US Congress Approves Increased Funding for Tibetans in Tibet and Exile

[dsnowlion]

The US Congress approved funding for Tibet. The funding consists of:

- $8 million for Tibetans inside Tibet ----- REALLY? Let's see if we hear any news about this fund after that. How are they going to dispursed it to the Tibetans in Tibet?

- $6 million for Tibetan community in India and Nepal --- You mean to spend on anti-Shugden campaigns and print collaterals and books against Shugden practitioners & hire social media workers to attack Shugden practitioners

- $3 million to strengthen the capacity of Tibetan institutions and governance in exile. --- Right so this one goes to Sangay and his cronies pockets huh, no wonder he loves his job and Dhardon Sharling loves! him

President Dr. Lobsang Sangay expressed his gratitude by issuing a statement: “We remain thankful to the US government and Congress for their generous financial assistance towards the Tibetan community.” ---- YES MORE POCKET MONEY for a NON-existent government and soon to be disintegrated because they need to keep quiet from now on as India puts their foot down to the troublemakers, while they mend their ties and create a closer relationship with China. Together they can become the great superpower nation of today.

March 23, 2018

DHARAMSHALA: The United States Congress approved a spending bill that will fund the United States government for the rest of the fiscal year 2018 through September 30, 2018. The massive bill includes $8 million for Tibetans inside Tibet and $6 Million for Tibetan community in India and Nepal. The Congress also approved an additional and a new line of funding of $3 million to strengthen the capacity of Tibetan institutions and governance in exile.

The Tibet section is listed separately as section (f) on page 1434 of The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. Section (f) subsection (2) (A) states:

“Not withstanding any other provision of law, of the 23 funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ‘‘Economic Support Fund’’ not less than $8,000,000 shall be made available to non-governmental organizations to support activities which preserve cultural traditions and promote sustainable development, education, and environmental conservation in Tibetan communities in the Tibet Autonomous Region and in other Tibetan communities in China.”

Section (f) subsection (2) (B) states:

“Of the funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ‘‘Economic Support Fund’’, not less than $6,000,000 shall be made available for programs to promote and preserve Tibetan culture, development, and the resilience of Tibetan communities in India and Nepal, and to assist in the education and development of the next generation of Tibetan leaders from such communities.

Section (f) subsection (2) (C), which is a new line item under Tibetan Governance, states:

“Of the funds appropriated by the Act under the heading ‘‘Economic Support Fund’’, not less than $3,000,000 shall be made available for programs to strengthen the capacity of Tibetan institutions and governance.”

The continuation plus increase in Tibet funding by the Congress allays concerns that arose when President Trump presented his budget which included drastic cuts in foreign development assistance including some of the Tibetan programs.

Expressing his gratitude to the US government and congress for the funding, President Dr Lobsang Sangay of the Central Tibetan Administration said: “We remain thankful to the US government and congress for their generous financial assistance towards the Tibetan community.”

http://tibet.net/2018/03/us-congress-approves-increased-funding-for-tibetans-in-tibet-and-exile/

[michaela]

When President Trump announced that the financial assistance for the CTA and Tibet Cause would be reduced to zero, I thought he was logical since the CTA does not contribute anything outside and China has done such a good job on preserving the Tibet culture.

However, things are different now Pelosi and friends are giving the CTA more life line by giving this money to them. They are giving the CTA the opportunity to be more corrupt, to create more schism within the Tibetan community and to create more suffering for the Tibetans in general.

It's not good to spend taxpayer money on a lost cause.

[dsnowlion]

Actually to be honest it is not much and this would be a good opportunity to keep an eye out on what exactly they do with all this funding and demand for transparency in how these funds are dispersed if it ever gets dispersed.

CTA days are numbered, soon they will be shunned not only by Nepalis but even their host country India is sidelining them dramatically in order to build closer ties with China. They have be warned that all activities that annoy China should seize. Times up CTA.

Richard Gere, Thurman and Free Tibet groups should not be protesting or saying anything anymore since the Dalai Lama has mentioned he want to go back and if there is a choice he would pick China over India. What a slap in India's face and what a huge slap in these people who are asking for Tibet to be independent.   

[Celia]

More and more reports of Tibetans’ dissatisfaction with CTA and in fact many Tibetans are growing vocal about how CTA has failed them. Some of these include; Mr Dhamchoe Nyima http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/news/brave-mr-dhamchoe-nyima-is-tired-of-tibetan-government-in-dharamsala/ ; and many others  http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/news/tibetans-are-protesting-their-own-exile-government-regime-again/  ; https://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/features/tibetans-speaking-up-against-the-cta/  ; http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/tibetans-reject-tibetan-leadership/

Then more and more scandals are exploding about CTA from the recent monetary fraud, embezzlement allegations http://www.dorjeshugden.com/others-old/2017-sacking-of-penpa-tsering-exposes-more-corruption-and-abuses-by-tibetan-leadership/ ; http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/news/us1-5-million-siphoned-by-tibetan-government/] [url]http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/news/us1-5-million-siphoned-by-tibetan-government/[/url]; to sexual assaults https://thetibetstar.com/2018/02/21/president-sangay-and-the-sexual-assault-on-ms-leslie-butterfield/ and many others http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/the-controversy/hate-crimes/

Yet, somehow suspiciously USA still decides to reverse its earlier stance of illogical support of CTA and generously give out such grant. Definitely lending credence to the analysis in an interesting article published by modern diplomacy, "If Marco Polo were alive today, what tales would he tell about China and Tibet?" as extracted below;

Following the Second World War, the US saw in Tibet a religious patent that could be exploited against communism as an ongoing propaganda campaign. It started with an armed uprising in 1959 against the People’s Republic of China, followed by the exile of the 14th Dalai Lama in India and the establishment of the Government of Tibet in Exile ruling over about 100,000 Tibetan refugees settled mainly in northern India.

Ever since, China has considered all Tibet’s pro-independence movements as part of a strategic propaganda operation abetted by Western imperialists who want to destabilize China. This view was bolstered, for example, by the CIA‘s backing of Tibetan insurgencies during the 1950s and 1960s, the support of Western NGOs for the “pro-Tibet” riots of 2008 when China hosted the Olympic Games, and the continuing self-immolations by Tibetans and Buddhist monks promoted since 2009 by the Government of Tibet in Exile, praised as courageous by the 14th Dalai Lama – although he questioned their effectiveness – and glorified by NGOs advocating human rights for Tibet.

There have been intermittent expectations of formal negotiations between the principal parties to the Tibet issue, but their zero-sum view of Tibet’s political status, reciprocal accusations and mutual suspicion have been persistent barriers. The participation of other actors has also had an effect. Many foreign states acknowledge Tibet as a part of China, while none formally recognizes the Government of Tibet in Exile – also known as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) – yet a number of them sustain the cause of the exiles in other ways. Thousands of supporters of Tibetan independence, encouraged by Western NGOs have also rallied to this cause, including members of the world’s parliaments, rights activists, actors, musicians, and ordinary converts to Tibetan Buddhism in the West.

In reality, communications on Tibet are persistently disseminated by the CTA, Western NGOs and the Chinese government as part of well-planned and organized propaganda campaigns serving contrasting geopolitical and military interests.

Link to full article: https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2018/03/20/if-marco-polo-were-alive-today-what-tales-would-he-tell-about-china-and-tibet/