The president of United States of America, Donald J. Trump on Wednesday signed the Tibet Reciprocal Access bill unanimously passed by the US Congress. The bill is sealed of a law of the country which will ban Chinese from entering US until Tibet opens up to the Americans and the Tibetan Americans.

The International Campaign For Tibet (ICT) in their report hailed the achievement as a new era in the US support for Tibetans signifying their vigorous interest in Tibet and the Tibetan people.

“This law marks a new era of US support for Tibetans and a challenge to China’s discriminatory policies in Tibet. Following unanimous passage by both the House and the Senate, President Donald Trump signed it on December 19, 2018.” said the ICT as published on the same day.

The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act is based on the diplomatic principle of reciprocity, which calls on countries to give equal rights to one another’s citizens.

The legislation calls for American diplomats, journalists and ordinary citizens to have equal access to the Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan areas as their Chinese counterparts enjoy in the US.

“In 2017, the legislation was reintroduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) and in the Senate by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.). On July 25, 2018, the bill was approved unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee. Exactly two months later, it was passed by the entire House and referred to the Senate.” explains the report.



“The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the bill unanimously on Nov. 28, followed by the full Senate passing it on Dec. 11. The bill became law when Trump signed it today.” it added.

According to the president of ICT, Matteo Mecacci, the organization is urging political leaders of other countries like Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and other countries in Europe a similar reciprocal access to Tibet law for the citizens of their respective countries.



Share this on