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“SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR U.S. POLICY TOWARD TIBET” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S8379-S8380 on July 30, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR U.S. POLICY TOWARD TIBET
Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, today the New York Times reports an important advance in United States diplomacy. Secretary of State Albright has agreed to appoint a special coordinator to oversee American policy toward Tibet. This brings to fruition the vision of our beloved former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Pell, who introduced a bill (S. 2554) at the end of the 103d Congress to establish a position in the Department of State to coordinate United States policy on Tibet.
Since 1959, the Tibetans have suffered the liberation of their country by the Communist Chinese. Tibet is a remote land. Tibetans at that time had no interest in relations with other countries. No interest in joining the newly formed United Nations. Perhaps if Tibet had, we would have paid more attention when it was invaded.
Now it's time to pay attention. Most importantly, we must focus on efforts to bring the Tibetans and the Chinese to the negotiating table to resolve their differences. The situation requires far more attention within the administration and a special coordinator can provide appropriate attention. While the Dalai Lama has stated repeatedly his willingness to begin negotiations, the Chinese continue to issue denials. As my daughter Maura wrote in a Washington Post article in April:
Most policy makers do not realize that the Dalai Lama is not seeking territorial sovereignty for his captive nation; nor is he asking to be reinstated as the head of the theocratic government that ruled Tibet prior to the Chinese invasion. In an address to the European Parliament in 1988 in Strasbourg, France, the Dalai Lama offered the Chinese control of Tibet's military and diplomatic affairs if they would allow the Tibetan people a measure of self-governance and non-interference in religion and culture.
That is certainly a magnanimous offer. The response from the Chinese? Silence.
In creating this new position, we make clear that we have heard this reasonable offer and intend to pursue it. As Lodi Gyari, the able diplomat who represents the Dalai Lama in Washington, is quoted in the New York Times today:
If the United States is consistent and sincere and vigorous in trying to persuade the Chinese Government to come to a settlement, I strongly believe it will happen.
The new post will also allow closer scrutiny of human rights abuses in Tibet, which continue at an appalling level. I would note, as the author of the provision which resulted in a separate Tibet report in the State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, that the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, led by Assistant Secretary Shattuck, has done a superb job in documenting the situation in Tibet. The excellent information the Bureau collects will be more readily acted upon by an officer focused solely on Tibet.
For too long, Tibet has fallen between the cracks of United States foreign policy. Such neglect has led Abe Rosenthal to wonder if Tibetans are not ``Endangered Species,'' as he asked in the New York Times on May 21, 1994:
Is anybody protecting, please, another of God's endangered species, which happens to be human, the Tibetans? Not yet. Neither the Republic nor the Empire nor any other nation, great or small, does anything about the Tibetans, except India, which gives them refuge when they can escape their cage.
Would it help to say that just as there are laws against slaughtering hawksbill turtles, there are international laws against genocide--the elimination of nations and cultures? Probably not.
This is a rather somber note on which to end, yet the situation in Tibet is grave. I am pleased that the Secretary has decided to appoint a new special coordinator for Tibet and both Congress and the Administration can devote more attention to this ``Endangered Species.''
Mr. President, I ask that the article on the position be printed in the Record.
The article follows:
Albright to Name Special Aide On U.S. Policy Toward Tibet
(By Steven Lee Myers)
Washington, July 29.--Secretary of State Madelene K. Albright told Congressional leaders today that she would appoint a new ``special coordinator'' to oversee American policy toward Tibet.
The announcement, which came in response to Democratic and Republican pressure in Congress, could create new diplomatic strains with China.
The United States has never had diplomatic relations with Tibet, which it regards as part of China, but the creation of the new position would significantly raise the profile of Tibetan affairs within the Government, according to Administration and Congressional officials familiar with the plan.
``We are prepared to have someone working in the State Department to see that the religious freedom of Tibetans is promoted and that their ethnicity is respected,'' a senior Administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The new coordinator, however, would not have the rank of ambassador, with the diplomatic credentials to act on behalf of the United States, nor would the appointment bestow any diplomatic recognition on Tibet. In that sense the idea would fall short of recent proposals in both the House and the Senate, which the Administration has opposed.
But the appointment is likely to rankle China, which has repeatedly accused other nations of interfering with internal matters by raising concerns over Tibet.
President Clinton met in April with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, and promised to raise Tibet as a prominent issue when he meets President Jiang Zemin of China in the fall. The meeting with the Dalai Lama, a so-called drop by during the Tibetan's session with Vice President Al Gore that stopped short of an official visit, prompted protests from Beijing.
``I see this as a step in the right direction,'' said Lodi Gyari, president of the International Campaign for Tibet and a former aide to the Dalai Lama. ``I hope this is the beginning of a trend. If the United States is consistent and sincere and vigorous in trying to persuade the Chinese Government to come to a settlement, I strongly believe it will happen.''
Ms. Albright, visiting Singapore today, discussed the appointment in a telephone call with leaders of the Senate's Committee on Foreign Relations and the House's Committee on International Relations, which are considering new legislation to force the appointment of an envoy with ambassadorial rank, a move the Administration opposes.
The details of the position--including the scope of the duties and resources--were not disclosed.
After the meeting, an aide to a Senate Republican said,
``We want to make sure this is not one guy sitting in the bowels of the State Department with no influence over policy in Tibet.''
The special coordinator would have a broad mandate to orchestrate the Administration's policies internally and also to meet with Tibetan officials, including the exiled leaders based in India, officials said. The officials said the coordinator would also act as a mediator between Chinese and Tibetan officials, trying to restart contacts.
China seized Tibet in 1950.
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U.S. to Press for Pol Pot Trial
(By the New York Times)
Singapore, July 29.--Ms. Albright said today that the United States would continue to press for an international war crimes trial for Pol Pot, the former Cambodian leader.
``What we do think is very important is that Pol Pot be tried,'' she said in a briefing for journalists traveling with her to Asia. ``We consider him a war criminal.'' She added that the United States sought to have him tried ``by some procedure that is internationally accepted.''
She acknowledged that earlier explorations into using Canadian or Dutch law had run into complications, but said American officials were continuing to search for the right site and method for a trial.
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