First Xinjiang, then Hong Kong … now US turns human rights attention to Tibet

Congressional committee endorses bill supporting right of Tibetan Buddhist community to choose the Dalai Lama

Committee chairman says Chinese officials will be held accountable if they interfere in the process

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The US bill says the Tibetan Buddhist community should decide who will be the Dalai Lama. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:36pm, 19 Dec 2019Updated: 1:14am, 20 Dec 2019

Washington has angered Beijing in recent months with a flurry of legislation targeting China’s treatment of human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Tibet is now joining the list.

The US House of Representatives’ foreign affairs committee on Wednesday approved a bill calling for stronger US support for religious and human rights in Tibet, a step on the way to it becoming law.

Known as the Tibet Policy and Support Act of 2019, the bill is expected to go to the House for a full vote, although a date has not been set.

US lawmakers have introduced legislation in recent months to allow for sanctions on individuals involved in the mass detention of at least a million members of Muslim minorities in China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. And after months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong, the United States passed similar legislation targeting individuals or groups seen as impinging on human rights in the city.

The main stipulation in the Tibet legislation is for the Tibetan Buddhist community to choose the next Dalai Lama spiritual leader, while Beijing says the candidate should be chosen in accordance with religious rules and customs but also endorsed by Chinese authorities.

“It is an unthinkable violation of the basic principles of religious freedom that the Chinese government would choose the religious leader for the Tibetan people, rather than allowing the Tibetan people to make this decision through their ancient and sacred traditions,” said the committee chairman, Representative Eliot Engel.