Tibet, A Taboo Word Within The State Department

Image: usembassyorg

It would be easy for people, on the basis of President Trump’s comments on China to conclude that the USA is on a course of getting tougher with the Chinese authorities, trade of course is key in the present tensions between the two.

However behind the scenes, the State Department and its foreign policy experts are still applying a thick layer of appeasement when it comes to China. The occupants of the White House come and go but that failed and fossilized approach of ‘constructive enagagement’ continues within the corridors at 2201 C St., NW.

On February 8 Ms Alice G. Wells Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs hosted at the State Department a reception to mark Tibetan New Year. We just got a copy of her speech in which she repeatedly references ‘Himalayan Region, peoples or communities’ There is of course no mention of Tibet, quite what those Tibetans gathered there thought of this would be interesting to note. As it will be to see how long her remarks remain on the State Department website!

Tibet-A Taboo Word Within The State Department With Tibetan Representative Mr Ngodup Tsering With Ms Alice Wells, At The Event In Which She Could Not Bring Herself To Utter The Name Of Tibet

Image: Nyima Binara/CTA

Now that omission is no accident, the deliberate avoidance of mentioning Tibet in favor of ‘Himalayan Region’ is a reflection of the mindest of appeasement within the State Department to China. Fearful, even within the bowels of its Washington DC HQ of causing any offence, or being seen to endorse the very notion of an actual land called Tibet! Pathetic!