I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8365 
To amend the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 to modify certain provisions 
of that Act. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 13, 2022 
Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 to modify certain 
provisions of that Act. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting a Resolu-
tion to the Tibet-China Conflict Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) It has been the long-standing policy of the 
United States to encourage meaningful and direct 
dialogue between People’s Republic of China au-
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thorities and the Dalai Lama or his representatives, 
without preconditions, to seek a settlement that re-
solves differences. 
(2) Ten rounds of dialogue held between 2002 
and 2010 between the People’s Republic of China 
authorities and the 14th Dalai Lama’s representa-
tives failed to produce a settlement that resolved dif-
ferences, and the two sides have not met since Janu-
ary 2010. 
(3) An obstacle to further dialogue is that the 
Government of the People’s Republic of China con-
tinues to impose conditions on His Holiness the 
Dalai Lama for a resumption of dialogue, including 
a demand that he say that Tibet has been part of 
China since ancient times, which the Dalai Lama 
has refused to do because it is false. 
(4) United States Government statements that 
the United States considers Tibet a part of the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China have reflected the reality on 
the ground that the Government of the People’s Re-
public of China has exerted effective control over 
Tibet. 
(5) The United States Government has never 
taken the position that Tibet was a part of China 
since ancient times or that the means by which the 
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Government of the People’s Republic of China came 
to exert effective control over Tibet was consistent 
with international law or included the free or mean-
ingful consent of the Tibetan people. 
(6) United States Government documents dated 
January 9, 1919, June 1, 1944, June 17, 1949, 
April 4, 1951, December 3, 1951, March 23, 1961, 
and February 14, 1963, listed Tibet as an entity 
separate and distinct from China. 
(7) Article 1 of the International Covenant on 
Civil and Political Rights and Article 1 the Inter-
national Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural 
Rights provide that ‘‘All peoples have the right of 
self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely 
determine their political status and freely pursue 
their economic, social and cultural development.’’. 
(8) Under international law, including United 
Nations General Assembly Resolution 2625, the 
right to self-determination is the right of a people to 
determine its own destiny and the exercise of this 
right can result in a variety of outcomes ranging 
from independence, federation, protection, some 
form of autonomy or full integration within a State. 
(9) United Nations General Assembly Resolu-
tion 1723, adopted on December 20, 1961, called for 
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the ‘‘cessation of practices which deprive the Tibetan 
people of their fundamental human rights and free-
doms, including their right to self-determination.’’. 
(10) In a December 30, 1950, note to the Gov-
ernments of the United Kingdom and India, the De-
partment of State wrote that ‘‘The United States, 
which was one of the early supporters of the prin-
ciple of self-determination of peoples, believes that 
the Tibetan people has the same inherent right as 
any other to have the determining voice in its polit-
ical destiny. It is believed further that, should devel-
opments warrant, consideration could be given to 
recognition of Tibet as an independent State.’’. 
(11) In a June 2, 1951, telegram to the United 
States Embassy in New Delhi, the State Depart-
ment wrote that Tibet should not ‘‘be compelled by 
duress [to] accept [the] violation [of] its autonomy’’ 
and that the Tibetan people should ‘‘enjoy certain 
rights [of] self-determination, commensurate with 
[the] autonomy Tibet has maintained since [the] 
Chinese revolution.’’ 
(12) Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a 
May 26, 2022, speech entitled ‘‘The Administra-
tion’s Approach to the People’s Republic of China,’’ 
said that the rules-based international order’s 
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‘‘founding documents include the UN Charter and 
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which 
enshrined concepts like self-determination, sov-
ereignty, the peaceful settlement of disputes. These 
are not Western constructs. They are reflections of 
the world’s shared aspirations.’’. 
(13) The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (22 
U.S.C. 6901 note), in directing the United States 
Government ‘‘to promote the human rights and dis-
tinct religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical 
identity of the Tibetan people’’ acknowledges that 
the Tibetan people possess a distinct religious, cul-
tural, linguistic, and historical identity. 
(14) Department of State reports on human 
rights and religious freedom have consistently docu-
mented repression by the People’s Republic of China 
authorities against Tibetans as well as acts of defi-
ance and resistance by Tibetan people against the 
People’s Republic of China policies. 
(15) Section 355 of the Foreign Relations Au-
thorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 (Public 
Law 102–138; 105 Stat. 713) stated that it is the 
sense of Congress that— 
(A) ‘‘Tibet, including those areas incor-
porated into the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, 
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Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai, is an occupied 
country under the established principles of 
international law’’; 
(B) ‘‘Tibet’s true representatives are the 
Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in 
exile as recognized by the Tibetan people’’; 
(C) ‘‘Tibet has maintained throughout its 
history a distinctive and sovereign national, cul-
tural, and religious identity separate from that 
of China and, except during periods of illegal 
Chinese occupation, has maintained a separate 
and sovereign political and territorial identity’’; 
(D) ‘‘historical evidence of this separate 
identity may be found in Chinese archival docu-
ments and traditional dynastic histories, in 
United States recognition of Tibetan neutrality 
during World War II, and in the fact that a 
number of countries including the United 
States, Mongolia, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, 
India, Japan, Great Britain, and Russia recog-
nized Tibet as an independent nation or dealt 
with Tibet independently of any Chinese gov-
ernment’’; 
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(E) ‘‘1949–1950, China launched an 
armed invasion of Tibet in contravention of 
international law’’; 
(F) ‘‘it is the policy of the United States 
to oppose aggression and other illegal uses of 
force by one country against the sovereignty of 
another as a manner of acquiring territory, and 
to condemn violations of international law, in-
cluding the illegal occupation of one country by 
another’’; and 
(G) ‘‘numerous United States declarations 
since the Chinese invasion have recognized Ti-
bet’s right to self-determination and the ille-
gality of China’s occupation of Tibet.’’. 
(16) The joint explanatory statement to accom-
pany division K of the Consolidated Appropriations 
Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117–103) 
states that ‘‘Funds appropriated by the Act should 
not be used to produce or disseminate documents, 
maps, or other materials that recognize or identify 
Tibet, including the Tibet Autonomous Region and 
other Tibetan autonomous counties and prefectures, 
as part of the PRC until the Secretary of State re-
ports to the appropriate congressional committees 
that the Government of the PRC has reached a final 
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negotiated agreement on Tibet with the Dalai Lama 
or his representatives or with democratically elected 
leaders of the Tibetan people.’’. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States that— 
(1) the Tibetan people are a people entitled to 
the right of self-determination under international 
law, including the International Covenant on Civil 
and Political Rights and the International Covenant 
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and that 
their ability to exercise this right is precluded by the 
current policies of the People’s Republic of China; 
and 
(2) the conflict between Tibet and the People’s 
Republic of China is unresolved, and that the legal 
status of Tibet remains to be determined in accord-
ance with international law. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) claims made by officials of the People’s Re-
public of China and the Chinese Communist Party 
that Tibet has been a part of China since ancient 
times are historically false; 
(2) the Government of the People’s Republic of 
China has failed to meet the expectations of the 
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United States to engage in meaningful dialogue with 
the Dalai Lama or his representatives toward a 
peaceful settlement of the unresolved conflict be-
tween Tibet and the People’s Republic of China; and 
(3) United States public diplomacy efforts 
should counter disinformation about Tibet from the 
Government of the People’s Republic of China and 
the 
Chinese 
Communist 
Party, 
including 
disinformation about the history of Tibet, the Ti-
betan people, and Tibetan institutions including that 
of the Dalai Lama. 
SEC. 5. MODIFICATIONS TO THE TIBETAN POLICY ACT OF 
2002. 
(a) TIBET NEGOTIATIONS.—Section 613(b) of the 
Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 6901 note) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) efforts to counter disinformation about 
Tibet from the Government of the People’s Republic 
of China and the Chinese Communist Party, includ-
ing disinformation about the history of Tibet, the 
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