[Congressional Record: March 11, 1997 (Senate)]
[Page S2153-S2155]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr11mr97-184]
REGARDING UNITED STATES OPPOSITION TO THE PRISON SENTENCE OF TIBETAN ETHNOMUSICOLOGIST NGAWANG CHOEPHEL
Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed
to the immediate consideration of calendar order No. 22, Senate
Resolution 19.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk
will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 19) expressing the sense of the
Senate regarding United States opposition to the prison
sentence of Tibetan ethnomusicologist Ngawang Choephel by the
Government of the People's Republic of China.
The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, Ngawang Choephel is lonely, locked up in a
Chinese prison in Tibet. I do hope, Mr. President, that somehow,
through Radio Free Asia or other means, he will learn that the Senate
of the United States is sincerely concerned about him and will continue
to work for his freedom--as we will for all prisoners of conscience in
China and Tibet.
Senate Resolution 19 proposes to put the U.S. Senate on record in
support of the release of Mr. Choephel, a strong resolution on China
and Tibet at the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva and access to
Tibet for internationally recognized human rights group.
This resolution assures Tibetans--those in Nepal and India where they
wait for the day they can reclaim their homeland, and those inside
Tibet where they resist the cultural, religious, and political
oppression of the Chinese Central Government--we in the United States
have not forgotten you. We are with you. We will always be with you.
Yesterday, March 10, was Tibet National Uprising Day, the anniversary
of Tibet's 1959 uprising against the Chinese occupation.
For almost 40 years, the Tibetan people have been resisting Chinese
occupation, while working to preserve their culture in exile in India
and Nepal. Repression inside Tibet has been raised to a level not seen
since the Cultural Revolution. China has absorbed large portions of
Tibet into neighboring provinces and conducted a concerted campaign to
dilute Tibet's population through the relocation of Han Chinese.
Tibet's leaders fear that Tibetans are now in the minority inside
Tibet.
China seeks to limit the number of young people who enter religious
life. Monks are forced to undergo political indoctrination and to
renounce the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama himself is the focus of
virulent attacks. His photograph is banned. China has detained the
Panchen Lama, a young boy who is the reincarnation of Tibet's second
most important religious figure, and selected its own rival Panchen
Lama. The number of political prisoners has
[[Page S2154]]
increased dramatically--Ngawang Choephel, the subject of this
resolution is just one case. There are many, many others.
Yesterday was also the opening day of the U.N. Human Rights
Commission in Geneva. Mr. President, Senate Resolution 19 reminds
President Clinton and his administration of their responsibility to
support and bring about the passage of a strong resolution on China and
Tibet at Geneva, and to raise relentlessly Mr. Choephel's case, and
other cases, with the Chinese Government, while pressing for access to
Tibet by human rights monitors.
The administration must take this responsibility seriously and
sincerely. However, according to news reports, the administration's
position on a China resolution at the Commission is just a bargaining
chip in United States-China relations. There are frequent reports that
the United States may drop, or soften, a resolution at Geneva in
exchange for some future progress on human rights in China.
We have been down this road before with the administration. It is
difficult to fathom what the administration believes it is achieving by
rushing to entice China with softer positions on human rights, on
proliferation, or on Hong Kong. Last year, the administration itself
reports, human rights in China deteriorated. The President himself
admitted that his engagement policy has not brought results. It makes
no sense to mute or abandon our objections to China's record at the
U.N. Human Rights Commission in exchange for nebulous commitments. The
administration must tell the truth at Geneva.
In Burma, as well, the administration has recognized a marked
deterioration in human rights over the past year. For several months,
the administration has been reviewing its policy toward Burma in order
to determine whether to impose a ban on new United States investment.
The administration last year signed into a law specifying criteria for
imposing an investment ban--first, restrictions on, physical harm to,
or the exile of Aung San Suu Kyi, or second, widespread repression of
the democratic opposition.
The SLORC regime is doing both, and the administration knows it.
Since last summer, the SLORC has conducted a campaign of intimidation,
arrests, disappearances, and some executions of democratic activists,
and those close to them. Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly been kept from
meeting and communicating with her supporters. Her phone service has
been periodically cut. Her car was attacked.
Throughout all of this, the administration continued to review the
law. It's time to follow the law. By failing to do so, the
administration has signaled both the SLORC and our allies in the region
that the United States isn't serious about supporting democracy or
combating drug trafficking in Burma.
Now comes a new tragedy in Burma. For the past few weeks, the SLORC
has been waging a campaign against the ethnic Karen rebels, the only
major ethnic army which has not yet signed a cease-fire with the
regime. The Karen, who are Christian, will not submit to SLORC's
control. The Thai Army has been repatriating refugees to Burma--in
violation of international law. The carnage on the border provides yet
another reason to invoke sanctions on the SLORC regime not just because
it's the decent thing to do, but because U.S. law requires it.
The Karen National Union was one of several ethnic nationalities
which agreed in January to a common platform of support for democracy,
opposition to Burma's membership in ASEAN, rejection of the rigged
constitutional convention and the SLORC's cosmetic actions against
narcotics production and trafficking, and opposition to foreign
investment.
The Karen National Union is part of the democratic opposition in
Burma. The massive and brutal attacks on the KNU by the SLORC regime
clearly trigger the Cohen-Feinstein condition on widespread repression
of the democratic opposition.
Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, yesterday, March 10, marked the 38th
anniversary of the Tibetan uprising, at a time when many Tibetan
citizens gave their lives to defend their freedom and to prevent the
Dalai Lama from being kidnaped by the Chinese Army. For those who stand
with the Tibetan people, it is a day to consider what can be done to
lend support to their aspirations. The United States Senate will mark
the occasion by adopting this resolution Senate Resolution 19,
introduced on the first day of the 105th Congress, condemning the
egregious prison sentence imposed by the Chinese Government on Hgawang
Choephel. The Foreign Relations Committee has considered the measure
and unanimously reported-out the resolution last week.
Mr. Choephel, a Tibetan ethnomusicologist and Fulbright Scholar,
returned to Tibet in July 1995 to prepare a documentary film about
traditional Tibetan performing arts. He was detained in August 1995 by
the Chinese authorities and held incommunicado for over a year before
the Government of the People's Republic of China admitted to holding
him, and finally charged him with espionage in October 1996.
On December 26, 1996, the Chinese Government sentenced Ngawang
Choephel to an 18-year prison term plus 4 years subsequent deprivation
of his political rights following a secret trial. This is the most
severe sentence of a Tibetan by the Chinese Government in 7 years.
The imprisonment of Ngawang Choephel reflects the broader conflict
between Tibetans and Chinese. Mr. Choephel's arrest, and harsh
sentence, appear to stem from his collecting information to preserve
Tibetan performing arts. Such treatment of Tibetans is indicative of
the extreme measures the Chinese Government continues to take to
repress all forms of Tibetan cultural expression. To the Chinese
Government, which views Tibetan religion and culture as an impediment
to successfully unifying Tibet with the ``motherland,'' such efforts
are reactionary. As we have seen, they are so threatening that Mr.
Choephel has been sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for his efforts.
The New York Times editorial on January 2 explains:
The basis of Ngawang Choephel's conviction is unclear, but
even taping Tibetan culture for export could qualify as
espionage under Chinese law. Since its invasion of Tibet in
1950, Beijing has gradually increased its efforts to erase
Tibet's identity. China has arrested those who protested the
takeover and tried to eradicate the people's affection for
the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama.
My first encounter with this transcending issue came with my
appointment as Ambassador to India a near quarter-century ago. In 1975,
along with my daughter Maura Moynihan, I visited China as a guest of
George Bush, who was then Chief of our U.S. Liaison Office in Peking.
By this time, I was persuaded the Soviet Union would break up along
ethnic lines. But I was not prepared for the intensity of ethnic
tensions in the People's Republic. One was met at the Canton railroad
station by a giant mural of Mao surrounded by ecstatic non-Chinese
peoples who occupy more than half the nominal territory of the People's
Republic. In Beijing, 3-year-olds in the Neighborhood Revolutionary
Committee of Chi Eh Tao nursery school sang a patriotic song for us
which began:
We will grow up quickly to settle the border regions. We
will denounce and crush Lin Piao and Confucious
A refrain which ended:
We will each grow a pair of industrial hands.
Much of that Stalinoid dementia has disappeared from the coastal
regions of China, at least for the moment, but not from Tibet. My
daughter Maura has traveled to Tibet several times. After her most
recent trip last year, she wrote in the Washington Post of the Chinese
assault on Tibetan religion and culture:
Beijing's leaders have renewed their assault on Tibetan
culture, especially Buddhism, with an alarming vehemence. The
rhetoric and the methods of the Cultural Revolution of the
1960s have been resurrected--reincarnated, what you will--to
shape an aggressive campaign to vilify the Dalai Lama.
The resolution before us records the United States Senate's response
to these Chinese policies. We reject Chinese efforts to ``erase Tibet's
identity'' and their ``assault on Tibetan culture.'' Tibetans must be
free, not only to preserve their identity and culture, but to determine
their future for themselves.
In the words of the International Commission of Jurists in 1960,
``Tibet demonstrated from 1913 to 1950 the conditions of statehood as
generally accepted under international law.'' The
[[Page S2155]]
Government of the People's Republic of China should know that as the
Tibetan people and His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet go forward on
their journey toward freedom the Congress and the people of the United
States stand with them.
I thank all my colleagues who have cosponsored this resolution. In
particular I would like to recognize the long commitment that the
chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Senator Helms, has shown in
support of Tibetans and thank him for joining me in this effort today.
I would also thank both Senators from Vermont, who have remained
engaged in this matter since it was made known and for their joining me
as a cosponsor of this measure.
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to commend the Senate's
passage of Senate Resolution 19, regarding United States opposition to
the prison sentence of Tibetan ethno-musicologist Ngawang Choephel by
the Government of the People's Republic of China. I am proud to be an
original cosponsor of this resolution, which was introduced by Senator
Moynihan, and was successfully reported out of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee last week.
This resolution expresses the Senate's strong sense that Ngawang
Choephel should be released from the prison where he has been held in
since 1995. It also urges the United States to raise the issue of his
release with Chinese officials, to promote a resolution at the U.N.
Human Rights Commission, and to seek access for human rights monitors
in Tibet.
Mr. Choephel, a Tibetan national who--with the support of a Fulbright
scholarship--studied ethno-musicology at Middlebury College in Vermont,
was detained by the Chinese authorities in Tibet in August 1995. After
being held incommunicado for a year, he was charged with espionage in
October 1996. In December of that year, the Chinese sentenced him to a
18-year prison term following a secret trial.
Mr. Choephel was preparing a documentary film about traditional
Tibetan performing arts when he was detained. The State Department says
there is no evidence that his activities were anything but academic.
Unfortunately, Mr. Choephel's arrest and sentence appear consistent
with previous Chinese actions to repress cultural expression in Tibet.
The U.S. State Department and several human rights organizations,
including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, note that China
consistently denies Tibetans their fundamental human rights. According
to the most recent State Department Human Rights report, Chinese
authorities continue to commit widespread and well-documented human
rights abuse, in violation of internationally accepted norms. Credible
reports include instances of death in detention, torture, arbitrary
arrest, detention without public trial, and intensified controls on
religion and on freedom of speech and the press, particularly for
ethnic Tibetans.
Since its occupation of Tibet in 1949, the Chinese have also been
responsible for the destruction of much of Tibetan civilization. The
arrest of Mr. Choephel, who was engaged in efforts to preserve Tibetan
culture, reflects China's systematic attempt to repress cultural
expression in Tibet.
It is crucial that the Senate continue to send the signal that human
rights abuses should not be tolerated, and should figure prominently in
foreign policy deliberations. As a member of the Senate Subcommittee on
Asia, I feel that the United States must continue to urge China to
respect Tibet's unique religious, linguistic, and cultural traditions
and observe fundamental human rights in Tibet and elsewhere.
Mr. ROTH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be
laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the resolution
appear at this point in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 19) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, is as follows:
S. Res. 19
Whereas the Chinese Government sentenced Ngawang Choephel
to an 18 year prison term plus 4 years subsequent deprivation
of his political rights on December 26, 1996, following a
secret trial;
Whereas Mr. Choephel is a Tibetan national whose family
fled Chinese oppression to live in exile in India in 1968;
Whereas Mr. Choephel studied ethnomu- sicology at
Middlebury College in Vermont as a Fulbright Scholar, and at
the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala,
India;
Whereas Mr. Choephel returned to Tibet in July 1995 to
prepare a documentary film about traditional Tibetan
performing arts;
Whereas Mr. Choephel was detained in August 1995 by the
Chinese authorities and held incommunicado for over a year
before the Government of the People's Republic of China
admitted to holding him, and finally charged him with
espionage in October 1996;
Whereas there is no evidence that Mr. Choephel's activities
in Tibet involved anything other than purely academic
research;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China
denies Tibetans their fundamental human rights, as reported
in the State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices, and by human rights organizations including
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Asia;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China is
responsible for the destruction of much of Tibetan
civilization since its invasion of Tibet in 1949;
Whereas the arrest of a Tibetan scholar, such as Mr.
Choephel who worked to preserve Tibetan culture, reflects the
systematic attempt by the Government of the People's Republic
of China to repress cultural expression in Tibet;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China,
through direct and indirect incentives, has established
discriminatory development programs which have resulted in an
overwhelming flow of Chinese immigrants into Tibet, including
those areas incorporated into the Chinese provinces of
Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Quinghai, and have excluded
Tibetans from participation in important policy decisions,
which further threatens traditional Tibetan life;
Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China,
withholds meaningful participation in the governance of Tibet
from Tibetans and has failed to abide by its own
constitutional guarantee of autonomy for Tibetans;
Whereas the Dalai Lama of Tibet has stated his willingness
to enter into negotiations with the Chinese and has
repeatedly accepted the framework Deng Xiaoping proposed for
such negotiations in 1979;
Whereas the United States Government has not developed an
effective plan to win support in international fora, such as
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, to bring
international pressure to bear on the Government of the
People's Republic of China to improve human rights and to
negotiate with the Dalai Lama;
Whereas the Chinese have displayed provocative disregard
for American concerns by arresting and sentencing prominent
dissidents around the time that senior United States
Government officials have visited China; and
Whereas United States Government policy seeks to foster
negotiations between the Government of the People's Republic
of China and the Dalai Lama, and presses China to respect
Tibet's unique religious, linguistic, and cultural
traditions: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) Ngawang Choephel and other prisoners of conscience in
Tibet, as well as in China, should be released immediately
and unconditionally;
(2) to underscore the gravity of this matter, in all
official meetings with representatives of the Government of
the People's Republic of China, United States officials
should request Mr. Choephel's immediate and unconditional
release;
(3) the United States Government should take prompt action
to sponsor and promote a resolution at the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights regarding China and Tibet which
specifically addresses political prisoners and negotiations
with the Dalai Lama;
(4) an exchange program should be established in honor of
Ngawang Choephel, involving students of the Tibetan Institute
of Performing Arts and appropriate educational institutions
in the United States; and,
(5) the United States Government should seek access for
internationally recognized human rights groups to monitor
human rights in Tibet.
____________________