In June 2024, a bipartisan congressional delegation including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited India, where they met His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. The Congressional visit focused on promoting the Resolve Tibet Act, formally known as the Promoting a Resolution to Tibet-China Act, which has significant implications for the historical dispute between Tibet and China over the administration of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.
Between June 16th and 20th, 2024, Representative Michael McCaul, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led a bipartisan delegation with former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to India. The main purpose of the visit was to convene with the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala and raise awareness for the Resolve Tibet Act, which was passed by the United States Congress at the time of their visit and has since been enacted into law.
The congressional delegation also met with officials from the Tibetan government-in-exile, a democratically elected government which campaigns for Tibetan autonomy from China. After convening with the Dalai Lama, the delegation met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Subrahymanyam Jaishankar. They also held a roundtable with the US-India Business Council.
The trip also held relevance for Mongolia, a country whose population practices Tibetan-Buddhism. The Dalai Lama’s selection of a young Mongolian boy with American citizenship for the position of the “Bogd Gegeen,” the religious leader of Mongolian Tibetan Buddhism, has recently increased tension between China and Mongolia.
Former Speaker Pelosi and the Dalai Lama
Speaker Pelosi played a prominent role in the delegation in part because of her personal connections to Tibet. In addition to her personal friendship with the Dalai Lama, her district in San Francisco is home to an estimated 3,000 Tibetans, making it the third largest Tibetan community in the United States, after New York and Minneapolis.
In her speech to the Tibetan government-in-exile, Speaker Pelosi condemned China’s administration of Tibet, focusing on the intentional lack of cultural education of Tibetan youth. In particular, she criticized the Chinese government’s attempts to “erase the (Tibetan) culture” through suppression of the Tibetan language.
Speaker Pelosi’s visit sparked a stern response from the Chinese foreign ministry, who view Tibet as an integral part of China, and the Dalai Lama as “a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion.” The Chinese foreign ministry chided the delegation for “sending the wrong signal to the world” by visiting the Dalai Lama. The spokesperson for the ministry also reminded the United States of its commitment to recognise Tibet as part of China and urged President Biden not to support the Resolve Tibet Act.
Resolve Tibet Act
China has sought sovereignty over Tibet since its founding as the People’s Republic of China in 1949 at the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War. However, exiled Tibetan communities deny China’s claim and seek autonomy for Tibet. Various efforts to settle this conflict failed and the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama have never come to an agreement. This unsettled dispute led to a series of political uprisings of Tibetans against Chinese efforts to control Tibet, leading to the Dalai Lama fleeing to democratic India in 1959.
When the Dalai Lama fled to India and established the Tibetan government-in-exile, the US government provided military assistance to the Tibetan guerilla forces from 1956 until 1979, while the Tibetans fought against China’s claim of national sovereignty over Tibet. In response to the PRC’s continued suppression of the Tibetan people’s will, the US Congress introduced the Resolve Tibet Act. The United States claims they have never taken an official position on the PRC’s claim that Tibet has been part of China since the Qing dynasty. The act acknowledges Tibet’s distinct historical, cultural, religious, and linguistic identity while also aiming to promote a peaceful resolution to the dispute.
When discussing the intentions behind this act, Representative McCaul stated that “Tibetans, like all people, have the right to religious freedom – which includes freedom from Chinese government surveillance, censorship, and detention.”
The Resolve Tibet Act enhances the US support for Tibet – denying China’s claims that, “Tibet was part of China since ancient times,” and pushing for negotiations between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama or the Tibetan government-in-exile. Such support from the United States to Tibetan people provides a momentum to the long-standing dispute.
Wider Implications of the China-Tibet Conflict
The conflict between China and Tibet extends beyond these two entities. The Chinese government has sought to diminish the proliferation of Tibetan Buddhism both inside and outside China, including coopting symbols of religious importance to Tibetan Buddhists and using its global influence to pressure countries to ban visits from the Dalai Lama.
As one of the three nations where Tibetan Buddhism is practiced, Mongolia is home to 3.4 million Tibetan Buddhists, as well as being neighbor to China, and thus has been drawn into the conflict between China and Tibet. Despite the surmounting tensions in the region, the Dalai Lama publicly revealed that a young Mongolian boy had been chosen as the next Bogd Gegeen.
The Bogd Gegeen, formally known as the Jebtsundamba Khutughtu, is one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism because of their role as theological leader of the religion in Mongolia. The announcement of the Bogd has strained Mongolia’s relationship with China. China is home to almost six million Mongolians and the Chinese government fears that the Bogd, as an important religious figure for Mongolians who follow Tibetan Buddhism, will lead to renewed interest in Tibetan Buddhism amongst Mongols both within and outside China, weakening the government’s control of the religion.
Mongolia relies heavily upon China economically, and when the Dalai Lama last visited Mongolia in 2016, the Chinese government slapped high import duties and fees on products and delayed key negotiations on a $4.2 billion loan that would help ease the country’s economic recession. In an effort to placate the Chinese government, the Mongolian government barred the Dalai Lama from visiting Mongolia again, but this has not deterred Mongolians in their support for the newly announced Bogd Gegeen. The then-President of Mongolia, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, personally informed the Bogd Gegeen of his selection, underscoring the importance of this Tibetan Buddhist figure in Mongolia.
The importance of the Bogd and his role in Tibetan Buddhism extends beyond Mongolia, Tibet and China. The chosen Bogd’s American citizenship and the United States’ advocation for Tibetan Buddhists’ religious freedom in the Resolve Tibet Act has drawn the United States further into this political quagmire as the Chinese government attempts to enforce total control over Tibetan Buddhism.
As the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile continue their struggle for Tibetan autonomy, the Chinese government continues to increase pressure on the stakeholders in this conflict, including Mongolia and the United States. The visit of the bipartisan Congressional delegation to Dharamshala and the passage of the Resolve Tibet Act is a testament to the United States’ support of Tibetan autonomy and the freedom of the Tibetan people.
Uma Baron is a Summer 2024 Young Professional at the East West Center in Washington. Uma is a recent graduate from the University of Edinburgh where she earned an MA Hons in Chinese Studies. Uma previously served as an intern at the Global Taiwan Institute.
Bayarjavkhlan Bayanmunkh is a Summer 2024 Young Professional at the East-West Center in Washington. He is pursuing a bachelor's degree in political science and economics at Swarthmore College.