State Department Submits Third "Report on Tibet Negotiations"

The U.S. State Department submitted the third annual "Report on Tibet Negotiations" to Congress in April 2005, in accordance with a law enacted in 2002. The report summarizes U.S. policy on Tibet and details steps that the White House and State Department have taken to encourage Chinese officials to "enter into a dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives leading to a negotiated agreement on Tibet."

The report says that the Bush Administration was encouraged that the Chinese government invited the Dalai Lama’s envoys to China for the third time in September 2004, and hopes that a fourth visit will occur in 2005. The report describes the Dalai Lama as someone who "can be a constructive partner as China deals with the difficult challenges of regional and national stability," and points out that "the lack of resolution of these problems leads to greater tensions inside China and will be a stumbling block to fuller political and economic engagement with the United States and other nations."

The report lists meetings in which U.S. officials urged Chinese counterparts to move forward with the dialogue process. American officials include President George Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly, Ambassador to China Clark Randt, and other senior officials. Under Secretary Dobriansky also serves as the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues and is charged with promoting substantive dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama or his representatives.

"The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002," Section 611 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, 2003, mandates this report. Additional information about contacts between China and the Dalai Lama is available in the CECC 2004 Annual Report.