"China cannot just change history", says Tibet President in exile as US passes Resolve Tibet act

NEW DELHI: US House recently passed the Tibet bill S-138, urging China to resolve the Tibet dispute. This bill also known as the Resolve Tibet Act, refutes Beijing's claims about Tibet and urges China to stop spreading disinformation about Tibet's history and the Tibetan people.

The bill was followed by the visit of a bipartisan group of US lawmakers led by Congressman Michael McCaul and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Dharamshala where they met with the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. The visit raised the hackles of the Chinese government which had described the bill as being groundless and futile.

The passage of the bill, however, has given a fillip to the Tibetan struggle for independence. Speaking exclusively to ANI, Tibetan President in exile, Penpa Tsering, said they want a clear message to go out to China that it cannot just change history.

"This is part of the strategy that we adopted since we came into this job in May 2021. The first time I travelled to the United States was in April 2022... we informed Speaker Pelosi that this is our changing strategy and we need to focus on the extremes... There cannot be a middle way... There could be political, social, economic and educational dimensions... One extreme is the present situation of Tibet, occupied under the repressive communist government... The other extreme is the historical status of Tibet as an independent state," Tsering said.

"We have reasons for doing this. First is to send a message to China that they cannot just change history... The second message is to the international community that without understanding Tibet's history, how can they parrot what the Chinese government wants them to say over the last 60-65 years?" Tsering added.

Congressman Michael McCaul who leads the Republican House Committee on Foreign Affairs had led a delegation that called on the Dalai Lama after the Resolve Tibet bill was passed in the House said that the Chinese government has been working to stomp out Tibetan culture.

"I hope our visit served as a symbol of the U.S. government's support for the people of Tibet and the friendship between our two peoples," Congressman McCaul said.

"The CCP's (Chinese Communist Party) propaganda campaign can't hide the truth: the people of Tibet have a unique culture, history, and religion that have never been part of China, despite the regime's lies. The CCP is working to stomp out Tibetan culture. This cannot be allowed to happen," he added.

Tibetan President in exile Penpa Tsering agrees with that view and says that for the first time the Chinese claim that Tibet is part of the Peoples Republic of China is being challenged.

"There are a lot of discrepancies in China's logic towards history and they have been shifting the goalpost all the time. This Tibet Resolve Act focuses on the part countering China's disinformation on Tibetan history, its people and His Holiness... The first issue is that it's an unresolved conflict. Because China thinks Tibet is already resolved, they have managed to convince the world that Tibet is part of PRC and that is being challenged for the first time," Tsering said.

"They keep saying there is not one country that recognizes the independence of Tibet. The law does not say we recognize independence, but it challenges China's narrative that they have not accepted Tibet as a part of China... In the fourth part of this bill, these are all acting against China's narrative, and it is a new tool in our hand," Tsering added.

The new act has now opened a fresh standoff point between the United States and China. China's Foreign Ministry has questioned the Resolve Tibet act, saying the move is pure interference in the country's internal affairs.