III

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. RES. 60

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 a peaceful solution to

the situation in Tibet.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 10, 1999

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

MARCH 9, 2000

Committee discharged; considered, amended, and agreed to

RESOLUTION

Recognizing the plight of the Tibetan people on the fortyfirst anniversary of Tibet’s 1959 Lhasa uprising and

calling for serious negotiations between China and the

Dalai Lama to achieve a peaceful solution to the situation in Tibet.

Whereas during the period 1949–1950, the newly established

communist government of the People’s Republic of China

sent an army to invade Tibet;
2

SRES 60 ATS

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;
3

SRES 60 ATS

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
4

SRES 60 ATS

Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that—

(1) March 10, 2000 should be recognized as the Tibetan Day of Commemoration in solemn remembrance of

those Tibetans who sacrificed, suffered, and died during

the Lhasa uprising, and in affirmation of the inherent

rights of the Tibetan people to determine their own future; and

(2) March 10, 2000 should serve as an occasion to

renew calls by the President, Congress, and other United

States Government officials on the Government of the

People’s Republic of China to enter into serious negotiations with the Dalai Lama or his representatives until

such a time as a peaceful solution, satisfactory to both

sides, is achieved.