Date: 2001-04-03
Speaker: TOM DAVIS (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Virginia

Madam Speaker. I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 56. urging the appropriate representative of the United States to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to introduce at the annual meeting of the Commission a resolution calling uponthe Peoples Republic of China to end its human rights violations in China and Tibet. Tibet is a country and culture that has garnered international attention in the past several decades. Since 1959. China has implemented a relentless policy and program to erase Tibet from history and existence. The former religious leader of Tibet. the Dalai Lama. was forced to leave Tibet. and now lives in exile in India. There are many other Tibetans who chose to follow him and thus. remain in exile today. I am particularly concerned with Chinas human rights record with respect to Tibet. such as repression of freedom of speech. religion. and expression. The Chinese governments policy of suppressing religious. political. and cultural freedom in Tibet in highly disturbing. I am deeply troubled that monks and nuns make up seventyfour percent of over 250 political prisoners incarcerated in Tibet. While there has been a slight decline in new detentions since 1997 in Tibet. this may be attributed to the implementation and intensification of the Patriotic Education campaign. which requires monks. nuns. and lay persons to denounce the Dalai Lama. However. the number of monks and nuns known to have been detained as a result of opposing the Patriotic Education campaign .is a small fraction of those who have been expelled from their monasteries or who have fled from Tibet. Recently. it has come to my attention that Chinese authorities have increased the jamming of foreign radio broadcasts in Tibet following the allocation of increased resources by Beijing in an attempt to prevent "infiltration" of the airwaves by "foreign hostile forces." It is my understanding that Voice of America. Radio Free Asia and Voice of Tibet. which all cover both international news and news of the activities of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan community in exile. have encountered intensified jamming of their broadcasts into Tibetan areas over the past four to six months. The Chinese authorities have also announced an expansion of staterun Tibetan language broadcasting. including the training of more Tibetan journalists and new programs in Kham and Amdo dialects. in order to counter foreign -U radio broadcasters. It is my belief that this intensified focus to jam such broadcasts is a result of the Chinese governments recent emphasis on propaganda work in Tibet. an important element of Beijings campaign to develop the western regions of China. The United States has a moral obligation to pursue strong diplomatic pressures which assert an end to civil persecutions not only in Tibet but all countries where individual liberties are routinely repressed. I join by colleagues in voicing every Americans opposition to these atrocities and acts of repression. I commend Congressman FRANK WOLF from Virginia for his leadership in bringing attention to the plight of the Tibetan people and Tibetan culture. and I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to support this important resolution.