I am also pleased to welcome Mr. Khando, the Minister of Education of the Government of Tibet in exile and her husband, the Dalai Lama's youngest brother-and I hope I pronounce this right-Tenzin Choegyal.

A brief overview may be useful as we proceed. For almost 50 years, China has cruelly and brutally occupied Tibet, carved up its territory, destroyed its monasteries, murdered its people, and diluted the Tibetan population to the point that Tibetans are in the minority in their own country.

China limits the number of young people who may enter religious life. Monks are forced to undergo political indoctrination and to renounce the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama himself is the focus of virulent verbal attacks. Even his photograph is banned in Tibet. Merely having a picture of the Dalai Lama in one's home or in a monastery can result in a prison sentence.

The number of political prisoners has increased dramatically, at least in part because of a campaign by Beijing "to limit criminal activity in the guise of religious practice."

China has interfered with the Dalai Lama's choice of the Panchen Lama, Tibet's second most important religious figure. The Chinese Government detained the Dalai Lama's choice, who is a 6year-old boy, by the way, and put its own candidate in his place.

Last week, it was revealed that China has secretly tried and convicted, and sentenced to jail for 6 years, a senior Tibetan monk named Chadrel Rinpoche, who participated in the Dalai Lama's selection of the Panchen Lama.

Now I again urge the U.S. Government to seek the release of Mr. Chadrel Rinpoche and other Tibetan religious and political pris

oners.

For almost half a century, the Tibetans have resisted Chinese occupation, both inside and in exile. In India and Nepal, Tibet's people are preserving their culture until the day they can return to their homeland. The United States is grateful to those countries for their hospitality and compassion for the Tibetans.

The United States itself provides critical support to the refugees, and I hope and expect that the material aid, including vaccinations and support for resettlement, and educational activities will be continued where necessary and if necessary, will be increased.

The American people must continue to lift their hearts in prayer for the Tibetan people.

I should emphasize while I am at it that Radio Free Asia and the Voice of America also provide invaluable support to the Tibetan people. When Radio Free Asia began its Tibetan language service last December, sales of short wave radios inside Tibet have risen.

We learned from veterans of the struggle against communism in Europe how vital our radio broadcasts were to disseminating. the truth and building morale. Radio Free Asia is carrying on that tradition for the oppressed people of Tibet, as it is for the people of China, Vietnam, North Korea, Burma, and other countries.

I was pleased that President Clinton met the Dalai Lama during His Holiness' April visit to the United States. The President said at that time that he would urge China to enter into a dialog with the Dalai Lama, a very welcome statement. But the President's wish to play a constructive role in Tibet can best be fulfilled by the

immediate appointment of a special envoy or coordinator for Tibet, followed by a serious undertaking to persuade the Government of China to allow that special envoy into Tibet and allow him access to prisons. It would emphasize the administration's sincerity about human rights in China and Tibet.

I know that every Senator would like to make a statement. But I want especially to recognize the distinguished Senator from Massachusetts, Mr. Kerry, for whatever comments he may have.

Then I want you to come here, Senator Moynihan, and sit beside me because that is where I said you would sit. Would you do that? Senator MOYNIHAN. I'd be delighted.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Kerry, you are recognized.

Senator KERRY. Mr. Chairman, thank you very, very much. First of all, Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing and for your ongoing and significant commitment to this issue and to other issues with respect to the freedom of people to be able to be who they are without interference.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you.

Senator KERRY. I join with you in welcoming Senator Moynihan back and will be delighted to welcome Maura Moynihan as one of our witnesses here this morning.

I will be very, very brief, Mr. Chairman. I want to commend you not only for holding the hearing but for welcoming back and inviting Senator Pell, our former chairman and also Ranking Member, to be our lead-off witness. As we all know from our years on the committee, Senator Pell has had a long and very deep interest in Tibet. He is one of a handful of members of the Senate who has visited Tibet. He is the author of the Voice of America's Tibetan language program and the Fulbright program for Tibetans, both programs which you supported completely, Mr. Chairman, as well as many of the rest of us on the committee.

The Tibetan people clearly recognize Senator Pell as a friend, evidenced by the Dalai Lama's presentation to him of the Light of Truth Award. We are very proud that Senator Pell continues the leadership he showed on the committee now in retirement. He was recently the chairman ex officio of the U.S. Delegation Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva. There really is no one better positioned to lead off the testimony today.

I would just say very quickly, Mr. Chairman, that when the Dalai Lama visited the United States recently, he once again, as he has consistently, made it clear that the Tibetan people are not seeking independence from China. They are seeking genuine autonomy in their ability to be able to maintain their culture, their language and religious practices.

China, regrettably, continues to pursue economic development policies that dilute the Tibetan population, threaten to eradicate Tibetan culture, have already eradicated too much of it, and at the same time are forcibly suppressing religious activities which they regard as political in nature.

According to the State Department's 1996 country reports on human rights abuses, the Chinese authorities "continued to commit widespread human rights abuses in Tibet, including instances of death and detention, torture, arbitrary arrests, detention without public trial, long detention of Tibetan nationalists for peacefully ex

pressing their religious and political views, and intensified controls on religion and on freedom of speech and the press, particularly for ethnic Tibetans.”

Perhaps the most egregious example is the one that you cited, Mr. Chairman, where they have abducted a 6-year-old child and his family, the 11th Panchen Lama, designated so by the Dalai Lama, and the abuse of the rights of this child and his family who were taken and of the Tibetan people is compounded by the fact that China has named its own pretender Panchen Lama. So, clearly, the situation is what might be charitably termed "a difficult one."

Mr. Chairman, I believe one of the most useful things we can do is to continue to shed light, to put the spotlight on Tibet, as we are doing through this hearing. I thank you for doing that as I know my colleagues do that.

The Dalai Lama continues to express his willingness to meet with Chinese authorities to find a peaceful solution to the Tibetan issue. I, for one, hope that Beijing will take him up finally on this offer. We should certainly do everything in our power that is sensible in order to help bring that about.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Kerry, thank you very much. I don't think we should start until we hear from Senator Moynihan.

Senator MOYNIHAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing, for the honor of being asked to join the committee once again to hear my former chairman, and to note, sir, that I think your proposal for a special envoy needs to be very carefully considered.

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. Now, Mr. Chairman, we are delighted to hear from you.

STATEMENT OF HON. CLAIBORNE PELL, FORMER U.S. SENATOR FROM RHODE ISLAND AND FORMER CHAIRMAN, SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, WASHINGTON, DC

Senator PELL. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It really means a lot to me to have been asked to testify here before friends of long acquaintance on both sides of the aisle. I appreciate the invitation very much, indeed.

For much of my time in the Senate, I knew very little about Tibet. In 1980, however, China opened Tibet to tourism and inadvertently revealed that Chinese rule in Tibet has been oppressive and destructive of Tibetan culture and civilization. It was about that time that I remember first meeting the Dalai Lama and began to follow the situation more closely.

I remember when we convened hearings on Tibet, the most recent of which was held in July 1992. At that time the Soviet Union had started to break apart and there was renewed hope by oppressed people everywhere that their own aspirations for freedom might be fulfilled.

Unfortunately for the Tibetan people, there has yet to be a substantial perestroika, an opening up and lessening of the restrictions on their culture, religion, and social institutions. To the contrary, over the last year the Chinese authorities in Tibet have intensified

their campaign to wipe out their Tibetan Buddhist culture and to create an atheistic, socialist state in Tibet.

Monks and nuns are required to attend the kind of self-criticism and indoctrination that harken back to the Cultural Revolution. The Stalinist rhetoric coming out of the Chinese propaganda machine and directed at the Dalai Lama offends even the friends of China. China's "strike hard" anti-corruption campaign is raised in Tibet as a means to round up any Tibetan who has shown himself or has otherwise not demonstrated that he is a loyal communist. I am informed that jails and prisons in Tibet are filled with these unfortunate people.

In speaking out and, more important, in acting on Tibet, I do not deny that conditions in China are better than they were a few years ago. We should realize that and give credit to the Chinese.

But since the forces of freedom in the world are irresistible, these forces will continue to improve. Our job today is to speed up the process, to eliminate the instances of individual cruelty that have occurred and are still occurring.

The Tibetan people have suffered at the hands of the Chinese communists since their "peaceful liberation" from a theocratic Tibet in 1950. China's occupation policies continue to be heavy-handed. Let me cite a couple of the charges against but a handful of the hundreds of Tibetans currently serving long sentences meted out by the Chinese authorities.

We know of a senior monk, a "geshe," meaning one who holds a doctorate of theology, from Drepung, who is serving a 19 year prison sentence for producing some political leaflets.

We have the example of the 45-year-old doctor from Lhasa, who is serving a 13 year prison term for copying the lists of names of those arrested or injured.

We know of a 71-year-old teacher at a primary school who was sentenced to 28 years for "corrupting the minds of children."

There is a 19-year-old nun who is serving 17 years in prison for leading a celebratory demonstration 3 days after the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel peace prize.

There are other instances of the same thing. Here I would ask your permission to have inserted in the record as an appendix in greater detail the names of these individuals and the instances of cruelty.

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, it will be so ordered.

[The information referred to follows:]

Ngawang Phulchung: A senior monk from Drepung monastery is serving a 19 year prison sentence, plus 9 years deprivation of political rights, for producing political leaflets. An advanced student of Buddhist philosophy on the Geshe or doctor of theology course, he has been singled out as the leader of a group of monks who, in early 1988, were secretly producing literature critical of the Chinese Government. Among their publications is a political manifesto for an independent, democratic Tibet.

Jampa Ngodrup: a 45 year old doctor from Lhasa, employed at the Barkhor Nangrong East clinic was sentenced to thirteen years in prison. He was "convicted" of being an "agent" for copying, at two different times, lists of names of those arrested or injured during two 1988 pro-independence demonstrations in Lhasa. Jampa is currently held in Fifth Division of Drapchi Prison. Reports characterize him as severely ill from prison maltreatment, suffering extreme fluid retention such that his body is bloated. He is unable to walk without the aid of crutches and he may have Tuberculosis.

Tanak Jigme Sangpo: 71 year old Tanak Jigme Sangpo (also known as Jigsang) is sentenced to 28 years in Drapchi Prison. He was a former teacher at Lhasa primary school. He was charged with "corrupting the minds of child with reactionary ideas." A famous dissident, well known for his continued defiance within prison, he has been held continuously since 1983. Jigme was subjected since then to various torture methods, including the "cold cell torture". Reports of beatings, torture and isolation have led to grave concern over his well being. Recent reports also state of his having problems with his heart and blood pressure. He can only see with his right eye.

Phuntsok Nyidron: a 19 year old nun from Michungri nunnery is currently serving 17 years prison term. She led a demonstration three days after H. H. the Dalia Lama was awarded the Nobel peace prize as an expression to a celebration to the news as well as a call for an end to Chinese occupation in Tibet. Phuntsok was actively involved in condemning Chinese intervention. Even while in prison, she was one of the 14 nuns who made recordings of songs and secretly circulated in Tibet dedicating a song or a poem to friends or supporters. Phuntsok was the recipient of the 1995 Reebok Human Rights Award. Her state of health is poor as she has kidney problems and constantly complains of internal pains. She also has a bent when she walks.

Ngawang Sangdrol: a Garu nun is the new longest serving female political prisoner. She was arrested and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment "for incitement to subversive and separatist activities". She was also charged with "spreading counterrevolutionary propaganda" after recording pro-independence songs while in prison. Another ardent freedom activist, she was subjected to severe torture and her right leg is seriously injured. Her present health manifest signs of severe malnourishment.

Choekyi Wangmo: a 27 year old nun from phenpo (nunnery not known) was sentenced to five years imprisonment after her arrest in 1993 for participating in a demonstration. Choekyi Wangmo was detained in Gutsa for five to six months during which time she was subjected to severe torture. When she was transferred to Drapchi Prison after her sentencing, she was in a very weak condition. She was constipated most of the time and passed a lot of blood in her stool. Despite her deteriorating health, she was made to perform the running exercises along with the rest of the political prisoners. She is reportedly in very poor health as a result of torture in prison.

Gyaltsen Choedron: a 28 year old nun of Garu nunnery was arrested on 22 August 1990 and was detained in Gutsa for four months. After completing four months in Gutsa, she was sentenced to four years and transferred to Drapchi Prison. Her sentence was later increased by five years for singing and recording patriotic songs. In 1992, while in prison, she participated in the Tibetan New Year celebration by wearing new clothes and was severely beaten by members of the PAP. As a result of which, her right leg is permanently damaged.

Ngawang Choekyi: a 22 year old Garu nun was arrested on 14 June 1993 and was detained in Gutsa for six months. While in Outsa Detention Centre, she became very ill due to torture and poor prison diet. She always suffered from diarrhoea with blood. She was sentenced to four years and transferred to Drapchi Prison. Her left leg was badly damaged due to torture and she suffered from a sore stomach which may have been an ulcer. In 1996, when Tibetan doctors conducted a urine test for her, they confirmed that she may not live long.

Jampel Changchup: a 36 year old was a former monk at Drepung monastery. Jampel's unrelenting spirit and continual fight against the Chinese Government since September 1987 has led to a 19 year prison sentence and five years deprivation of political rights. He was charged with "espionage" and "organising or leading/ actively participating in a counter-revolutionary group". Despite continuously receiving severe punishments for his involvement in freedom activities, he was also one of the 20 monks harshly disciplined for protesting against the transfer of five Drapchi prisoners on 27 April 1991. Reports say that he suffers from chronic kidney problem and his eyesight is gradually deteriorating.

Senator KERRY. Mr. Chairman, could you ask the chairman to pull the microphone closer, please.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. If you would, pull your microphone a little closer to you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator PELL. I have always had this habit of mumbling. I must get over it. Thank you.