Under Secretary Zeya’s Remarks at Assessing the PRC’s Assimilation Policies in Tibet event, Hosted by the University of Ottawa and Canada Tibet Committee

AS PREPARED

Good afternoon, and thank you for that kind introduction, Alex. Thank you also to the Canada Tibet Committee and the University of Ottawa for hosting today’s gathering. My name is Uzra Zeya, and I am the United States Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues. It’s a pleasure to be here in Canada, one of our closest allies, to speak alongside distinguished colleagues, experts, and with students and members of the Tibetan community.

Just a few weeks ago, news broke about arrests of over 1,000 Tibetans in Dege County, in Sichuan’s Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. In the week leading up to the arrests, religious and laypersons alike gathered to peacefully protest the construction of a dam that threatened displacement of two villages and six historic monasteries. These communities have lived in the area for generations, and the monasteries are home to hundreds of monks and priceless relics. Video footage shows PRC authorities forcibly detaining and arresting monks, who pled with authorities to save their homes and tangible symbols of their cultural heritage. The United States calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all those unjustly arrested.

This incident is but the latest example of the PRC’s assimilationist – or “Sinicization” – policies. From forcing the relocation of homes and monasteries; to the requirement of monks and nuns to pledge loyalty to the state; to co-opting the traditional succession processes of Tibetan Buddhist lamas; to banning images of His Holiness the Dalai Lama – the PRC aims to subsume Tibet’s rich spiritual, linguistic, and cultural traditions into its political framework.

And they have wasted no time. Beginning as early as 4 years old, Tibetan children are separated from their families and coerced into government-run boarding schools, where they are purposely restricted from learning their language, celebrating cultural events like Losar, and practicing Tibetan Buddhism. More than one million students—or three in four school-aged Tibetan children — have been forcibly assimilated in these schools, all to serve a long-term goal of co-opting and reshaping Tibet’s traditions. This contradicts commitments that countries, including Canada, the United States and the PRC, have made at the UN and in other fora, to protect not only tangible cultural heritage such as historic sites and artifacts, but just as importantly, the intangible cultural heritage of humanity – the traditional practices and lifeways unique to each community.

But this type of forced assimilation is not unique to Tibet. Increasingly, education is a major vehicle the Chinese Communist Party uses to forcibly assimilate the PRC’s rich array of ethnic and religious minority groups. The PRC’s Patriotic Education Law that went into effect in January seeks to safeguard “national and ethnic unity.” It legislates enhanced “patriotic feelings” among Hong Kongers and calls for education of “unification of the motherland” with regards to Taiwan. And in Xinjiang, so-called “vocational training centers” are euphemisms for internment and detention centers used to propagate ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity targeting Uyghurs and other minority groups.

And while the United States will continue to call out these coercive assimilation policies, we are forthright in acknowledging our own history. Throughout the 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th centuries, the United States government forced the displacement of Native Americans from their lands and utilized boarding schools to assimilate native communities and their children.

But unlike the PRC, the United States, as well as our Canadian partners, believe in the fundamental importance of confronting historic wrongs and meaningfully engaging with impacted communities to ensure injustices like these never happen again. At the Department of State, we are meeting this commitment in three key ways:

First, under the leadership of the State Department’s first Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice Desiree Cormier Smith, we launched the first ever international Indigenous Youth Leadership Coalition to elevate indigenous voices from around the world, incorporate their invaluable perspectives into global civic and political engagement, and address challenges to Indigenous communities that know no borders. The program expands upon many of our policy goals, from combating structural racism and promoting human rights, to strengthening peace and human-centered security.

Secondly, we are proud to provide direct support to programs that directly engage with vulnerable communities and protect both tangible and intangible cultural heritage at home and across the globe. As Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, I oversee over $24 million in assistance to support cultural and linguistic preservation efforts in Tibetan communities, among many other activities. These funds provide critical support for historians, scholars, and religious leaders dedicated to ensuring Tibet’s rich culture can be passed down for generations to come.

And finally, in coordination with allies and partners, the United States seeks to call out injustice around the globe. For example, in August the United States announced visa restrictions on PRC officials involved in the forcible assimilation of more than one million Tibetan children in these government-run boarding schools. In late January, more than 20 governments, including the United States and Canada, provided recommendations at the PRC’s Universal Period Review at the UN Human Rights Council specifically mentioning the PRC’s assimilation policies targeting members of ethnic and religious minority groups. And later this week, the United States is proud to co-sponsor an event with Canada on preservation of Tibetans’ unique culture on the sidelines of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

My friends, we gather here today at a critical moment for Tibet. Human rights defenders, journalists, and researchers in Tibet and around the globe put themselves at personal risk to research and expose the PRC’s systems of oppression that we are discussing here today. They contend with widespread and pervasive surveillance and censorship in the PRC, and a face PRC-directed transnational repression here in Canada, the United States, and around the globe aimed at silencing them. The PRC will likely censor the insights of today’s speakers and attempt to discredit these facts through mis-and disinformation.

This is why events like today’s seminar are so critical.

To my Tibetan friends here and around the globe who continue to speak up: the United States sees you; we hear you; and we stand with you in support of your cultural, religious, and linguistic identity.

Thank you.