Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration 02

The Tibetan Policy and Support Act is a federal law that outlines United States policy on

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

Legislative history

On January 28, 2020, the bill passed the

US House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

by a vote of 392–22. On December 21, 2020, the bill was approved by the U.S. Congress as an amendment to the

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 () is a $2.3trillion spending bill that combines $900 billion in stimulus relief for the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States with a $1.4trillion omnibus spending bill for the 2021 federal fiscal yea ...

. On December 27, 2020, the bill was signed into law.

Legislation

The Tibetan Policy and Support Act would make it official United States policy that the succession of Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including the succession of the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

, be left solely to Tibetan Buddhists to decide, without interference from the Chinese government. Chinese officials that interfere in the process of selecting Tibetan Buddhist leaders would be subject to sanctions under the

Global Magnitsky Act The Magnitsky Act, formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson–Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a bipartisan bill passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in D ...

, including denial of entry into the United States. The bill also calls for the creation of a new US consulate in

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

, the capital of the

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

Reactions

Domestic

The

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a U.S. federal government commission created by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. USCIRF commissioners are appointed by the president and the lead ...

(USCIRF) commended the US House of Representatives for passing the act, which the USCIRF had previously endorsed. The Dalai Lama and Lobsang Sangay visit to Boston

The Dalai Lama and Lobsang Sangay visit to Boston

Jim McGovern, Chair of the

Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) is a bipartisan body of the United States House of Representatives. Its stated mission is "to promote, defend and advocate internationally recognized human rights norms in a nonpartisan manner, both ...

and the

Congressional-Executive Commission on China The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) is an independent agency of the U.S. government which monitors human rights and rule of law developments in the People's Republic of China. The commission was given the mandate by the U.S. C ...

commented, "We are criticizing the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP) and not the Chinese people, who are also suffering under China’s repression,... We stand in solidarity with the Tibetan people and revere His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We all are in this together and we expect the President to sign the Tibet Policy and Support Act into law soon."

Central Tibetan Administration

Lobsang Sangay Lobsang Sangay (, ; born 5 September 1968) is a Tibetan-American politician in exile who was Kalon Tripa of the Tibetan Administration in India from 2011 to 2012, and Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration in India from 2012 to 2021. T ...

, Sisur (Former President) of the

Tibetan government-in-exile The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ) is the government-in-exile of Tibet, based in Dharamshala, India. It comprises a judiciary branch, a legislative branch, and an executive branch, and offers support and services to the Tibetan exile ...

and graduate of the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, thanked the Government of the United States and the US House for passing The Tibetan Policy and Support Act.

China

Hua Chunying Hua Chunying ( zh, s=华春莹; born 24 April 1970) is a Chinese diplomat who has been serving as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China since 2024. She most notably served as spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After graduating ...

China's Foreign Ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is the first-ranked executive department of the State Council of China, responsible for the country's foreign relations. It is led by the minister of foreign affairs, currently ...

spokesperson, said that the act severely violates the basic norms governing international relations and was the latest attempt to interfere in China's domestic affairs.

References

{{reflist United States foreign relations legislation Acts of the 116th United States Congress Tibet–United States relations China–United States relations