The Trump administration appointed a senior official to oversee Tibetan affairs after a vacancy for nearly four years, as the United States increases pressure on China over its human rights record, including the use of forced labor among ethnic minorities.
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Wednesday named Robert Destro as the new US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Affairs. Destro will be primarily responsible for promoting dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama and protecting the religious, cultural and linguistic identity of Tibetans, according to the State Department.
“The United States remains concerned about the PRC’s repression of the Tibetan community, including the lack of significant autonomy, the deterioration of the human rights situation in Tibetan areas, and the severe restrictions on religious freedom and cultural traditions. of Tibetans in China, “Pompeo said in a statement, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
Destro is currently undersecretary of the Office of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, the special coordinator position had been vacant since January 2017. The commission had urged the State Department to fill the position, saying the role was “crucial in raising the profile of the religious freedom problems in Tibet and mobilizing government resources to address the problem. “
China’s authority over Tibet has long been a irritating factor in US-China relations, with support for the region’s autonomy and its exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, often a bipartisan affair in Washington. . In July, the United States imposed travel restrictions on Chinese officials who were found to be “substantially involved” in restricting access to Tibet.
Tibet and the neighboring Xinjiang region have long endured intense social, security and religious controls, as China seeks to crack down on what it calls terrorist and separatist elements. Last month, prominent researcher Adrian Zenz published a report alleging that China is instituting a mass labor system in Tibet similar to the one that has ensnared Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.
In response to the Zenz investigation and the additional report on the matter from Reuters, China’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement to the news organization saying that forced labor “simply does not exist” in the country and that workers participated. voluntarily and were duly compensated.
“We hope that the international community will distinguish good from evil, respect the facts and not be fooled by lies,” according to the statement.
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