U.S. Relations With the People's Republic of China (2008)

U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

Sean McCormack, Spokesman
Washington, DC
March 27, 2008

12:33 p.m. EDT

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

QUESTION: And second, as far as China and Tibet is concerned, (inaudible) also spoke and also Dr. Rice has spoken when the Minister of --

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: India was here.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: Chinese have now the most -- there have been now killing more and more Tibetans and also (inaudible). They have closed down all the foreign media. They are attacking the foreign media there and also more restrictions on the Tibetan region and Buddhism and all that. So why can't the U.S. and the international community and the UN Security Council bring any resolution against China, even though China is a member of the UN Security Council and they have veto power? But at least to show the world that's what the -- now the call from the international community that there should be a resolution against China, what they are doing, not only in Tibet but elsewhere against Muslim people.

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, Goyal, there are a lot of different ways to achieve a result that, I think, everybody shares; and that is, we don't want to see any violence. Violence serves nobody's purposes on either side. And we have engaged in the kind of diplomacy that we think is effective in not only addressing the current circumstances, but also the long-term circumstances, or the longstanding circumstances, that have led to this -- to these protests and the violence that has surrounded these protests.

President Bush and Secretary Rice have strongly urged the Chinese Government to act with restraint when it is dealing with the protestors. And we -- I would underline again, we have urged all sides to turn away from violence. It serves nobody's purposes.

We have also urged, as the President did yesterday in his phone call, for the Chinese Government to, out of this difficult situation, take an opportunity and to reach out to the Dalai Lama to engage in dialogue. We believe that the Dalai Lama is a man of peace, that he is a man of reconciliation, and that a dialogue with him could help be part of the long-term solution to Tibet. Everybody wants to see a long-term, stable solution to the question surrounding Tibet and its status. The Dalai Lama is not somebody who has called for independence. So we would urge the Chinese Government to take this moment to reach out to the Dalai Lama and engage in a dialogue.

Now, in terms of -- I do have one update in terms of the ability of our Embassy personnel, or our mission personnel -- that's a more appropriate term -- to travel to Lhasa. We repeatedly asked for access to the areas in question. And we -- just today, one officer from our Embassy in Beijing was invited to join a government-led trip to Lhasa. The trip will take place on March 28th and 29th. We do not yet have an itinerary for that trip. We see this as a step in the right direction, but it's not a substitute for the ability of our diplomats as well as others to travel not only to Lhasa but into the surrounding areas specifically. And I'll just go through a list of the provinces -- excuse me if I don't get the pronunciation right.

We would like to have, and we will continue to press for free and full access to the affected areas, including currently closed areas outside the Tibet Autonomous Region in Sichuan, S-i-c-h-u-a-n; Gansu, G-a-n-s-u; Qinghai, that's Q-i-n-g-h-a-i; and Yunnan, that's Y-u-n-n-a-n. So the trip by our one officer to Lhasa on travel sponsored by the Chinese Government, as I said, is a step in the right direction, but it does not fulfill the requirements of our requests as we see them. I just outlined some of the areas in which we'd like to have our diplomats be able to travel to assess the situation, to be able to provide any assistance to U.S. citizens who may be in those areas, and also to try to gain a greater understanding of exactly what chain of events led to the point at which we find ourselves right now.

QUESTION: So is he going to accept the invitation?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, we are. We are. But again, I would underline, we don't see that as fulfillment of our request for our diplomats to be able to travel not only to Lhasa but to those other areas I talked about.

QUESTION: And they've been specifically -- or maybe they haven't, but there hasn't been an answer for the other areas? You asked?

MR. MCCORMACK: There has not. The only --

QUESTION: Does one generally need special permission to go to those?

MR. MCCORMACK: To those areas, yes.

QUESTION: Including Tibet?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yes.

QUESTION: And this --

MR. MCCORMACK: In some of these areas --

QUESTION: This official is only going to Lhasa? It's not going to any of these --

MR. MCCORMACK: That's our understanding, although we don't have a full itinerary yet. We'll try to keep you updated as to what exactly they saw -- either we here or at the Embassy can keep you up to date.

QUESTION: And this is going to be a trip with other diplomats --

MR. MCCORMACK: Presumably.

QUESTION: -- of other countries?

MR. MCCORMACK: Presumably.

QUESTION: Sean, can you give us details about who the person is, who's going from Beijing, and then also, what he hopes to do there? I mean -- or what he plans -- I don't know if you know what he plans to do, but at least what he hopes to do.

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, a basic reporting function, and to the extent we're able, to provide any assistance to any American citizens who may be in the area. So those are the two primary functions of any State Department officer posted overseas: to be able to report back accurately what is it that they see, convey their views and thoughts about the situation; and then also, to provide any assistance that might need to be provided.

QUESTION: So are you seeing any movement in another regard on China? When you asked China to engage in a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, are you seeing any movement from them on that?

MR. MCCORMACK: Thus far, I haven't seen any public pronouncements from the Chinese on that.

Yeah, Kirit.

QUESTION: What is the level of this person or how high was --

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm not sure. We'll try to find out for you.

Yes.

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(The briefing was concluded at 1:02 p.m.)