At McLeod Ganj, Himachal, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a group of US delegates see the Dalai Lama.
Beijing is urged under the Resolve Tibet Act to hold further negotiations with Tibetan leaders in order to amicably settle their differences with China over governance.
In order to meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader, the congressional delegation led by Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to the Dalai Lama’s residence on Wednesday. The team paid a visit to the Dalai Lama’s home in McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, and its leader, Michael McCaul, announced that President Joe Biden would shortly sign a bill intended to put pressure on China to settle the Tibet problem.
The Resolve Tibet Act demands that Beijing bring up the negotiations with Tibetan leaders, which have been on hold since 2010, in order to find a peaceful solution to their dispute with China over governance. The measure intends for Tibet to be settled by negotiation between the two nations. It also calls on China to attend to the aspirations of the Tibetan people with respect to their language, culture, history, and religion.
Dolma Tsering Teykhang, the deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile, stated prior to the American delegation’s meeting with the Dalai Lama that the visit by US lawmakers demonstrated that “Tibet is not alone.”
Nancy Pelosi was among the US lawmakers who arrived at Dharamshala’s Kangra airport on Tuesday. Reps. Gregory Meeks, Nicole Malliotakis, Jim McGovern, Rep. Ami Bera, Speaker Emerita, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks are all on it.
At the arrival of the American delegation, representatives from the Central Tibetan Administration greeted them.
“We are extremely excited to see His Holiness tomorrow to talk about many things, including the Bill we passed out of Congress, which basically says that the United States stands with the people of Tibet,” McCaul said in a Tuesday interview with reporters.
She responded, “Yes, he will,” when asked if Biden would sign the legislation.
The Resolve Tibet Act was passed by the US House of Representatives and is currently pending Biden’s signature to become law. This measure asks Beijing to desist from disseminating misleading information about Tibet’s past, people, institutions, and Dalai Lama. It also disputes Beijing’s assertion that Tibet has always been a part of China. It also calls on China to hold talks over Tibet’s governance with the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan leaders.
Politicians from the US have been to Dharamsala on multiple occasions to assist the Dalai Lama in his attempts to secure worldwide backing for the language and cultural preservation of Tibet, his birthplace tucked away in the mountains.
In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet. Any encounters he has with foreign officials are met with resistance from Chinese authorities.
China’s reaction
Beijing, which sees the Dalai Lama, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, as a dangerous “splittist” or separatist, voiced grave concerns about the law that Biden is expected to sign on Tuesday.
“We… urge the US to fully recognize the anti-China and separatist nature of the Dalai clique, abide by its commitments on Tibet-related issues, refrain from any form of contact with it, and stop sending erroneous messages,” said Lin Jian, a spokesman for the foreign ministry. We implore the US side to abide by its pledge to acknowledge Tibet as a part of China and oppose Tibetan independence, as well as to decline to sign the aforementioned law.
Beijing declared that in order to safeguard its interests in growth, security, and sovereignty, it would act decisively.
