Nancy Pelosi's commitment elates Tibetans in exile

DHARAMSALA: Hours after US Democratic lawmakers re-nominated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to lead the party for another two years, her decades-old unwavering support to the cause of the Tibetan people has been reaffirmed with the passing of a bipartisan resolution on 'autonomous' Tibet. This has elated the Tibetan officials of the government-in-exile. 

In a tweet on Wednesday, she informed: "Today, the House sent a strong message with the passage of resolutions calling for the end of China's human rights abuses.

"The House on a bipartisan basis will always fight for freedom of religion and culture in Tibet and for the rule of law in Hong Kong."

Elated over Pelosi's informal re-nomination as the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, officials of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) — the Dharamsala-based Government-in-exile — believe that her continuing role will help encouraging the Chinese authorities to re-evaluate its policy toward Tibet.

"We are hopeful of passing a new 'Tibet Policy and Support Act' in the US Senate that will highlight the importance of religious freedom for the reincarnation process," a CTA's senior functionary familiar with the development said on Thursday.

For Government-in-exile President Lobsang Sangay, who called on Pelosi in September 2019, his top-most priority in the last year of his second term at the helm is to make an official policy of the US to see the selection of Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including the future Dalai Lama, without any Chinese influence.

Currently, he's on his second-leg tour to the US in less than a month.

As per his official schedule, with the Tibet policy and support Bill as the main agenda of his visit, President Sangay will meet members of the US Congress and other important officials to push for the swift passage of the Bill in the Senate.

In an exclusive interview last month, Sangay said that the passing of 'Tibet Policy and Support Act', which builds on the previous of 2002, will be a major update to the US policy on Tibet.

"Among important updates, passing of this Act will make it the official policy of the US to see that the selection of Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including the future Dalai Lama, follows the wishes of the Tibetan Buddhist community and according to the instructions of current Dalai Lama without any influence from the Chinese government.

"The Act will also forbid China from opening a new Consulate until a US Consulate is allowed in Lhasa," he added.

Congratulating US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory last week, Sangay said that he looked forward to a renewed policy and support on Tibet.

"For decades now, the US has supported the Tibet cause on various fronts, and we are always grateful to the US and its people.

"However, today the concern no longer remains only for the Tibetan people; instead, today the concern is for the global democracy and the universal ideals that have come under threat from authoritarian regime such as China," he added in the message.

Sangay also hailed Biden's recent statement vowing to meet Tibetan spiritual leader — the Dalai Lama, continuing a decades-old tradition followed by US Presidents since George Bush Sr, and most prominently during the presidency of Barack Obama, who hosted His Holiness four times in the White House and publicly pronounced strong support for 'middle-way policy' of the CTA.

Interestingly, the Dalai Lama himself shares a special bond with Pelosi for whom he often says 'personal friendship' for her 'loyal and unwavering support' in the past decades to the just cause of the Tibetan people.

Pelosi visited his residence with a bipartisan US Congressional delegation in Dharamsala on May 9, 2017. (IANS)

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