Biden promises to stand up for Tibet if elected to power

DHARAMSALA, 4 Sept: The US’ Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said that if elected to power, his administration will stand up for the people of Tibet with sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses in Tibet.

 ”My administration will sanction Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses in Tibet, and step up support for the Tibetan people, including by expanding Tibetan language services at Radio Free Asia and Voice of America to get information from the outside world into Tibet,” PTI quoted Biden as saying in its report.

The former Vice President’s remarks came after Chinese President Xi Jinping declared his intentions to tighten the control over Tibet which rights groups list as one of the least free countries on earth.

While Xi ordered the top brass of the Chinese Communist Party to build a “new modern socialist” Tibet with an “impregnable wall” against separatism in the Chinese occupied Tibet and the “sinicisation” of the Tibetan Buddhism among others at the seventh Central Symposium on Tibet Work-CCP’s highest-level meeting on Tibet, Biden has said that these are only the latest efforts by Beijing to crush ethnic minorities that seek to preserve their distinct culture, language, and beliefs.

He has also promised that as President, he will meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, appoint a new Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, press the Chinese government to restore access to Tibet for US citizens, diplomats and journalists. 

Biden has further alleged that President Trump has been weak on his China policy and added that “Where Trump has turned a blind eye, a Biden-Harris administration will stand up for the people of Tibet.”

He went on to say that “It’s disgraceful, though not surprising, that Trump is the first American president in three decades who has not met or spoken with His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” and on Trump’s administration’s failure to appoint the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues in the State Department, he said, ”Trump hasn’t even fulfilled the statutory requirement to appoint a Special Coordinator to lead America’s efforts on this vital issue. It’s no wonder China’s leaders believe they have a free hand to deepen repression in Tibet, just as they have in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.”

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