President Bill Clinton
The White House
Dear President Clinton:
We are writing to you out of deep concern for the plight of the Tibetan people. In keeping with your commitment to democracy and human rights around the world, and to the Tibetan people, we ask that bringing about a peaceful resolution to the situation in Tibet be an integral part of your new China policy.
Congress has recognized that Tibet is an occupied country under principles of international law. We have been particularly disturbed by the large influx of Chinese settlers into Tibet, which is threatening the national and cultural identity of the Tibetan people, as well as violating their other human rights. Population transfer is a direct violation of the Geneva Conventions and has been recognized as an infringement of fundamental human rights in a recent United Nations Sub-Committee resolution. Already in the eastern regions of Tibet, the Tibetan people have become a minority in their own homeland. Without a halt to this program in the near future, the assimilation of Tibetan people into the Chinese identity will be completed and one of the world's richest cultures obliterated.
Last year the House Ways and Means Report to H.R. 5318, which called for conditions on the extension of Most-Favored- Nation trading status to China, expressed serious concern over the issue of population transfer. It states "that Chinese development programs and economic inducements supportive of population transfer to Tibet marginalize Tibetans in their own homeland and serve further to undermine their basic human rights."
We feel that one of the most effective ways to bring about change in China is to condition Most-Favored-Nation trading status on human rights improvements. China's desire to become a respected member of the international community and its need for foreign currency must include improvements in its human rights policies, and other nations must take steps to bring this about.
We urge you to press for a halt in China's population transfer program, including the cessation of financial and other incentives that encourage non-Tibetans to relocate to Tibet, and include this as a condition to the extension of Most-Favored- Nation trading status.
We strongly believe that the United States can and must use its economic leverage to bring about a fundamental change in the situation in Tibet. Your stated commitment to Tibet is extremely encouraging, and we look forward to working with you on this important issue.