Report to Congress on Access to Tibetan Areas – Section 4 of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018 (8 U.S.C. 1182 note)

Executive Summary

This is the sixth annual report under Section 4 of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018 (8 U.S.C. 1182 note), enacted December 19, 2018, which requires the Department of State to provide a report to Congress, within 90 days of enactment and annually thereafter for five years, regarding the level of access People’s Republic of China (PRC) authorities granted to U.S. diplomats and officials, journalists, and tourists to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas in China, including a comparison with the level of access granted to other areas of China; a comparison between the levels of access to Tibetan and non-Tibetan areas in relevant provinces; a comparison of the level of access compared to the previous reporting year; and a description of the required permits and other measures that impede travel in Tibetan areas. This report covers 2023, with comparisons to 2022, as applicable.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in January 2020 led to country-wide restrictions on travel within China and entry to China, which impacted the ability of foreign diplomats, journalists, and tourists to travel to the TAR and other Tibetan areas. Domestic COVID-19 controls were lifted in late 2022, including as regards travel to the TAR.

However, PRC government regulations and procedures that have historically impeded travel to the TAR and Tibetan areas outside the TAR for U.S. diplomats and officials, journalists, and tourists remained in place in 2023. International visitors’ travel to the TAR continued to require the approval of TAR government travel permits. In 2023, U.S. officials made three requests for official travel to the TAR, none of which were approved. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, U.S. officials made no requests to visit the TAR in 2022; one request was made in 2021, which the TAR government denied. For diplomats and officials, travel to Tibetan areas outside of the TAR did not require a permit or special notification beyond the requirements in place for other parts of China. PRC security forces have used conspicuous surveillance to intimidate, monitor, harass, and restrict the movements of U.S. diplomats, officials, and foreigners, including while on personal travel to Tibetan areas. Tibetan Americans regularly have faced restrictions on their travel to Tibetan areas, although anecdotal reports suggest Tibetan Americans had more access to the TAR than in 2022. Access to these areas for journalists remained restricted and limited.

Impact of the Suspension of Operations at the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu

Due to the PRC government’s withdrawal of consent for operation in retaliation to the United States’ withdrawal of consent for the operation of PRC Consulate General Houston, the United States suspended operations at the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu (CG Chengdu) on July 27, 2020. The suspension of operations at CG Chengdu resulted in Embassy Beijing taking responsibility for coverage of the TAR and Tibetan areas more than 800 miles away from Beijing. This has severely inhibited the U.S. Mission’s ability to maintain access to Tibetan areas.

Differences in Access to Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan Areas

While China maintains clear and strict access requirements for travel to the TAR, access requirements to travel to sensitive Tibetan areas in other provinces remained ambiguous. Tibetan areas, which are prefectures and counties containing historic and current Tibetan populations outside of the TAR, exist in Sichuan, Gansu, Yunnan, and Qinghai provinces. Municipal and prefecture-level PRC and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials are often responsible for access restrictions to these areas, resulting in differing conditions and making it difficult to determine the rationale and timing for these restrictions.

Comparison with the Level of Access Granted to the Tibetan and Non-Tibetan Areas of China

Diplomats and other officials

In 2023, the TAR continued to be the only area of China that PRC authorities required diplomats and other foreign officials to formally request permission to visit. Diplomats could not purchase air or train tickets to enter the TAR without official approval.

Diplomats and other foreign officials did not face additional formal restrictions on travel to Tibetan areas outside of the TAR; however, PRC officials sometimes used conspicuous surveillance to intimidate, monitor, harass, and restrict travel to these areas.

During the reporting year, the U.S. mission personnel were unable to conduct any American Citizen Services visits to the TAR in 2023 because requests for visits by consular officers were not approved. No consular officer has visited the TAR since 2019. In previous years, local officials in the TAR had been responsive to consular requests to provide assistance to U.S. citizens but occasionally delayed their response on emergency access requests made by U.S. consular officers.

Tourists

PRC government regulations controlled travel of international visitors to the TAR for tourism, a restriction applied by no other provincial-level entity in China. In accordance with a 1989 central government regulation, international visitors, including U.S. citizens, were required to obtain an official confirmation letter issued by the TAR government, which reports to the central government in Beijing, before entering the TAR. Most tourists received such letters by booking tours through travel agencies officially registered with the PRC government. The PRC government mandated a designated tour guide accompany international tourists while in the TAR. Foreigners rarely obtained permission to enter the TAR by road. Authorities denied access to the TAR for many international tourists during periods the PRC government considered politically sensitive, including the March anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising against China’s invasion of Tibet and the Dalai Lama’s birthday in July.

The TAR Tourism Bureau reported that from January to June 2022, TAR received over 17 million tourists. In 2019 CG Chengdu estimated roughly 10,000 U.S. citizens visited the region. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, U.S. Embassy Beijing believes the number of U.S. citizens who visited the TAR to have decreased substantially in 2020-2022. It is not known how many U.S. citizens visited the TAR in 2023, but numbers likely fall far short of those seen in 2019.

Tibetan Americans undergo a stricter screening process than other U.S. citizens when applying for PRC visas at PRC embassies. Their applications are processed through the United Front Work Department (UFWD), often require a letter from a relative or host in the Tibetan area, an in person interview with the PRC Embassy or Consulate officer in charge of Tibetan affairs, and submission of personal documents such as copies of naturalization certificates, birth certificates, school and work records, affidavits and other materials. Tibetan Americans reported more frequent harassment by security officials in Tibetan areas than in other parts of China, including requirements to report to the local UFWD office where some were reportedly interrogated, threatened, and forced to download tracking software on their phones. Some members of the Tibetan American community reported they self-censored their behavior in the United States out of fear of retribution against their family members in Tibet or fear of losing future access to Tibet and threats from PRC officials. Despite these barriers, Tibetans also reported increased access to the TAR compared to previous years, particularly for those who hold United States or European passports. This information is anecdotal, with no concrete data available on the number of visas issued to Tibetan Americans.

Journalists

PRC regulations did not regularly require international journalists to obtain prior permission to travel to any part of the country other than the TAR. The PRC government heavily restricted and controlled access for U.S. journalists to the TAR. The PRC government has rejected the vast majority of U.S. journalists’ requests to visit and report from the TAR, according to data compiled by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China (FCCC), the professional organization for the international press corps based in China. When access was granted, PRC security officials monitored and controlled these journalists’ movements at all times. The FCCC’s 2022 annual report stated that none of the three foreign journalists who applied to travel to TAR were approved. In lieu of individual permits, the government relied on organized group tours of the region for registered reporters selected by PRC authorities.

When U.S. journalists gained access to Tibetan areas, the PRC government further suppressed their ability to report about Tibet by intimidating and preventing PRC citizens from interacting with foreign press. By hosting group tours, the government has been able to cite increased numbers and greater access to the region while maintaining strict control over the information conveyed.

Comparison Between Levels of Access for Tibetan and Non-Tibetan Areas

Diplomats and other officials

U.S. diplomats and other officials did not have to apply to travel to Tibetan areas outside of the TAR, though sometimes access to specific areas would be blocked and official meetings with local government, religious, and community leaders required local Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) permission, as was common practice in many localities throughout China. PRC security personnel have used conspicuous monitoring to intimidate those traveling to Tibetan areas outside of the TAR. Government-designated minders have followed diplomats and officials, prevented them from meeting or speaking with local contacts, questioned them, and restricted their movement. Official access to monasteries in Tibetan areas of Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP) in Sichuan province and Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) TAP in Sichuan province remained limited. During visits in previous years to Tibetan areas in Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai, and Yunnan provinces, local authorities have prohibited U.S. diplomats from entering certain monasteries, blocked off specific roads, prevented them from having meetings or conversations with local interlocutors, and monitored their conversations.

Tourists

International tourists sometimes faced restrictions traveling to Tibetan areas outside the TAR. Some particularly sensitive areas, including areas with prominent monasteries or those with histories of protest activities, such as Ngaba (which saw a number of self-immolations following the 2008 uprising), restrict international tourists’ access.

Journalists

Although journalists were permitted to travel to areas outside the TAR with significant Tibetan populations, they have been subjected to invasive surveillance, physically blocked from certain areas, and intimidated by the government. According to the FCCC’s annual report covering 2022, foreign journalists experienced harassment while reporting in Tibetan areas outside the TAR.

Comparison of the Level of Access Between 2023 and 2022

Diplomats and other officials

Access to the Tibetan population of the PRC did not improve in 2023 compared to 2022. While COVID-19 restrictions have been rescinded, requests by U.S. and other diplomats to travel to the TAR have not been approved. The PRC has arranged tours of foreign diplomats as well as diplomatic events in the TAR, although in all cases, these are strictly controlled by the PRC government and do not allow meaningful access to the population of the TAR.

Journalists

The FCCC’s 2022 annual report noted that access to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) remains officially restricted for foreign journalists. Reporters must apply to the government for special permission or join a press tour organized by China’s State Council or Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Three journalists applied for permission in 2022, but all were turned down. The report cites a journalist from a Western outlet who was stopped and detained by police and local officials in a Tibetan area of Sichuan, with officials claiming foreigners were not being allowed in because of COVID controls.

Required Permits and Other Measures Impeding Freedom to Travel in Tibetan areas

In addition to the permits and other restrictions described above, visitors whose requests for a Tibet travel permit the PRC government approved in previous years have faced additional access barriers once in the TAR. According to travel agents operating in the TAR, the Tibet travel permit did not allow visits to all areas. Some areas were generally closed to visitors and required an additional alien travel permit from the TAR Public Security Bureau. Tourists planning to visit certain border areas also required a military area entry permit from the Military Affairs Office and a foreign affairs permit from the TAR FAO.

The PRC government did not disclose its decision-making process for granting permission to travel to the TAR, nor did it share the names of officials involved in issuing travel permits to U.S. citizens to visit the TAR.

Historically, PRC authorities assessed each U.S. official request to visit the TAR on a case-by-case basis. The TAR FAO generally required a diplomatic note for any official visit, accompanied by a list of trip attendees. Once the TAR government received the request, it reportedly informed a foreign affairs leading committee, consisting of representatives at the prefectural, provincial, and central levels from the UFWD, Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Public Security, People’s Liberation Army, and MFA. This committee reviewed the request, although frequently, no specific response was provided.