118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 138 

AN ACT 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting a Resolu3 tion to the Tibet-China Dispute Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

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

7 United States to encourage meaningful and direct 

8 dialogue between representatives of the People’s Re9 public of China and the Dalai Lama, his or her rep10 resentatives, or democratically elected leaders of the 

11 Tibetan community, without preconditions, to seek a 

12 settlement that resolves differences. 

13 (2) Nine rounds of dialogue held between 2002 

14 and 2010 between the People’s Republic of China 

15 authorities and the 14th Dalai Lama’s representa16 tives failed to produce a settlement that resolved dif17 ferences, and the two sides have held no formal dia18 logue since January 2010. 

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

20 Government of the People’s Republic of China con21 tinues to impose conditions on substantive dialogue 

22 with the Dalai Lama, including a demand that he 

23 say that Tibet has been part of China since ancient 

24 times, which the Dalai Lama has refused to do be25 cause it is inaccurate. 
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1 (4) Article 1 of the International Covenant on 

2 Civil and Political Rights and Article 1 of the Inter3 national Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural 

4 Rights provide, ‘‘All peoples have the right of self5 determination. By virtue of that right they freely de6 termine their political status and freely pursue their 

7 economic, social and cultural development.’’. 

8 (5) The United States Government has never 

9 taken the position that Tibet was a part of China 

10 since ancient times. 

11 (6) China signed the International Covenant on 

12 Civil and Political Rights on October 5, 1998, and 

13 ratified the International Covenant on Economic, 

14 Social and Cultural Rights on March 27, 2001. 

15 (7) Under international law, including United 

16 Nations General Assembly Resolution 2625, the 

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

18 determine its own destiny and the exercise of this 

19 right can result in a variety of outcomes ranging 

20 from independence, federation, protection, some 

21 form of autonomy, or full integration within a State. 

22 (8) United Nations General Assembly Resolu23 tion 1723, adopted on December 20, 1961, called for 

24 the ‘‘cessation of practices which deprive the Tibetan 
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1 people of their fundamental human rights and free2 doms, including their right to self-determination’’. 

3 (9) Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a 

4 May 26, 2022, speech entitled ‘‘The Administra5 tion’s Approach to the People’s Republic of China’’, 

6 said that the rules-based international order’s 

7 ‘‘founding documents include the UN Charter and 

8 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which 

9 enshrined concepts like self-determination, sov10 ereignty, the peaceful settlement of disputes. These 

11 are not Western constructs. They are reflections of 

12 the world’s shared aspirations.’’. 

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

14 U.S.C. 6901 note), as amended by the Tibetan Pol15 icy and Support Act of 2020 (subtitle E of title III 

16 of division FF of Public Law 116–260), in directing 

17 the United States Government ‘‘to promote the 

18 human rights and distinct religious, cultural, lin19 guistic, and historical identity of the Tibetan people’’ 

20 acknowledges that the Tibetan people possess a dis21 tinct religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical 

22 identity. 

23 (11) Department of State reports on human 

24 rights and religious freedom have consistently docu25 mented systematic repression by the authorities of 
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1 the People’s Republic of China against Tibetans as 

2 well as acts of defiance and resistance by Tibetan 

3 people against the People’s Republic of China poli4 cies. 

5 (12) The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (22 

6 U.S.C. 6901 note) specifies that the central objective 

7 of the United States Special Coordinator for Tibetan 

8 Issues is to promote substantive dialogue between 

9 the Government of the People’s Republic of China 

10 and the Dalai Lama, his or her representatives, or 

11 democratically elected leaders of the Tibetan com12 munity. 

13 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

14 It is the policy of the United States— 

15 (1) that the Tibetan people are a people with a 

16 distinct religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical 

17 identity; 

18 (2) that the dispute between Tibet and the Peo19 ple’s Republic of China must be resolved in accord20 ance with international law, including the United 

21 Nations Charter, by peaceful means, through dia22 logue without preconditions; 

23 (3) that the People’s Republic of China should 

24 cease its propagation of disinformation about the 
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1 history of Tibet, the Tibetan people, and Tibetan in2 stitutions, including that of the Dalai Lama; 

3 (4) to encourage the People’s Republic of China 

4 to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Po5 litical Rights and uphold all its commitments under 

6 the International Covenant on Economic, Social and 

7 Cultural Rights; and 

8 (5) in accordance with the Tibetan Policy and 

9 Support Act of 2020— 

10 (A) to promote substantive dialogue with11 out pre-conditions, between the Government of 

12 the People’s Republic of China and the Dalai 

13 Lama, his or her representatives, or democrat14 ically elected leaders of the Tibetan community, 

15 or explore activities to improve prospects for 

16 dialogue, that leads to a negotiated agreement 

17 on Tibet; 

18 (B) to coordinate with other governments 

19 in multilateral efforts towards the goal of a ne20 gotiated agreement on Tibet; and 

21 (C) to encourage the Government of the 

22 People’s Republic of China to address the aspi23 rations of the Tibetan people with regard to 

24 their distinct historical, cultural, religious, and 

25 linguistic identity. 
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1 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) claims made by officials of the People’s Re4 public of China and the Chinese Communist Party 

5 that Tibet has been a part of China since ancient 

6 times are historically inaccurate; 

7 (2) the current policies of the People’s Republic 

8 of China are systematically suppressing the ability of 

9 the Tibetan people to preserve their religion, culture, 

10 language, history, way of life, and environment; 

11 (3) the Government of the People’s Republic of 

12 China is failing to meet the expectations of the 

13 United States to engage in meaningful dialogue with 

14 the Dalai Lama or his representatives or to reach a 

15 negotiated resolution that includes the aspirations of 

16 the Tibetan people; and 

17 (4) United States public diplomacy efforts 

18 should counter disinformation about Tibet from the 

19 Government of the People’s Republic of China and 

20 the Chinese Communist Party, including 

21 disinformation about the history of Tibet, the Ti22 betan people, and Tibetan institutions, including 

23 that of the Dalai Lama. 
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1 SEC. 5. MODIFICATIONS TO THE TIBETAN POLICY ACT OF 

2 2002. 

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

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

5 amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

7 inserting a semicolon; 

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

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

11 paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(4) efforts to counter disinformation about 

13 Tibet from the Government of the People’s Republic 

14 of China and the Chinese Communist Party, includ15 ing disinformation about the history of Tibet, the 

16 Tibetan people, and Tibetan institutions, including 

17 that of the Dalai Lama.’’. 

18 (b) UNITED STATES SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR TI19 BETAN ISSUES.—Section 621(d) of the Tibetan Policy Act 

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

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

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

23 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol24 lowing new paragraph: 

25 ‘‘(6) work with relevant bureaus of the Depart26 ment of State and the United States Agency for 
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1 International Development to ensure that United 

2 States Government statements and documents 

3 counter, as appropriate, disinformation about Tibet 

4 from the Government of the People’s Republic of 

5 China and the Chinese Communist Party, including 

6 disinformation about the history of Tibet, the Ti7 betan people, and Tibetan institutions, including 

8 that of the Dalai Lama;’’. 

9 (c) DEFINITION.—The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 

10 (22 U.S.C. 6901 note) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following new section: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 622. DEFINITION. 

13 ‘‘For purposes of this Act, the term ‘Tibet’ refers to 

14 the following areas: 

15 ‘‘(1) The Tibet Autonomous Region. 

16 ‘‘(2) The areas that the Government of the Peo17 ple’s Republic of China designated as Tibetan Au18 tonomous, as of 2018, as follows: 

19 ‘‘(A) Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autono20 mous Prefecture, and Pari (Tianzhu) Tibetan 

21 Autonomous County located in Gansu Province. 

22 ‘‘(B) Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous 

23 Prefecture, Malho (Huangnan) Tibetan Autono24 mous Prefecture, Tsojang (Haibei) Tibetan Au25 tonomous Prefecture, Tsolho (Hainan) Tibetan 
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1 Autonomous Prefecture, Tsonub (Haixi) Mon2 golian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and 

3 Yulshul (Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefec4 ture, located in Qinghai Province. 

5 ‘‘(C) Garze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous 

6 Prefecture, Ngawa (Aba) Tibetan and Qiang 

7 Autonomous Prefecture, and Muli (Mili) Ti8 betan Autonomous County, located in Sichuan 

9 Province. 

10 ‘‘(D) Dechen (Diqing) Tibetan Autono11 mous Prefecture, located in Yunnan Province.’’. 

12 SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS TO COUNTER 

13 DISINFORMATION ABOUT TIBET. 

14 Amounts authorized to be appropriated or otherwise 

15 made available under section 346 of the Tibetan Policy 

16 and Support Act of 2020 (subtitle E of title III of division 

17 FF of Public Law 116–260) are authorized to be made 

18 available to counter disinformation about Tibet from the 

19 Government of the People’s Republic of China and the 

20 Chinese Communist Party, including disinformation about 
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1 the history of Tibet, the Tibetan people, and Tibetan insti2 tutions, including that of the Dalai Lama. 

Passed the Senate May 23, 2024. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 138 

AN ACT 

To amend the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 to modify 

certain provisions of that Act.