The “Resolve Tibet Act” defines US policy on Tibet, challenges Chinese claims, and promotes global action for Tibet’s rights and international resolution.
-by Tsewang Gyalpo Arya for Japan Forward
President Joe Biden Signs Resolve Tibet Act, Strengthens America’s Tibet Policy on July 12, 2024 (Photo: Tibet.net)
July 2024 marks an important milestone in defining the United States’ policy on the Tibet issue and its resolutions. US President Joe Biden signed the “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act,” and the Act became law on July 12. This legislation delineates and will govern the US policy toward Tibet and the Tibetan struggle for freedom and justice.
The Act has six sections:
- Short title
- Findings
- Statement of policy
- Sense of Congress
- Modifications to the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002
- Availability of amounts to counter disinformation about Tibet
The Act is popularly known in its abridged form as the “Resolve Tibet Act.” Both its long and abridged forms succinctly convey the purpose and necessity of the legislation. It aims to settle the ongoing dispute between Tibet and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime. This is crucial due to China’s ongoing aggressive efforts to distort and erase the true nature of the issue through disinformation.
Historical Truth vs Diplomatic Deadlock
Section 2 of the Act has 12 clauses explaining how negotiations between 2002 and 2010 failed and why they were impossible. This was due to China’s insistence on the illogical precondition that the Dalai Lama recognize Tibet as having been a part of China since ancient times. Clause 5 of the section states, “The United States Government has never taken a position that Tibet was a part of China since ancient times.”
Tibet has been an independent country with a long cultural, religious, and political history. Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950, China has consistently tried every means to justify its presence in Tibet, including distortion of Tibetan history. Washington reiterated that Tibet has never been a part of China since ancient times. Free and democratic nations around the world should uphold and recognize this historical truth.
This will awaken China from its condescending big bully stupor and arm-twisting maneuver. It will force China to accept the reality that its military occupation of Tibet was brutal, illegal, and against the United Nations Charter.
Click here to read more.
