Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019

in subsection (a)—

in subsection (b)—

in subsection (d), by striking paragraphs (1) through (9) and inserting the following:

by adding at the end the following:

in subsection (c) to read as follows:

in subsection (d)—

by adding at the end the following:

Notwithstanding that Tibetan Buddhism is practiced in many countries including Bhutan, India, Mongolia, Nepal, the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, and the United States, the Government of the People’s Republic of China has repeatedly insisted on its role in managing the selection of Tibet’s next spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, through actions such as those described in the Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in 2007.

On March 19, 2019, Chinese Ministry of Affairs spokesperson reiterated that the reincarnation of living Buddhas including the Dalai Lama must comply with Chinese laws and regulations and follow religious rituals and historical conventions.

The Government of the People’s Republic of China has interfered in the process of recognizing a successor or reincarnation of Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including in 1995 by arbitrarily detaining Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a 6-year old boy who was identified as the 11th Panchen Lama, and purporting to install its own candidate as the Panchen Lama.

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, issued a statement on September 24, 2011, explaining the traditions and spiritual precepts of the selection of Dalai Lamas, setting forth his views on the considerations and process for selecting his successor, and providing a response to the Chinese government’s claims that only the Chinese government has the ultimate authority in the selection process of the Dalai Lama.

The 14th Dalai Lama said in his statement that the person who reincarnates has sole legitimate authority over where and how he or she takes rebirth and how that reincarnation is to be recognized and if there is a need for a 15th Dalai Lama to be recognized, then the responsibility shall primarily rest with the officers of the Dalai Lama’s Gaden Phodrang Trust, who will be informed by the written instructions of the 14th Dalai Lama.

Since 2011, the 14th Dalai Lama has reiterated publicly on numerous occasions that decisions on the successions, emanations, or reincarnations of the Dalai Lama belongs to the Tibetan Buddhist faith community alone.

On June 8, 2015, the United States House of Representatives unanimously approved House Resolution 337 which calls on the United States Government to underscore that government interference in the Tibetan reincarnation process is a violation of the internationally recognized right to religious freedom * * * and to highlight the fact that other countries besides China have long Tibetan Buddhist traditions and that matters related to reincarnations in Tibetan Buddhism are of keen interest to Tibetan Buddhist populations worldwide.

On April 25, 2018, the United States Senate unanimously approved Senate Resolution 429 which expresses its sense that the identification and installation of Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders, including a future 15th Dalai Lama, is a matter that should be determined solely within the Tibetan Buddhist faith community, in accordance with the inalienable right to religious freedom.

The Department of State’s Report on International Religious Freedom for 2018 reported on policies and efforts of the Government of the People’s Republic of China to exert control over the selection of Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders, including reincarnate lamas, and stated that U.S. officials underscored that decisions on the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should be made solely by faith leaders..

decisions regarding the selection, education, and veneration of Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders are exclusively spiritual matters that should be made by the appropriate religious authorities within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and in the context of the will of practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism;

the wishes of the 14th Dalai Lama, including any written instructions, should play a determinative role in the selection, education, and veneration of a future 15th Dalai Lama; and

interference by the Government of the People’s Republic of China or any other government in the process of recognizing a successor or reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama and any future Dalai Lamas would represent a clear violation of the fundamental religious freedoms of Tibetan Buddhists and the Tibetan people.

a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights for purposes of imposing sanctions with respect to such officials under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note); and

a particularly severe violation of religious freedom for purposes of applying section 212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(G)) with respect to such officials.

The Tibetan Plateau contains glaciers, rivers, grasslands, and other geographical and ecological features that are crucial for supporting vegetation growth and biodiversity, regulating water flow and supply for an estimated 1.8 billion people. Global warming threatens the glaciers in Tibet that feed the major rivers of South and East Asia, which supply freshwater to an estimated 1.8 billion people.

Rising global temperatures—especially in the Tibetan Plateau where the average temperature has increased at twice the global average—will result in variable water flows in the future.

The construction in Tibet of large hydroelectric power dams intended to be used in part to transmit power to Chinese provinces outside of Tibet, as well as other infrastructure projects, including the Sichuan-Tibet railroad, may also lead to the resettlement of thousands of Tibetans and transform the environment.

The grasslands of Tibet play a significant role in carbon production and sequestration and Tibet’s rivers support wetlands that play a key role in water storage, water quality, and the regulation of water flow, support biodiversity, foster vegetation growth, and act as carbon sinks.

Rising temperatures and intensifying evaporation, can affect the water supply, cause desertification, and destabilize infrastructure on the Tibetan Plateau and beyond.

Traditional Tibetan grassland stewardship practices, which can be key to mitigating the negative effects of warming on the Tibetan Plateau, are undermined by the resettlement of nomads from Tibetan grasslands.

The People’s Republic of China has approximately 20 percent of the world’s population but only around 7 percent of the world’s water supply, while many countries in South and Southeast Asia rely on the rivers flowing from the Himalayas of the Tibetan Plateau.

The People’s Republic of China has already completed water transfer programs diverting billions of cubic meters of water yearly and has plans to divert more waters from the Tibetan plateau in China.

pursue collaborative efforts with Chinese and international scientific institutions, as appropriate, to monitor the environment on the Tibetan Plateau, including glacial retreat, temperature rise, and carbon levels, in order to promote a greater understanding of the effects on permafrost, river flows, grasslands and desertification, and the monsoon cycle;

engage with the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the Tibetan people, and nongovernmental organizations to encourage the participation of Tibetan nomads and other Tibetan stakeholders in the development and implementation of grassland management policies, in order to utilize their indigenous experience in mitigation and stewardship of the land and to assess policies on the forced resettlement of nomads; and

encourage a regional framework on water security, or use existing frameworks, such as the Lower Mekong Initiative, to facilitate cooperative agreements among all riparian nations that would promote transparency, sharing of information, pollution regulation, and arrangements on impounding and diversion of waters that originate on the Tibetan Plateau.

The 14th Dalai Lama advocates the Middle Way Approach, which seeks genuine autonomy for the six million Tibetans in Tibet.

The 14th Dalai Lama has overseen a process of democratization within the Tibetan polity, beginning in Tibet in the 1950s and continuing in exile from the 1960s to the present and to address the needs of the Tibetan people until such time as genuine autonomy in Tibet is realized, the 14th Dalai Lama devolved his political responsibilities to the elected representatives of the Tibetan people in exile in 2011.

In 2011 and again in 2016, members of the Tibetan exile community across some 30 countries held elections to select political leaders to serve in the Central Tibetan Administration parliament and as chief executive, elections which were monitored by international observers and assessed to be free and fair.

The Dalai Lama has said that the Central Tibetan Administration will cease to exist once a negotiated settlement has been achieved that allows Tibetans to freely enjoy their culture, religion and language in Tibet.

Tibetan exile communities around the world should be commended for the adoption of a system of self-governance with democratic institutions to choose their leaders;

the Dalai Lama should be commended for his decision to devolve political authority to elected leaders in accordance with democratic principles; and

as consistent with section 621(d)(3) of the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 6901 note), the United States Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues should continue to maintain close contact with the religious, cultural, and political leaders of the Tibetan people.

Tibetan scholarship program

There is authorized to be appropriated $675,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2025 to carry out the Tibetan scholarship program established under section 103(b)(1) of the Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign Relations Provisions Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–319; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note).

Ngawang Choephel Exchange Programs

There is authorized to be appropriated $575,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2025 to carry out the Ngwang Choepel Exchange Programs (formerly known as programs of educational and cultural exchange between the United States and the people of Tibet) under section 103(a) of the Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign Relations Provisions Act of 1996.

Voice of America

There is authorized to be appropriated $3,344,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2025 to Voice of America for broadcasts described in paragraph (3).

Radio Free Asia

There is authorized to be appropriated $4,060,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2025 to Radio Free Asia for broadcasts described in paragraph (3).

Broadcasts described

Broadcasts described in this paragraph are broadcasts to provide uncensored news and information in the Tibetan language to Tibetans, including Tibetans in Tibet.