Contact is taking a holiday!

US Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi’s meeting with monks of Sera monastery in Lhasa, Tibet
Photo: Nancy Pelosi’s Facebook

A delegation from the United States Congress has spent three days in Lhasa on a fact-finding mission regarding Sino-Tibetan relations. The delegation, lead by US Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, were hosted and escorted by the Chinese government on their tour. Reports indicate that regular security measures and religious restrictions were altered by Chinese officials in order to favourably influence the foreign delegation.

A letter from a Lhasa Tibetan resident to the Central Tibetan Administration states that Barkhor, a street that lies at the centre of Lhasa, had high levels of security personnel and surveillance devices removed overnight. The normally heavily guarded gates to Barkhor were removed and in their place officials put in new doors with lesser security.

In a report to Radio Free Asia, another Lhasa resident stated that Chinese officials ordered Tibetan people from each neighbourhood to take part in staged activities. According to the report, Tibetan people were coerced into going to religious sites whilst monasteries were ordered to organise public activities during the three days of the visit. Some sources report that individuals were paid for their participation.

The delegation was accompanied by a large number of Chinese officials as well as security personnel at all times, restricting the ability of the US officials to freely talk with members of the Tibetan community in Lhasa. As many as thirty Chinese officials accompanied the seven member delegation at any one time. According to Pelosi, the Chinese entourage of thirty was “probably a conservative estimate because there were people who—shall we say—had walkie talkies that may not have been identified as security”. The constant supervision effectively restricted the delegation from straying from the prescribed routes chosen by the government.

Delegation members were not unaware of the high level of control being exerted by Chinese officials to influence the outcome of the visit. Delegation member Jim McGovern stated that “…it’s fair to say that … the Chinese government wanted to control as much of our visit as they could. And we saw what they wanted us to see.”