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   From: peter.terpstra7@gmail.com   
      
   Transcript of Press Conference with Congressional Delegation Members Following   
   Historic Visit to Tibet and China   
   Nov 17, 2015 Press Release   
   [...]   
      
   Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Members of the   
   Congressional Delegation who traveled to Tibet and   
   China held a press conference today following their historic visit last week.    
   Below is a transcript of the press conference:   
      
   Leader Pelosi.  Good afternoon, everyone.  It is really a very special   
   privilege to be here with my colleagues upon our return   
   [from] a very special visit to China – China, including Hong Kong, Tibet and   
   Beijing.  I’m honored to be here with the Chair of   
   our Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Congressman Jim McGovern of   
   Massachusetts; Congresswoman Betty McCollum   
   of Minnesota, a leading Member of the Appropriations Committee; Congressman   
   Tim Walz, also of Minnesota, a Member of our   
   China Commission, a person who has visited China – including Tibet, before;   
   Congresswoman Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who brought   
   her perspective as a former Administrator of the University – I mean, excuse   
   me, Ohio State University…   
      
   Congresswoman Beatty.  The Ohio State University.   
      
   [Laughter]   
      
   Leader Pelosi.  …Congressman Lowenthal of California, a leader on the issue   
   of climate change in the state legislature, and now   
   in the Congress; and Congressman Ted Lieu, our Freshman Member of the   
   Committee.  He brought his own special credentials,   
   which he will discuss in a moment.  But we were very proud – I always have,   
   on any CODEL that I go forth with, a new   
   Member of Congress, to bring the fresh eyes and the next generation of   
   thinking on subjects.   
      
   We had a very interesting visit to China.  We are extremely grateful to the   
   President of China.  When he was here, I had the   
   opportunity to meet with him as part of the House-Senate Democratic-Republican   
   leadership.  I had expressed to him my   
   appreciation for what China is doing on the issue of climate change,   
   congratulated him also on the agreement with our President   
   on issues that relate to cybersecurity, in terms of intellectual property, et   
   cetera, to thank him for China’s leadership role in the   
   Iran Agreement, and the responsibilities of enforcement that China is taking.    
   And the list goes on.   
      
   So, praising him for that, and also calling to his attention the concern of   
   Democrats and Republicans in Congress on human rights   
   in China, and that would include concerns about democracy and autonomy in Hong   
   Kong, autonomy in Tibet, and human rights in   
   China in general.  He said, at the time: “Come see for yourself.”  I   
   considered that an invitation, and he honored that suggestion   
   by very graciously agreeing to giving us a visa to visit Tibet when we were in   
   China.  It was a very, I think, constructive,   
   informative visit.  And my Members will speak to it.  But it was one that   
   revealed certain truths, to us.  I considered the trip   
   constructive, bridge-building, and we want to continue building that bridge   
   through reconciliation and clearer understanding.  And   
   our Members will speak to those issues.  I’m pleased to yield now to, really   
   – I called him, what did I call you, the spiritual leader   
   of our trip?  The co-Chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights   
   Commission, Jim McGovern.   
      
   Congressman McGovern.  Thank you.  I want to thank Leader Pelosi for   
   organizing this trip, and for allowing me to be part of it.   
   Everywhere that Leader Pelosi or the delegation and I went in Tibet and   
   Beijing, we talked about Tibet; we talked about His   
   Holiness the Dalai Lama; we talked about human rights and the importance of   
   respect for people’s culture and religion.  We had   
   a very good exchange with Chinese officials and, especially, with university   
   students, both in Tibet and Beijing.  I saw this trip,   
   and especially the delegation’s visit to Tibet, as an important gesture by   
   the Chinese government.  I think we were the first   
   Members of Congress to be granted a visa to travel to Tibet in many years.  So   
   this is an important gesture.   
      
   But more needs to be done.  And we must find ways to build on this visit, and   
   make the reforms needed for meaningful change,   
   such as: one, allowing the United States to open a consulate in Lhasa, Tibet;   
   two, allowing more Members of Congress, more   
   journalists, more members of parliament from other nations, and more people in   
   general – including Members of the Tibetan   
   community here in the United States – to travel freely to Tibet; and three,   
   renewing the dialogue with the Dalai Lama to resolve   
   longstanding issues of Tibetan autonomy, religious practice, culture and   
   heritage.  I believe that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is   
   part of the solution, not the problem, to resolving the issues confronting   
   Tibetan autonomy.  You know, one of the things that   
   concerned me – we heard too often from some, not all, but some Chinese   
   officials, we heard language and characterizations of   
   Tibet and the Dalai Lama showing that people’s minds and imaginations are   
   stuck in the past, in old prejudices.  The issue is not   
   the past.  The issue is the future of Tibet and its people.   
      
   Renewing dialogue must be genuine and productive, and it cannot be just   
   another guise for wasting time or going through the   
   motions – but a dialogue based on good faith and the mutual need to resolve   
   outstanding issues in a way that is acceptable to all   
   parties.  Undertaking such initiatives would be a positive reflection on the   
   capacity of Chinese authorities to engage in   
   constructive dialogue, and increase confidence that the government is   
   committed to reconciliation and ending abuses in Tibet.   
   The Chinese government has invested a great deal in Tibet, and that was very   
   clear to us.  But that investment should not come   
   at the price of an entire culture.  You cannot confine a people’s culture   
   and heritage – their very sense of identity – to a museum   
   or a market of handicrafts.  The human rights of the Tibetan people must be   
   strengthened and protected, and I will continue to   
   work with my colleagues in Congress, with the Leader, to push for the reforms   
   needed to achieve this.  Again, I view this trip as   
      
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