 US restricts visas on Chinese officials over Tibet Washington (AFP) July 7, 2020 - The United States said Tuesday it was restricting visas to Chinese officials over Tibet, renewing a call for "meaningful autonomy" in the predominantly Buddhist region. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was taking action against an unspecified number of officials under a new US law that presses China to let Americans visit Tibet. "Unfortunately, Beijing has continued systematically to obstruct travel to the Tibetan Autonomous Region and other Tibetan areas by US diplomats and other officials, journalists and tourists, while PRC officials and other citizens enjoy far greater access to the United States," Pompeo said in a statement. Pompeo restricted visas to Chinese officials determined to be "substantially involved" in the exclusion of foreigners from Tibetan areas. The State Department declined to name the officials or say how many people were affected, citing US confidentiality laws. Amid high tension with China, the United States has increasingly been issuing such visa sanctions, earlier taking action over Beijing's clampdown on free expression in Hong Kong and its ongoing incarceration of some one million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims. The Tibet action comes under a 2018 law passed by Congress that aims to pressure China over its tight restrictions in the Himalayan region. Human rights groups say that Tibetans live under strict surveillance with the threat of jail or abuse for any signs of a non-Chinese identity, including possessing images of the Dalai Lama, their exiled spiritual leader. Beijing has largely barred foreign journalists from visiting Tibet since 2008, when the region saw a wave of self-immolations as protests, and has not responded to US requests to set up a consulate in the regional capital Lhasa. By contrast, the law notes that Chinese nationals admitted to the United States face no restrictions on visiting any part of the country. - 'A clear message' - The International Campaign for Tibet, a rights advocacy group close to the Dalai Lama, welcomed the implementation of the law. "The US is sending Beijing a clear message that it will face consequences for its human rights abuses and continued isolation of Tibet from the outside world," said the group's president, Matteo Mecacci. The campaign said it saw momentum, pointing to a recent joint call by 57 European parliamentarians from 19 countries to set up their own version of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act. A British MP has also introduced similar legislation. "China's oppression of the Tibetan people won't stop tomorrow even with this law's implementation," Mecacci said. "But international pressure on the Chinese government to open up Tibet to the outside world is a vital step toward bringing justice and human rights back to Tibet." The US action comes one day after the 85th birthday of the Dalai Lama, who has spent most of his life in exile in India. While the Dalai Lama is believed to be in good health, the charismatic monk has reduced his once constant travel, raising fears that the spotlight on Tibet will fade without him.
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Hong Kong is heading toward the same fate as Tibet after China imposed a new security law that criminalises calls for independence, the leader of the exiled Tibetan government has told AFP.
Lobsang Sangay said China was deceiving Hong Kong the same way it cheated Tibetan people in 1951 when it promised autonomy.
Sangay said China promised to uphold the will of the Tibetan people under a 17-point agreement signed seven decades ago but instead unleashed an oppressive rule, undermining the former Himalayan kingdom's freedoms.
"If you follow the Chinese occupation of Tibet and (events) thereafter you see it is being replicated in Hong Kong," the 51-year-old told AFP from Dharamsala, India where the exiled government is based and Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has his home.
"One country, two systems was promised to Tibet....But right after signature of Tibetan officials, under duress, each of the provisions of the 17-point agreement was violated.
"So that's what you see in Hong Kong. Basic law was promised to people in Hong Kong but what you see is a violation of all the provisions that were promised."
The Harvard-educated leader also criticised the security law which China enacted last week for the semi-autonomous city of around 7.5 million people.
The legislation, which has faced international criticism, criminalises dissenting opinions such as calls for independence or autonomy.
- 'Verify, verify, verify' -
Sangay said Beijing unleashed similar security measures in Tibet to throttle independent voices. The Dalai Lama fled in 1959 after an uprising against Chinese rule.
"People in Hong Kong are pursuing what is rightfully theirs -- basic human rights and democracy," he said.
"What you see (in Hong Kong) already took place in Tibet. We have been victims of a national security law. Unfortunately, it is being introduced and implemented in Hong Kong."
Sangay, whose government-in-exile in the Indian Himalayas is fiercely opposed by China, also warned India not to trust Beijing's claims on the long-standing border dispute.
India and China have been locked in their worst border standoff in decades. Twenty Indian troops were killed in a hand-to-hand battle with Chinese forces dying in the Ladakh region last month.
Following diplomatic and military talks, India on Monday claimed Chinese troops were taking down tents and other infrastructure from along the contested border.
"De-escalation is good, pulling back troops is good. But we always say verify, verify, verify, then only trust China. We hope deescalation is real. We hope there is no another front opening up soon."
The border dispute between the nuclear-armed neighbours has raged for more than six decades. The two sides fought a frontier war in 1962 and there have been frequent clashes since.
"The expansionist drive (of China) that we have been seeing for centuries is what we witnessed at the border of India and China in Galwan," Sangay said.
"We don't want war. We want peace in the region. But I think China wants to be the number one in the world and number one definitely in Asia with no or a distant number two."
Sangay said he supported an Indian government ban on Chinese apps including WeChat, which is widely used by Tibetans around the world to communicate with families back home. China has banned all other platforms.
"For the last six or seven years I have been discouraging people from using WeChat primarily because of security concerns. It is compromised. They can listen to it and your relatives can get into trouble.
"I am sure Tibetans will find other alternatives to communicate with relatives back home," said the Tibetan leader.
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