Today I was asked to be on the Voice of America’s Tibetan service TV program, Kunleng, to comment on the recently released Congressional Executive Commission on China’s Special Topic Paper on Tibet.

I had read the document, which was released on October 22, and had also attended a briefing given by its author Steve Marshall at the US Congress on October 30.

Every year, the CECC is mandated by the Congress to come out with a report on the situation in China and to give policy directions to the President as well as the Congress. The Tibet section of the report can be considered a gist of the Special Topic Paper that was released subsequently.

Basically, the report makes some pertinent points.  It says China’s policy aims at distancing the Dalai Lama from the Tibetan people; everyone needs to watch the proposed rail link between Chengdu and Lhasa; and that the Memorandum for Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People that the envoys of the Dalai Lama presented to the Chinese Government can be a basis for talks between the two sides.
The report has looked at the decisions taken by different levels of the Chinese offices connected with Tibet to support some of these assertions.

I think anyone concerned with Tibet needs to read this report to get a better understanding of the developments relating to Tibet.