U.S. Officials Hoped Chinese Liberalization Program for Tibet in Early 1980s Would Bring Significant Improvements
Declassified Embassy Cables Assess Rationales for Beijing's Short-Lived Policy and Reasons for Its Collapse
China's Proposed Inducement – to Elect the Dalai Lama to the Chinese Legislature – "is not to be compared with being a living god in Lhasa," U.S. Embassy Wrote
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 414
Posted - February 28, 2013
Edited by Robert A. Wampler, PhD
For more information contact: Robert A. Wampler 202/994-7000 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Washington, D.C., February 28, 2013 – U.S. officials had hopes thirty years ago that a political liberalization and economic reform program China had initiated in Tibet could lead to real improvements in that country, according to declassified documents posted today by the National Security Archive.

The documents describe a path diametrically at odds with the one Beijing has pursued in recent years – suppressing violent protests, arresting scores of ethnic Tibetans in the Qinghai province, which borders Tibet, sentencing one to prison for 13 years, and renewing accusations that the Dalai Lama is encouraging anti- Beijing actions (despite the fact that the Tibetan exile government has specifically urged protesters not to engage in them). In part due to this crackdown in China, the protests, including self-immolations, have spread to other countries, with the most recent occurring in Nepal's capital, Katmandu.

As the number of self-immolations since 2009 recently climbed over 100, the documents raise questions about whether Beijing's pursuit of a more flexible policy toward Tibet could have mitigated the downward spiral in that country's wretched political and economic conditions.

SENATE RESOLUTION 356

Expressing support for the people of Tibet.

Whereas Tibet is the center of Tibetan Buddhism, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the most revered figure in Tibetan Buddhism;

Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China continues to enforce policies that infringe on fundamental freedoms of Tibetans, including punitive security measures against monasteries, mass arrests, and restrictions on freedom to practice religion;

U.S. policy on Tibet is governed by the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 (TPA), enacted as part of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of FY2003 (P.L. 107-228). In addition to establishing a number of U.S. principles with respect to human rights, religious freedom, political prisoners, and economic development projects in Tibet, the TPA established in statute the State Department position of Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues; required a number of annual reporting requirements on Sino-Tibetan negotiations, both by the State Department and by the congressionally established Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC); mandated the provision of Tibetan language training to interested foreign service officers in the U.S. government; required U.S. government officials to raise issues of religious...Read more

The United States is pleased that the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoys were hosted by Chinese officials in Guilin, China, February 15 - 23, 2006 and that they had the opportunity to meet in Bern, Switzerland, June 29-30, 2005. These were the fourth and fifth meetings between the two sides since they renewed contact in September 2002. The other visits occurred in September 2002, May 2003, and September 2004. We have consistently urged Chinese officials to continue such contacts, and, in public statements and through diplomatic channels, have pressed for direct and substantive dialogue, without preconditions, that will lead to a negotiated settlement of outstanding.. Read more