Bill Passes House for Establisment of a US Consulate in TIbet

Wonderful new!

I know some will say that this is not enough, but to me it’s a start!  It’s about time we have people in congress with some backbone, not to mention the White House’s capability of dialog with other nations and being able to speak to people directly and form the heart.

“the US foreign relations bill authorizes scholarship and fellowship programs for Tibetans, and allocates money to protect Tibetan Culture and history, to support economic development, environmental protection, education and heaths care services in Tibet.

The Bill also asks China to cease “all interferences” in the religious affairs of the Tibetan people, including the reincarnation system of Tibetan Buddhism.”

I’m not sure why China would be so irate about all this?  This should help eliminate some of the tension that China has been causing in these areas.  The communist government doesn’t seem to like dialog of any kind.  Also, a lot of that said above appears to be the similar to the basic human rights that the communists agreed to with the Olympic Committee when they were given the opportunity to host an international of peace and harmony event, called the “Summer Olympics”  To this day, it doesn’t appear that the communists have implemented any of the human rights issues promised.

Of course it should be the communist party who does all the protection, education and health care of the Tibetan people and their culture, but they’ve been only supporting the ethnic Han Chinese who the party keeps sending into Tibet while giving them Tibetan jobs and  business with only further destroys Tibetan identity and culture and pushes the Tibetan’s out of Lhasa.  I’m glad to see that congress if finally helping our friends in Tibet.

US House approves Bill to establish US Consulate in Tibet

Dharamsala, June 12: US House of representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that further advances US policy on Tibet and authorizes its funding for wide-ranging programs that support Tibetans in Tibet.

The bill makes several improvements to an already existing Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 and directs the US government to encourage the Tibetan-Chinese dialogue by coordinating with other governments in multilateral efforts in order to reach a negotiated agreement on Tibet.

The bill further directs the US government to require the National Security Council (NSC) to ensure that U.S. policy on Tibet is coordinated with all executive agencies in contact with the Chinese government.

It also authorizes the establishment of a Tibet Section within the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, until such time as a U.S. consulate in Tibet is established. It further directs the government to seek to establish a U.S. consulate in Tibet’s Capital Lhasa.

The Bill requires the US Consulate in Lhasa to “provide services to United States citizens traveling to Tibet and to monitor political, economic, and cultural developments in Tibet, including Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan provinces.”

The new provisions were included in “H.R. 2410: the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011”, which passed the full House by a vote of 235 to187 on June 10, 2009, a move that could further irate China. [read more on US Consulate in Tibet story]