The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (TPA) is among the primary legislative measures guiding U.S. policy toward Tibet and the Tibetan people. Enacted into law on September 30, 2002, as part of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, FY2003 ( P.L. 107-228 ), it lists its "purpose" as being "to support the aspirations of the Tibetan people to safeguard their distinct identity." The act establishes in statute the State Department position of United States Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues and states that the Special Coordinator's "central objective" is "to promote substantive dialogue between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Dalai Lama or his representatives." The first of the Special Coordinator's duties and responsibilities, according to the TPA, is to "coordinate United States Government policies, programs, and projects concerning Tibet." Many of those policies, programs, and projects are mandated in other legislation. They include U.S. government assistance for nongovernmental organizations to work in Tibetan communities in China; an educational and cultural exchange program with "the people of Tibet"; Voice of America and Radio Free Asia Tibetan-language broadcasting into Tibet; assistance for Tibetan refugees in South Asia; a scholarship program for Tibetans living outside Tibet; and National Endowment for Democracy human rights and democracy programs relating to Tibet. The Special Coordinator is also required to "vigorously promote the policy of seeking to protect the distinct religious, cultural, linguistic, and national identity of Tibet" and press for "improved respect for human rights." Among the TPA's other provisions are requirements that the President and the Secretary of State encourage dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama or his representatives "leading to a negotiated agreement on Tibet," and that in meetings with representatives of the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC), they raise the issue of political and religious prisoners in Tibet. Specifically, they are required to request the "immediate and unconditional" release of such prisoners, seek access for international humanitarian organizations to prisoners in Tibet, and seek medical parole for Tibetan prisoners known to be in ill health. The Secretary of State is also required to "make best efforts to establish an office in Lhasa, Tibet, to monitor political, economic, and cultural developments in Tibet." These and other provisions of the TPA are discussed in detail below. Actions of the U.S. Congress on issues related to Tibet and Tibetans, including the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002, have long been a source of friction in the U.S. relationship with the PRC. China charges that many congressional actions amount to support for challenges to Chinese rule in Tibet and thus threaten Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity. Congress has shown consistent support for Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the 14 th Dalai Lama; China considers him to be a separatist, although since 1988 he has sought autonomy for Tibet within the PRC. In March 2014, after Members of Congress met the 14 th Dalai Lama, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, "China urges the U.S. Congress to honor the commitment the U.S. side has made of recognizing Tibet as one part of China and not supporting 'Tibet independence,' stop interfering in China's internal affairs with Tibet-related affairs, cease to connive at and support anti-China separatist activities by 'Tibet independence' forces, and do more things that promote friendship between the two peoples and bilateral relations rather than the opposite." The purpose of this report is to offer background on the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002, including discussion of other U.S. legislation related to Tibet, and examine implementation of the act. In recent years, three bills seeking to update the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 have passed the House. In the 113 th Congress, H.R. 4194 , the Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014, passed the House with a provision that would eliminate a report required by the TPA; the provision was removed in the Senate-passed bill. H.R. 2410 in the 111 th Congress and H.R. 2601 in the 109 th Congress both included substantial revisions to the TPA, although neither bill was acted on by the Senate. This report concludes with a list of questions that Congress may wish to consider if it again seeks to update the TPA. When the Chinese government speaks of "Tibet," it is usually referring only to the area within the borders of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), which the PRC formally established in 1965 with the bureaucratic rank of a Chinese province. The TAR constitutes just under half the area that Tibetan exile groups consider to be historical Tibet, and is home to just under half the ethnic Tibetans in China, 2.7 million of an ethnic Tibetan population of 6 million. Tibetan exile groups consider historical Tibet to have covered an area of 965,000 square miles (2.5 million square kilometers), divided into three provinces, U-Tsang, Kham, and Amdo. They consider present day Tibet to include the area within the borders of the TAR, plus the area covered by 10 Tibetan autonomous prefectures and two Tibetan autonomous counties that China created in four other Chinese provinces, plus the remainder of Qinghai Province. Approximately 3 million ethnic Tibetans live in the Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties outside the TAR. Those prefectures and counties are located in the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan, which border the TAR, and Gansu, which borders Qinghai and Sichuan. (See text box below.) In what Tibetan exiles characterized as a compromise, representatives of the 14 th Dalai Lama in 2008 submitted a proposal to Beijing that dropped the claim to the remainder of Qinghai Province. The proposal called, among other things, for "Bringing all the Tibetans currently living in designated Tibetan autonomous areas within a single autonomous administrative unit.... " Beijing rejected the proposal. In its 2015 White Paper on Tibet, China's government declared the idea of such a "Greater Tibet" to be "sheer fantasy." Among other objections, the White Paper noted such a Greater Tibet would constitute more than a quarter of China's total territory. Congressional appropriations legislation has repeatedly used the term, "Tibetan communities in the Tibetan [sic] Autonomous Region and in other Tibetan communities in China," in order to indicate that the legislation is intended to apply to Tibetan areas beyond the borders of the TAR. The Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 ( H.R. 2410 ), which passed the House but was not acted on by the Senate, referred to "Tibet, including Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan Provinces." By referring to Tibetan areas of Chinese provinces outside the TAR, but avoiding use of the word "China," that language defined "Tibet" more broadly than the TAR but left some ambiguity about Tibet's political status. In areas of China that the Chinese government has designated as "autonomous," members of the dominant ethnic group in China, Han Chinese, usually head the powerful local Communist Party Committee, while ethnic minority officials head the government, which implements Communist Party policies. The current Party Secretary of the TAR is Chen Quanguo, an ethnic Han Chinese. The current Chairman of the TAR People's Government is Lobsang Gyaltsen (China romanizes his name as Losang Jamcan), an ethnic Tibetan. The Chinese Communist Party declared the establishment of the PRC in 1949. In 1950, it sent its People's Liberation Army (PLA) into eastern Tibet. In May 1951, the Chinese central government in Beijing signed a 17-point agreement with a delegation from Tibet establishing principles for PRC rule of Tibet. Tibet's temporal and spiritual leader, the then-teenaged 14 th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, did not personally sign the agreement, but did agree to cooperate with the new PRC government. In March 1959, after a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, however, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet and settled with fellow Tibetan exiles in the Indian hill town of Dharamsala, where he has been based since. The Dalai Lama is believed by Tibetan Buddhists to be a manifestation of an enlightened being, the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokitesvera, and heads the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Over 80,000 Tibetans followed the 14 th Dalai Lama into exile in 1959. In Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama established an exile government, now known formally as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). The government of India does not recognize the CTA as a government body, deeming it instead to be a non-governmental organization. Nonetheless, the CTA has a cabinet, known as the Kashag, and operates "foreign missions" in 11 cities around the world, including Washington, DC, and Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. The Tibetan exile community is also represented by a 44-member Dharamsala-based Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile. The U.S. State Department's position on the CTA is outlined in the department's annual report to Congress on Tibet negotiations: "The U.S. government does not recognize Tibet as an independent state and therefore does not conduct official diplomatic relations with the Central Tibetan Administration, an organization based in Dharamsala, India." In March 2011, the 14 th Dalai Lama devolved political leadership of the Tibetan exile movement to the head of the Kashag. Dr. Lobsang Sangay, a Harvard University-educated legal scholar, was elected to this post in April 2011 with 55% of more than 49,000 votes cast by the Tibetan diaspora.