The International Campaign for Tibet’s (ICT) new report, “Why Tibet? Strategic Imperatives for International Peace and Security,” released today, details Tibet’s critical importance in regional and global geopolitics, security, trade, and the environment while drawing the connection between China’s aggressive exploitation of Tibet with its human rights abuses against the Tibetan people.
The report urges international policymakers to support Tibetan self-determination and facilitate a resolution of the Sino-Tibet conflict, arguing that these goals are essential for regional stability and countering China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Why Tibet? Because Tibet is not only one of the world’s most pressing human rights and religious freedom issues but is also the geopolitical pivot of Asia. China’s systematic repression of the Tibetan people and its militarization of the plateau directly endangers the security of the United States, Europe, and their partners in the region,” said ICT President Tencho Gyatso. She continued, “Elevating Tibet within these countries’ foreign policy priorities is no longer an option – it has become a strategic imperative to uphold regional and international peace and stability against the Chinse Communist Party’s expansionist agenda.”
China’s actions in Tibet and policies which oppress Tibetans pose challenges that disrupt the larger region in three ways – environmentally, politically, and militarily. Beijing’s expansion of mega-dams destabilizes the environment, displaces and upends the traditional livelihoods of millions of Tibetans, and exacerbates water insecurity for downriver nations in South and Southeast Asia. Additionally, expanding military infrastructure in Tibet stands to increase long running tensions with India along the Line of Actual Control and allow China to project military power across the region.
To protect Tibetans and Tibet, ICT urges legislators around the globe to actively promote Tibet as a zone of peace, as articulated in the Dalai Lama’s Five Point Peace Plan, and resolve the long-standing Sino-Tibet conflict.
Additional actions that can be enacted from the findings of this report include the U.S. and allies pressing for enhanced cooperation with regional partners in South Asia to combat China’s abuses in Tibet and growing influence, legally limiting foreign companies’ investments in Chinese projects in Tibet that support militarization or exploit natural resources on the plateau, and recognizing Chinese rule in Tibet as colonialism that threatens the survival of Tibet’s unique civilization.
These goals can be achieved via various actions highlighted in the report, including implementing existing legislation on Tibet, or introducing new legislation if none exists, that calls for diplomatic efforts to address China’s human rights abuses and undermining of religious freedom in Tibet; for US policymakers to implement the 2024 Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act; and for the international community to increase funding to the democratically-elected Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), which will empower the CTA’s ongoing efforts to mitigate China’s abuses and expansionism in Tibet and the larger region.