US reiterates need for direct talks between Dalai Lama and China
Christopher Elms, the spokesperson of US embassy in New Delhi, said US president Joe Biden had in July signed the Resolve Tibet Act into a law because we agree with the sentiment of the law that it is there to protect the human rights of the Tibetan people
The United States encourages the Chinese government to engage in negotiations directly with Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, or his representatives without pre-conditions, Christopher Elms, the spokesperson of US embassy in New Delhi said during his visit to Mcleodganj.
Elms, who visited the exited Tibetan community, said the US continues to call for direct talks and was open to creative solutions, adding, “Our government talks with those here and with Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) on ways we can perhaps come up with creative ways to start these direct talks. We again would really like these talks to start directly without any precondition as soon as possible.”
Elms said US president Joe Biden had in July signed the Resolve Tibet Act into a law because we agree with the sentiment of the law that it is there to protect the human rights of the Tibetan people. “It reaffirms our commitment to the distinct historical, cultural, linguistic and religious heritage of the Tibetan people, he said, adding that the law also discusses Tibet as a political entity,” he said.
While the Sino-Tibetan dialogue has remained stalled since 2010, the new Act aims to promote dialogue without preconditions between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama, his representatives, or democratically elected leaders of the Tibetan community.
“Next steps are what we have been encouraging for a long time, which is the direct negotiation between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Dalai Lama or his representatives. It has been 13 years since these direct negotiations and we encourage the PRC to engage in negotiations directly with the Dalai Lama or his representatives without pre-conditions,” Elms said.
Elms said that while His Holiness the Dalai Lama was in the USA recently, he met with the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues from the US government, Uzra Zeya, as well as the senior director from the National Security Council.
“In that meeting, Zeya reiterated the message from the US government that we support the human rights of the Tibetan people as well as continue our efforts to preserve the historical, cultural, linguistic and religious heritage of the Tibetan people,” said Elms.
The Act also asserts that officials of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party are historically inaccurate in claiming that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times. “We do see PRC disinformation about Tibet and about its history. It has been the view of the US government that Tibet has a distinct history, culture, language and religious heritage which we need to preserve. The Chinese disinformation indicates otherwise. We will continue to put out the real information about Tibet’s distinct history,” Elms said.
