II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 138 

To amend the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 to modify certain provisions 

of that Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 30, 2023 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To amend the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 to modify certain 

provisions of that Act. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting a Resolu5 tion to the Tibet-China Conflict Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) It has been the long-standing policy of the 

9 United States to encourage meaningful and direct 

10 dialogue between People’s Republic of China auVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:58 Feb 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S138.IS S138

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1 thorities and the Dalai Lama or his representatives, 

2 without preconditions, to seek a settlement that re3 solves differences. 

4 (2) Ten rounds of dialogue held between 2002 

5 and 2010 between the People’s Republic of China 

6 authorities and the 14th Dalai Lama’s representa7 tives failed to produce a settlement that resolved dif8 ferences, and the two sides have not met since Janu9 ary 2010. 

10 (3) An obstacle to further dialogue is that the 

11 Government of the People’s Republic of China con12 tinues to impose conditions on His Holiness the 

13 Dalai Lama for a resumption of dialogue, including 

14 a demand that he say that Tibet has been part of 

15 China since ancient times, which the Dalai Lama 

16 has refused to do because it is false. 

17 (4) United States Government statements that 

18 the United States considers Tibet a part of the Peo19 ple’s Republic of China have reflected the reality on 

20 the ground that the Government of the People’s Re21 public of China has exerted effective control over 

22 Tibet. 

23 (5) The United States Government has never 

24 taken the position that Tibet was a part of China 

25 since ancient times or that the means by which the 


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1 Government of the People’s Republic of China came 

2 to exert effective control over Tibet was consistent 

3 with international law or included the free or mean4 ingful consent of the Tibetan people. 

5 (6) United States Government documents dated 

6 January 9, 1919, June 1, 1944, June 17, 1949, 

7 April 4, 1951, December 3, 1951, March 23, 1961, 

8 and February 14, 1963, listed Tibet as an entity 

9 separate and distinct from China. 

10 (7) Article 1 of the International Covenant on 

11 Civil and Political Rights and Article 1 the Inter12 national Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural 

13 Rights provide that ‘‘All peoples have the right of 

14 self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely 

15 determine their political status and freely pursue 

16 their economic, social and cultural development.’’. 

17 (8) Under international law, including United 

18 Nations General Assembly Resolution 2625, the 

19 right to self-determination is the right of a people to 

20 determine its own destiny and the exercise of this 

21 right can result in a variety of outcomes ranging 

22 from independence, federation, protection, some 

23 form of autonomy or full integration within a State. 

24 (9) United Nations General Assembly Resolu25 tion 1723, adopted on December 20, 1961, called for 


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1 the ‘‘cessation of practices which deprive the Tibetan 

2 people of their fundamental human rights and free3 doms, including their right to self-determination.’’. 

4 (10) In a December 30, 1950, note to the Gov5 ernments of the United Kingdom and India, the De6 partment of State wrote that ‘‘The United States, 

7 which was one of the early supporters of the prin8 ciple of self-determination of peoples, believes that 

9 the Tibetan people has the same inherent right as 

10 any other to have the determining voice in its polit11 ical destiny. It is believed further that, should devel12 opments warrant, consideration could be given to 

13 recognition of Tibet as an independent State.’’. 

14 (11) In a June 2, 1951, telegram to the United 

15 States Embassy in New Delhi, the State Depart16 ment wrote that Tibet should not ‘‘be compelled by 

17 duress [to] accept [the] violation [of] its autonomy’’ 

18 and that the Tibetan people should ‘‘enjoy certain 

19 rights [of] self-determination, commensurate with 

20 [the] autonomy Tibet has maintained since [the] 

21 Chinese revolution.’’. 

22 (12) Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a 

23 May 26, 2022, speech entitled ‘‘The Administra24 tion’s Approach to the People’s Republic of China,’’ 

25 said that the rules-based international order’s 


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1 ‘‘founding documents include the UN Charter and 

2 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which 

3 enshrined concepts like self-determination, sov4 ereignty, the peaceful settlement of disputes. These 

5 are not Western constructs. They are reflections of 

6 the world’s shared aspirations.’’. 

7 (13) The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (22 

8 U.S.C. 6901 note), in directing the United States 

9 Government ‘‘to promote the human rights and dis10 tinct religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical 

11 identity of the Tibetan people’’ acknowledges that 

12 the Tibetan people possess a distinct religious, cul13 tural, linguistic, and historical identity. 

14 (14) Department of State reports on human 

15 rights and religious freedom have consistently docu16 mented repression by the People’s Republic of China 

17 authorities against Tibetans as well as acts of defi18 ance and resistance by Tibetan people against the 

19 People’s Republic of China policies. 

20 (15) Section 355 of the Foreign Relations Au21 thorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 (Public 

22 Law 102–138; 105 Stat. 713) stated that it is the 

23 sense of Congress that— 

24 (A) ‘‘Tibet, including those areas incor25 porated into the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, 


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1 Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai, is an occupied 

2 country under the established principles of 

3 international law’’; 

4 (B) ‘‘Tibet’s true representatives are the 

5 Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in 

6 exile as recognized by the Tibetan people’’; 

7 (C) ‘‘Tibet has maintained throughout its 

8 history a distinctive and sovereign national, cul9 tural, and religious identity separate from that 

10 of China and, except during periods of illegal 

11 Chinese occupation, has maintained a separate 

12 and sovereign political and territorial identity’’; 

13 (D) ‘‘historical evidence of this separate 

14 identity may be found in Chinese archival docu15 ments and traditional dynastic histories, in 

16 United States recognition of Tibetan neutrality 

17 during World War II, and in the fact that a 

18 number of countries including the United 

19 States, Mongolia, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, 

20 India, Japan, Great Britain, and Russia recog21 nized Tibet as an independent nation or dealt 

22 with Tibet independently of any Chinese gov23 ernment’’; 


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1 (E) ‘‘1949–1950, China launched an 

2 armed invasion of Tibet in contravention of 

3 international law’’; 

4 (F) ‘‘it is the policy of the United States 

5 to oppose aggression and other illegal uses of 

6 force by one country against the sovereignty of 

7 another as a manner of acquiring territory, and 

8 to condemn violations of international law, in9 cluding the illegal occupation of one country by 

10 another’’; and 

11 (G) ‘‘numerous United States declarations 

12 since the Chinese invasion have recognized Ti13 bet’s right to self-determination and the ille14 gality of China’s occupation of Tibet.’’. 

15 (16) The joint explanatory statement to accom16 pany division K of the Consolidated Appropriations 

17 Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Public Law 117–328) 

18 states that ‘‘Funds appropriated by the Act shall not 

19 be used to produce or disseminate documents, maps, 

20 or other materials that recognize or identify Tibet, 

21 including the Tibet Autonomous Region and other 

22 Tibetan autonomous counties and prefectures, as 

23 part of the PRC until the Secretary of State reports 

24 to the appropriate congressional committees that the 

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1 tiated agreement on Tibet with the Dalai Lama or 

2 his representatives or with democratically elected 

3 leaders of the Tibetan people.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

5 It is the policy of the United States that— 

6 (1) the Tibetan people are a people entitled to 

7 the right of self-determination under international 

8 law, including the International Covenant on Civil 

9 and Political Rights and the International Covenant 

10 on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and that 

11 their ability to exercise this right is precluded by the 

12 current policies of the People’s Republic of China; 

13 and 

14 (2) the conflict between Tibet and the People’s 

15 Republic of China is unresolved, and that the legal 

16 status of Tibet remains to be determined in accord17 ance with international law. 

18 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

19 It is the sense of Congress that— 

20 (1) claims made by officials of the People’s Re21 public of China and the Chinese Communist Party 

22 that Tibet has been a part of China since ancient 

23 times are historically false; 

24 (2) the Government of the People’s Republic of 

25 China has failed to meet the expectations of the 


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1 United States to engage in meaningful dialogue with 

2 the Dalai Lama or his representatives toward a 

3 peaceful settlement of the unresolved conflict be4 tween Tibet and the People’s Republic of China; and 

5 (3) United States public diplomacy efforts 

6 should counter disinformation about Tibet from the 

7 Government of the People’s Republic of China and 

8 the Chinese Communist Party, including 

9 disinformation about the history of Tibet, the Ti10 betan people, and Tibetan institutions including that 

11 of the Dalai Lama. 

12 SEC. 5. MODIFICATIONS TO THE TIBETAN POLICY ACT OF 

13 2002. 

14 (a) TIBET NEGOTIATIONS.—Section 613(b) of the 

15 Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 6901 note) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

18 end; 

19 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

20 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(4) efforts to counter disinformation about 

23 Tibet from the Government of the People’s Republic 

24 of China and the Chinese Communist Party, includ25 ing disinformation about the history of Tibet, the 


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1 Tibetan people, and Tibetan institutions including 

2 that of the Dalai Lama.’’. 

3 (b) UNITED STATES SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR TI4 BETAN ISSUES.—Section 621(d) of the Tibetan Policy Act 

5 of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 6901 note) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), and 

7 (8) as paragraphs (7), (8), and (9), respectively; and 

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(6) work to ensure that United States Govern11 ment statements and documents counter, as appro12 priate, disinformation about Tibet from the Govern13 ment of the People’s Republic of China and the Chi14 nese Communist Party, including disinformation 

15 about the history of Tibet, the Tibetan people, and 

16 Tibetan institutions including that of the Dalai 

17 Lama;’’. 

18 (c) GEOGRAPHIC DEFINITION OF TIBET.—The Ti19 betan Policy Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 6901 note) is amend20 ed by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 622. GEOGRAPHIC DEFINITION OF TIBET. 

22 ‘‘In this Act and in implementing policies relating to 

23 the Tibetan people under other provisions of law, the term 

24 ‘Tibet’, unless otherwise specified, means— 

25 ‘‘(1) the Tibet Autonomous Region; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, 

2 Gansu, and Yunnan provinces.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS TO COUNTER 

4 DISINFORMATION ABOUT TIBET. 

5 Amounts authorized to be appropriated or otherwise 

6 made available to carry out section 201(c) of the Asia Re7 assurance Initiative Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 2292 et seq.) 

8 are authorized to be made available to counter 

9 disinformation about Tibet from the Government of the 

10 People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist 

11 Party, including disinformation about the history of Tibet, 

12 the Tibetan people, and Tibetan institutions including that 

13 of the Dalai Lama. 

Æ 


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