Motion on Tibet

This Senate Motion, introduced on Wednesday, February 26, 2020, seeks to raise awareness of the serious and recurring human rights abuses committed against the Tibetan people at the hands of the Chinese Communist, and to consequently urge greater action from the Canadian Government.

Text of the Motion on Tibet

That the Senate urge the Government of Canada to actively support the genuine autonomy of Tibet and, consequently, to also call for the People’s Republic of China to:

(a) renew the Sino-Tibetan dialogue in good faith and based on the Middle Way Approach;

(b) respect the religious rights of the Tibetan people and stop interference in the process of recognizing a successor or reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama;

(d) free all Tibetan political prisoners, including the youngest political prisoner Gendhun Choekyi Nyima (Panchen Lama), and cease all arbitrary detention of dissidents;

(e) grant Canada reciprocal diplomatic access to Tibet without limitations; and

(f) protect the Tibetan Plateau that serves as Asia’s water tower, feeding over a billion lives in Asia; and

That the Senate urge the Government of Canada to raise Tibetan issues at every opportunity with China with a view to taking the additional steps necessary to deescalate tensions and restore peace and stability in Tibet.

That a message be sent to the House of Commons to acquaint it with the foregoing.

Background Information

Restrictions on fundamental rights and freedoms – including freedom of expression, religion, movement, and conscience – are severely curtailed and increasingly repressive in Tibet.

Tibet has been ruled since 1950 by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has been divided into the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and 12 Tibetan autonomous prefectures. To date, China continues to face criticism regarding its human rights violations in the TAR and the prefectures.

According to Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2017 report, the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) received the worst possible rating for both political rights and civil liberties.

Human Rights Watch has also reported that several of the Chinese government’s national security and anti-terrorist laws in fact make it easier to violate civil rights under the guise of protecting national security.

This Motion serves to raise awareness of the human rights abuses in Tibet and urge the Government of Canada to raise Tibetan issues at every opportunity with China would address the intensifying restrictions against basic rights and freedoms of the Tibetan population.

In details…

Specifically, this Senate motion would urge the Government of Canada to take a stronger action with China in support of the genuine autonomy Tibet on the following points:

(a) renew the Sino-Tibetan dialogue in good faith and based on the Middle Way Approach;

This would mean calling upon the People’s Republic of China to renew Sino-Tibetan dialogue based on the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way Approach” of self-rule and autonomy with the framework of the People’s Republic of China.

(b) respect the religious rights of the Tibetan people and stop interference in the process of recognizing a successor or reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama;

Notwithstanding that Tibetan Buddhism is practiced in many countries including Bhutan, India, Mongolia, Nepal, the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the United States, and Canada, the Government of the People’s Republic of China has repeatedly insisted on its role in managing the selection of Tibet’s next spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, through actions such as those described in the ‘‘Measures on the Management of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas’’ in 2007.

On March 19, 2019, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson reiterated that the ‘‘reincarnation of living Buddhas including the Dalai Lama must comply with Chinese laws and regulations and follow religious rituals and historical conventions’’.

The Government of the People’s Republic of China has interfered in the process of recognizing a successor or reincarnation of Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including in 1995 by arbitrarily detaining Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a 6-year old boy who was identified as the 11th Panchen Lama, and purporting to install its own candidate as the Panchen Lama. The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, issued a statement on September 24, 2011, explaining the traditions and spiritual precepts of the selection of Dalai Lamas, setting forth his views on the considerations and process for selecting his successor, and providing a response to the Chinese government’s claims that only the Chinese government has the ultimate authority in the selection process of the Dalai Lama. The 14th Dalai Lama said in his statement that the person who reincarnates has sole legitimate authority over where and how he or she takes rebirth and how that reincarnation is to be recognized and if there is a need for a 15th Dalai Lama to be recognized, then the responsibility shall primarily rest with the officers of the Dalai Lama’s Gaden Phodrang Trust, who will be informed by the written instructions of the 14th Dalai Lama.

Since 2011, the 14th Dalai Lama has reiterated publicly on numerous occasions that decisions on the successions, emanations, or reincarnations of the Dalai Lama belongs to the Tibetan Buddhist faith community alone.

(c) respect the linguistics rights, freedom of movement, thought, conscience and religion of the people in Tibet;

In recent years, experts have observed an increasing level of control and stringent regulations exerted by the Chinese Communist Party on the Tibetan people in regards to their fundamental rights and freedoms, including their linguistics rights and freedom of movement, thought, conscience and religion.

For instance, China has implemented highly intrusive surveillance systems within Tibet that restrict travel and track the movement of individuals in efforts to curb dissent.

Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2017 report on Tibet outlines the restrictions on freedom and gave the TAR the worst possible rating for both political rights and civil liberties.

In particular, the same report stated that there has been an increase in the degree of persecution towards Tibetan Buddhists, which Freedom House categorized overall as “very high.”

While the Chinese constitution protects freedom of religion for all citizens, numerous reports indicate that individuals have been arrested, unjustly detained, forced out of their homes and have disappeared due to their religious practices.

(d) free all Tibetan political prisoners, including the youngest political prisoner Gendhun Choekyi Nyima (Panchen Lama), and cease all arbitrary detention of dissidents;

At every opportunity, the Government of Canada must call upon the People’s Republic of China to free all Tibetan political prisoners and cease all arbitrary detention of dissidents. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has recorded 479 cases of Tibetans detained or tried for “political offences” between 2013 and 2015.

HRW’s 2019 World Report states that there were clear findings by UN human rights experts that many of charges against dissidents are baseless and, as a result, political prisoners are detained unlawfully and are tortured or ill-treated while in custody.

One of these political prisoners is Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, identified as the 11^th Panchen-Lama at 6 years old, the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism. A few days after being declared the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, Chinese authorities took him in captivity; he’s the world’s youngest political prisoner.

This May will mark its 25^th year of detention.

(e) grant Canada reciprocal diplomatic access to Tibet without limitations;

The motion would also serve to encourage the PRC to grant Canada reciprocal diplomatic access to the Tibet without limitations.

It has been documented that foreign access to the TAR is often denied or impeded with a strategic purpose to prevent Canada’s diplomatic efforts from advancing universal human rights and freedoms.

Through this motion, Canada would demand reciprocity in access to Tibet for Canadian government representatives, by encouraging the People’s Republic of China to conform to internationally recognized diplomatic principles with regards to the TAR.

In doing so, the Canadian government can play a significant role in promoting and protecting basic human rights and freedoms in Tibet.

(f) protect the Tibetan Plateau that serves as Asia’s water tower, feeding over a billion lives in Asia; and

The Tibetan Plateau contains glaciers, rivers, grasslands, and other geographical and ecological features that are crucial for supporting vegetation growth and biodiversity, regulating water flow and supply for an estimated 1.8 billion people. Global warming threatens the glaciers in Tibet that feed the major rivers of South and East Asia, which supply freshwater to an estimated 1.8 billion people.

Rising global temperatures, especially in the Tibetan Plateau where the average temperature has increased at twice the global average will result in variable water flows in the future.

The construction in Tibet of large hydro-electric power dams intended to be used in part to transmit power to Chinese provinces outside of Tibet, as well as other infrastructure projects, including the Sichuan-Tibet railroad, may also lead to the resettlement of thousands of Tibetans and transform the environment.

The grasslands of Tibet play a significant role in carbon production and sequestration. Tibet’s rivers support wetlands that play a key role in water storage, water quality, and the regulation of water flow, support biodiversity, foster vegetation growth, and act as carbon sinks.

Rising temperatures and intensifying evaporation, can affect the water supply, cause desertification, and destabilize infrastructure on the Tibetan Plateau and beyond.

Traditional Tibetan grassland stewardship practices, which can be key to mitigating the negative effects of warming on the Tibetan Plateau, are undermined by the resettlement of nomads from Tibetan grasslands.

The People’s Republic of China has approximately 20 percent of the world’s population but only around 7 percent of the world’s water supply, while many countries in South and Southeast Asia rely on the rivers flowing from the Himalayas of the Tibetan Plateau.

The People’s Republic of China has already completed water transfer programs diverting billions of cubic meters of water yearly and has plans to divert more waters from the Tibetan plateau in China.

Quote

“As a Nation, Canada has been, and will always remain, a champion in fighting for democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law. We have a responsibility to stand with the Tibetan People and to continue fighting for their fundamental rights and freedoms.”

– Senator Thanh Hai Ngo

Click here or below to view the Senator’s notice of motion in the Senate Chamber. Alternatively, you can read the written transcript to the below video here.

A full transcript of the Senate Debates (Senate Sitting no. 273) are also available online.

On Thursday, February 27, 2020, Senator Ngo spoke to his motion in the Senate Chamber. Click here to watch the full Senate sitting (no. 13) or click below to watch Senator Ngo’s speech during the proceedings. You can also read the written transcript to the below video here.