of seven bipartisan US Congress members in McLeod Ganj was symbolically significant since it illustrated that Tibet as a longstanding unresolved issue has not been completely forgotten in the din of other major international crises.
The delegation consisted Republican Representatives Michael McCaul (R-TX), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) and Democratic representatives Jim McGovern (D-MA), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Gregory W Meeks (D-CA) and Ami Bera (D-CA).
The act that pressures China to resume direct negotiations with the Dalai Lama’s envoys or the democratically elected leaders of the Tibetan people is a significant symbolic win that may not make any tangible impact on Beijing. The Act leans on the Chinese government to resume negotiations which have been stalled since 2010.
Even when the negotiations stalled 14 years ago, Beijing had shown no particular inclination to resolve the Tibetan dispute. In the interregnum, the rise of and dramatic consolidation of power by President Xi Jinping since March 14, 2013, has meant that China’s position on Tibet has become even more entrenched.
In a second vote, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Resolve Tibet Act today, June 12, 2024.
There are expectations that the president will sign the act into a law soon.
Its significance comes from the fact that apart from saying that it is US policy that the dispute between Tibet and China remains unresolved in accordance with international law, it calls for a substantive dialogue without conditions between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama or his representatives or the democratically elected leaders of the Tibetan community.
It also empowers the Special Coordinator for Tibet to actively and directly counter disinformation about Tibet from the Chinese government and Communist Party, including working to ensure that US government statements and documents counter disinformation about Tibet.
A key feature of the act is that it ejects as “inaccurate” China’s claims that Tibet has been part of China since “ancient times.”
Notwithstanding its symbolic value, to the extent that the Act keeps the Tibetan issue alive in the consciousness of the international community as well reiterates Washington’s firm commitment to its amicable resolution, it is a remarkable development.
This year marks the 65th year of the Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet in 1965 amid threats to his life. Once the act becomes a law after Biden’s signature, it is expected to have at least some salutary effect on the way China deals with Tibet during its interactions with the international community.
The fact that the bipartisan Congressional delegation met the Dalai Lama is also illustrative of how the just re-elected government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi would like to keep the Tibetan dispute in its mix of things while dealing with China. Its particular reference to the issue being unresolved in accordance with international law is something that New Delhi will have to work around given the historic sensitivities of the dispute.