US President Joe Biden signed the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act, also known as the Resolve Tibet Act, into law on July 12.
However, he made sure to note in his signed statement that the US recognizes Tibet (as referenced in the act) as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Tibetans throughout the world welcomed the act and celebrated it. On Thursday last week, Penpa Tsering, sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration, also known as the Tibetan government in exile, attended a reception in Washington to thank members of the US Congress for making the act law.
The act includes major modifications to the US’ Tibetan Policy Act of 2002, all of which strengthens Tibet’s hand and position against the PRC, which was only established in 1949.
With the passage of the law, the US government officially recognizes that Tibet is not only comprised of the so-called Tibetan Autonomous Region, which was only established in 1965 by the PRC, but now includes areas that Beijing designated as part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region in 2018. This more or less states what Tibetans have been saying when it comes to Tibet territorially, which is that Tibet is a country that includes the three provinces of Amdo, Kham and U-Tsang.
They view the claims made by the PRC that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times as historically inaccurate, with the people of Tibet having the right to self-determination as they have a distinct culture and identity.
The law says that the Tibet-China dispute is unresolved and promotes substantive dialogue between the PRC, the Dalai Lama and their representative, which would also include the democratically elected leaders of the Tibetan community, which in many ways recognizes the Tibetan government in exile based in Dharamshala, India.
The law also requires the US government to combat the propagation of disinformation by the PRC about Tibet, its history, its people, its institutions and the Dalai Lama, and says that the designated US special coordinator to Tibet must work with US Department of State bureaus to implement this.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the US for its backing of Tibet even before the Resolve Tibet Act was signed into law.
Specifically, during the mid-June visit of US representatives Michael McCaul and Nancy Pelosi to India, the US congressional delegation met with Tibetan and Indian leaders at Dharamshala, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India displayed and demonstrated its critical role in resolving the Tibet-China dispute.
In all of its criticisms of this law, Beijing maintains that Tibet is a domestic matter. In actuality, the Tibet-China conflict is a global problem with implications for the world’s sanctity, as well as the entirety of Asia. It remains Asia’s water tower and is the third pole.
The US law on Tibet comes at a time when there are growing ties between the Tibetans and Taiwan. Major developments appear to be visible on the horizon when it comes to the Tibet-China conflict. With this chess piece being moved forward, it is now up to Beijing to respond.
Tenzing Dhamdul is a research associate at the New Delhi-based Foundation for Non-Violent Alternatives.
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