Recognizing the plight of the Tibetan people on the forty-first anniversary
of Tibet's 1959 Lhasa uprising and calling for serious negotiations between
China and the Dalai Lama to achieve... (Agreed to by the Senate)
SRES 60 ATS
Mr. MACK (for himself, Mr. MOYNIHAN, Mr. LOTT, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. WELLSTONE, Mr. HELMS, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. ASHCROFT, and Mr. FEINGOLD) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
Committee discharged; considered, amended, and agreed to
Whereas during the period 1949-1950, the newly established communist government of the People's Republic of China sent an army to invade Tibet ;
Whereas the Tibetan army was ill equipped and outnumbered, and the People's Liberation Army overwhelmed Tibetan defenses;
Whereas, on May 23, 1951, a delegation sent from the capital city of Lhasa to Peking to negotiate with the Government of the People's Republic of China was forced under duress to accept a Chinese-drafted 17-point agreement that incorporated Tibet into China but promised to preserve Tibetan political, cultural, and religious institutions;
Whereas during the period of 1951-1959, the failure of the Government of the People's Republic of China to uphold guarantees to autonomy contained in the 17-Point Agreement and the imposition of socialist reforms resulted in widespread oppression and brutality;
Whereas on March 10, 1959, the people of Lhasa, fearing for the life of the Dalai Lama, surrounded his palace, organized a permanent guard, and called for the withdrawal of the Chinese from Tibet and the restoration of Tibet's independence;
Whereas on March 17, 1959, the Dalai Lama escaped in disguise during the night after two mortar shells exploded within the walls of his palace and, before crossing the Indian border into exile two weeks later, repudiated the 17-Point Agreement;
Whereas during the `Lhasa uprising' begun on March 10, 1959, Chinese statistics estimate 87,000 Tibetans were killed, arrested, or deported to labor camps, and only a small percentage of the thousands who attempted to escape to India survived Chinese military attacks, malnutrition, cold, and disease;
Whereas for the past forty years, the Dalai Lama has worked in exile to find ways to allow Tibetans to determine the future status of Tibet and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in 1989;
Whereas it is the policy of the United States to support substantive dialogue between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Dalai Lama or his representatives;
Whereas the State Department's 1999 Country Report on Human Rights Practices finds that `Chinese government authorities continued to commit serious human rights abuses in Tibet , including instances of torture, arbitrary arrest, detention without public trial, and lengthy detention of Tibetan nationalists for peacefully expressing their political or religious views.';
Whereas President Jiang Zemin pointed out in a press conference with President Clinton on June 27, 1997, that if the Dalai Lama recognizes that Tibet is an inalienable part of China and Taiwan is a province of China, then the door to negotiate is open;
Whereas all efforts by the United States and private parties to enable the Dalai Lama to find a negotiated solution have failed;
Whereas the Dalai Lama has specifically stated that he is not seeking independence and is committed to finding a negotiated solution within the framework enunciated by Deng Xiaoping in 1979; and
Whereas China has signed but failed to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Now, therefore, be it