No progress in talks between envoys of Dalai Lama & China: Report

DHARAMSALA, Jan 16: There was no progress of formal negotiations between the Dalai Lama's envoys and China and the religious freedom continues to deteriorate in Tibet, said the 2020 annual report by the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC).

The report, released this week and based on the events between July 1, 2019 and July 1, 2020, details its recommendations to Congress and the US President based on the human rights conditions and rule of law developments in China.

The CECC, which favoured enactment of the 'Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020' that was passed at the end of December of 2020, highlighted their concerns of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) increasingly repressive tactics, such as intimidation of critics, censorship and interference in foreign governments and citizens.

Along with Tibet, freedom of expression in Hong Kong, East Turkestan (Xinjiang), and Taiwan are curtailed because of China's concerted efforts to influence foreign corporations, said the report of the CECC that has been monitoring Beijing's compliance with international human rights standards since 2000.

Like the past decades, the CECC observed that there has been no progress of formal negotiations between the 14th Dalai Lama's representatives and the CCP.

Religious freedom continues to deteriorate in Tibet as the CCP asserts their claim over the Dalai Lama's and other lamas' reincarnation.

The CCP imposes sacrilegious credentialism methods to Tibetan Buddhist members in monasteries.

The government of the so-called Tibet "autonomous" region passed ethnic unity regulations that impose more harsh measures to stifle Tibetans in the name of containing separatism.

Ethnic unity provisions, as described by the report, entails: "sinicizing religion", increased propaganda by media organizations, implementation of ethnic unity propaganda in museums and educational settings, and criminalizing expression that may disrupt ethnic unity aims.

Arbitrary detainment of Tibetans continues to be common under Chinese controlled Tibet, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said on Saturday citing the report.

Less than a week after the US Senate unanimously passed the 'Tibetan Policy and Support Act' (TPSA) of 2020 despite China's protest, President Donald Trump last month signed it into law, a decision that strengthened the American policy on Tibet and reaffirmed the government's steadfast support for the Dalai Lama and the CTA.

Welcoming the historic legislation, CTA President Lobsang Sangay had said: "This legislation sends a powerful message of hope and justice to the Tibetans inside Tibet and bolsters US support for the protection of Tibetan people's religious freedom, human rights, environmental rights and exile Tibetan democracy like never before."

The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Tibetan exile administration is based in Dharamsala. (IANS)

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