Dharamsala, August 16 – China has allowed US congressional personnel into Tibet for the first time after last year’s unrest there. At least 10 Congressional staffers will embark on a tour of China and Tibet this week, according to a statement by the International Campaign for Tibet dated August 13, which added that several requests earlier to allow US Congressional staffers to Tibet were rejected by China.
Welcoming the move, the exile Tibetan government based here hoped that China would allow free and independent access to the visitors in Tibet. Speaking to the Voice of Tibet radio, the spokesperson of the exile Tibetan government, Thubten Samphel, said he is hopeful the visit by congressional staffers to Tibet will pave way for more visits by diplomats, journalists and researchers in the future to “independently” investigate the situation inside Tibet. Such visits, he said, will be helpful.
However, the ICT said, “As typical of such visits to Tibet, the itinerary will likely be tightly scripted with scant if any opportunity for independent inquiry. Several European government officials and foreign journalists have been allowed on tightly controlled visits to Tibet, almost exclusively to Lhasa, since the protests began in March 2008.”
Todd Stein, Director of Government Relations for the ICT said, “The U.S. Congress has a demonstrated interest and remains very engaged in Tibetan issues. What these staffers will be given permission to see and do will be another indication of how the Chinese government wants the international community to interpret the situation in Tibet. To date, Chinese authorities have explained away tension and unrest across Tibet as isolated incidents resulting from outside interference. We hope the staffers will see enough to make their own judgments about the underlying causes and the impact of Chinese policies on the Tibetan people and their prospects for the future.”
The ICT further said these Congressional staff visits could signal a new Chinese strategy of allowing “opaque access” in order to deflect such pressure, an approach that may have been previewed during the July riots in Xinjiang when foreign journalists were allowed to see the sites of the riots but were not permitted to pursue independent investigations.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama on number of his recent visits outside India has asked people to go to Tibet and see the situation themselves.
