A new Congressional Research Service report - Tibet: Problems, Prospects, and U.S. Policy - RL34445 April 10, 2008 - is now available at OpenCRS.

Although Tibet has been much in the news lately as a result of demonstrations connected with the Beijing Olympics, I think most of us (and that definitely includes me) have a grasp of the complexity of the situation there.

OpenCRS has done us all a real favor by releasing a Congressional Research Service report that provides a good overview of the major issues.

For example, I was aware of the controversy over China's interference with identifying the reincarnated Lamas, the Panchen Lama, for example, a subject that is discussed in the report. I was not aware of other aspects of its interference, such as the China Reincarnation Law.

China’s 2007 “Reincarnation Law”. The case of the 11th Panchen Lama raised implications for what happens upon the death and subsequent reincarnation of the current Dalai Lama (the 14th) living in exile. Apparently mindful of its previous experience with the 11th Panchen Lama, Beijing late in 2007 took steps designed to solidify its future control over the selection process of Tibetan lamas. On August 3, 2007, the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) issued a set of regulations, effective September 1, 2007, that require all Tibetan lamas wishing to reincarnate to obtain prior government approval through the submission of a “reincarnation application.” In a statement accompanying the regulations, SARA called the step “an important move to institutionalize management on reincarnation of living Buddhas.”

The Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy, Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, described the new regulations as a blow against “the heart of Tibetan religious identity.” The regulations also require that reincarnation applications come from “legally registered venues” for Tibetan Buddhism — a provision seen as an attempt to illegalize the reincarnation of the current Dalai Lama, who has declared he will not be reborn in China if circumstances in Tibet remain unchanged. In the aftermath of the new reincarnation law, the Dalai Lama also has said that he is thinking of alternative ways of choosing his successor, including selecting a candidate before his own death. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman responded to these comments by saying that such a move would “violate religious rituals and historical conventions of Tibetan uddhism.” The new reincarnation law inserts the Chinese government directly into what for centuries has been one of the principal mystical and religious aspects of Tibetan Buddhism.

The report covers issues such as the March 2008 Demonstrations and Crackdown, Background on Modern Tibet, History of U.S. Policy Since the 1980s, Implications for U.S. Policy, and Appendix I - Legislative Earmarks for Tibet and Appendix II - Selected U.S. Government Reports with Components on Tibet.

The report's overview describes its contents as:

This report consists of three free-standing parts: the first discusses current issues in Tibet, including the March 2008 Chinese crackdown against demonstrations in Lhasa and elsewhere; the second briefly reviews Tibet’s historical and political status with respect to China — a basic source of controversy in many Sino-Tibetan problems; and the third reviews and analyzes U.S. relations with and congressional actions toward Tibet since the 1980s, including legislative initiatives.

• Tibet,
• China,
• Dalai-Lama,
• Olympics,
• Buddhism