United States Support the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhists

By Mary Trewartha / April 27, 2018;

The United States Senate has unanimously supported a Special Resolution which calls for the right of the Tibetan Buddhist faith community to determine its own reincarnations – specifically including that of His Holiness the Dalai Lama – saying, “Any attempt by the Government of the People’s Republic of China to identify or install its own candidate as a Tibetan Buddhist religious leader, including a future 15th Dalai Lama, is invalid interference in the right to religious freedom of Tibetan Buddhists around the world, including in Tibet as well as the United States and elsewhere”.

Special Resolution 429 is the first time that any national legislative body has called for the right of the Tibetan Buddhist faith community to determine its own reincarnations. It was introduced by Senator Leahy, along with Senators Feinstein, Cruz, and Rubio and was passed on April 25, the birthday of the missing Panchen Lama who was abducted by the Chinese at the age of six – please see article Tibet’s Missing Panchen Lama Turns 29

In the preamble the Resolution refers to “Tibetan Rights Day” – the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising in Lhasa – and mentions China’s “severe repression of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural, and linguistic heritage” as well as “gross violations of human rights in Tibet”. It refers to His Holiness the Dalai Lama as “recognised around the world as a leading figure of moral and religious authority, and is the unrivaled spiritual and cultural leader of the Tibetan people” and states that followers of Tibetan Buddhism around the world “look to the Dalai Lama for religious leadership and spiritual guidance”.

China is condemned for its interference “in the identification and installation of reincarnated leaders of Tibetan Buddhism, as part of its efforts to maintain control over Tibet” as well as their abduction of the 11th Panchen Lama.

The Resolution calls for
• Recognition of March 10, 2018, as “Tibetan Rights Day”
• Recognition of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for his outstanding contributions to peace, nonviolence, human rights, and religious understanding
• The Resolution affirms support for the Tibetan people’s fundamental human rights and freedoms
• Affirms the sole right of the Tibetan Buddhist faith in the identification and installation of Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders, including a future 15th Dalai Lama
• States that any attempt by China to identify or install its own candidate as a Tibetan Buddhist religious leaderis invalid interference in the right to religious freedom of Tibetan Buddhists around the world
• The Resolution calls on US Government representatives, when interacting with China,to promote the cessation of all interference […]in the religious affairs of the Tibetan people, and to negotiate the establishment of an official US office in Lhasa.
• It also calls for a meeting between the US Ambassador to the China and the 11th Panchen Lama

The Resolution has delighted Tibetans, Tibet advocacy and support groups and Buddhists around the world. The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT, a United States based non-government organisation which works to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet) has responded by saying “this resolution is a manifestation of the enduring support Congress has offered for the aspirations of the Tibetan people over the course of several decades” and that the “United States government should now prioritise the appointment of the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues and fully implement the Tibetan Policy Act”. ICT mentions a similar unanimous resolution on the human rights situation in Tibet passed by the House of Representatives in 2015 which called on the United States government to “underscore that government interference in the Tibetan reincarnation process is a violation of the internationally recognised right to religious freedom,” calls on the House and Senate Foreign Relations Committee to “proceed to markup on both resolutions as soon as possible”.

The full text of Resolution 429 can be found here https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-resolution/429/text