Washington (US): Amidst uncertainties around the health of Dalai Lama, US bipartisan lawmakers have introduced a new bill in Congress threatening sanctions against Chinese officials if they interfere in the spiritual leader’s succession.
The Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019 which was introduced in the House of Representatives on September 13 by James McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, proposed to prohibit China from opening any new consulate in American soil until the US is permitted to establish its own diplomatic office in Tibetan capital of Lhasa. The bill will be introduced in the Senate by Commission of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla).
The law would “strengthen US support for the Tibetan people in their struggle for human rights, religious freedom and genuine autonomy,” McGovern said in a statement on Wednesday.
The new bill — the Tibetan policy and Support Act of 2019 — is an amendment to the Tibet Policy Act of 2002, which codified in broad terms US government support for the Tibetans.
The bill has come amid rising concern over decreasing religious freedom for Tibetans, water security and Beijing’s demand that the central government must approve the successor of the Dalai Lama.
China has always maintained that Tibetans are free to practice religion. However, many human rights groups have rejected these claims.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said in its 2019 annual report the authorities in Tibet continued to “severely restrict religious freedom, speech, movement, and assembly”. (ANI)
