New Delhi: A group of seven US legislators from either of the country’s main political parties arrived in Dharamsala today (June 18) to meet the Dalai Lama, with its leader saying US President Joe Biden will soon sign a Bill that pushes for negotiations between Tibet and China.
Among the legislators are Michael McCaul, a Republican who is chairman of the US House of Representatives’ foreign affairs committee, and Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat who has served as speaker of the House, which is the lower chamber of the country’s federal legislature.
They will met the Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, tomorrow, according to news reports.
“We are very excited to see His Holiness tomorrow to talk about many things, including the Bill we just passed out of Congress [the name of the US federal legislature] that basically says the United States of America stands with the people of Tibet,” Reuters quoted McCaul as saying.
When asked if Biden would sign the Bill – which is officially titled the ‘Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act’ – into law soon, McCaul said according to Reuters: “Yes, he will, he will.”
Its report added that US legislators have regularly visited Dharamsala and promoted the Dalai Lama’s work in an effort to garner support for a linguistically and culturally autonomous Tibet.
Responding to the developments, China said it was “gravely concerned” and insisted the US does not engage with the “Dalai group”.
“It’s known by all that the 14th Dalai Lama is not a pure religious figure, but a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press briefing today.
Lin urged the US to “fully recognise the anti-China separatist nature of the Dalai group, honour the commitments the US has made to China on issues related to Xizang [China’s name for Tibet], have no contact with the Dalai group in any form and stop sending the wrong signal to the world”.
The Promoting a Resolution Bill was passed by both houses of the US federal legislature, most recently by the House of Representatives last Wednesday, and received broad bipartisan support, The Hill reported.
According to the website of the US House’s foreign affairs committee, the Bill seeks to empower officials of the US state department to “actively and directly counter” disinformation about Tibet from China’s government, as well as to reject “false claims that Tibet has been part of China since ‘ancient times’.”
But Lin said at Tuesday’s press conference that “Xizang has always been part of China since ancient times”, adding that the US “must not sign the Bill into law”.
“Xizang’s affairs are purely China’s domestic affairs and no external interference will ever be allowed,” he also said.
