After
China trip, U.S. lawmakers see hope for common ground on Tibet
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[November 18, 2015]
By Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nancy Pelosi, the
Democratic leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, said on Tuesday
an opportunity exists to find "common ground" with Chinese authorities
on Tibet, which it has ruled since 1950.
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Pelosi, a long-time critic of China's human rights record, took a
group of House Democrats to China this month, on a trip that
included a rare visit to Tibet.
Pelosi said that while Chinese President Xi Jinping had rejected
independence for Tibet, the United States and Tibet's exiled
spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, only wanted autonomy.
"So if they (Chinese authorities) think it is about independence, he
(Dalai Lama) says it's about autonomy, we only support autonomy ...
then I think there is an opportunity to find common ground," she
told a news conference.
The congressional delegation was the first allowed to enter Tibet
since widespread unrest in 2008.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Nov/18/images/ads/current/ccaonline_sda050208.png) U.S. Representative Jim McGovern, chairman of a congressional human
rights commission, cited "some very heated exchanges with" Chinese
officials during the trip, which ended last week.
"I can't tell you with certainty that the Chinese government will
agree to do x, y and z, but I don't think any of us came away
feeling that the door was entirely closed on anything," McGovern
said.
China has ruled Tibet since 1950, when communist forces "peacefully
liberated" it. China blames the Dalai Lama for unrest in some parts
of the country, including a wave of self-immolations.
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Rights groups and exiles say China tramples on the cultural and
religious rights of Tibet's Buddhist people. China asserts that it
has brought much needed development to what was a backward region.
Pelosi has regularly spoken out about human rights issues in Tibet
and has met the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing reviles as a violent
separatist.
(Editing by Patricia Zengerle and Richard Chang)
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