(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-07 14:49

WASHINGTON -- Two Chinese American groups urged US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to respect Chinese sovereignty when dealing with China's internal affairs including those with regard to Tibet, according to a letter obtained by Xinhua on Tuesday.

In the open letter, One China Committee and China-US Friendship Exchange Inc. told Pelosi that although they support her view that the current unrest in Tibet should be resolved through peaceful dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government, which has taken place in fact, they strongly question the wisdom and appropriateness of letting the issue "sidetrack the US relations with the great Asian nation."

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., right, stands with newly sworn in Rep. Don Cazayoux, D-La., left, and his wife Cherie, center, during a mock swearing-in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 6, 2008. [Agencies]

They opposed, in particular, the passage of the House Resolution 1077 which called on the Chinese government to end its "crackdown" in Tibet.

"We believe that as a sovereign nation, the Chinese government has the right to deal with its own domestic violence and that a crackdown on terrorist acts to maintain peace and order is absolutely not a violation of human rights," the letter said.

"We are also troubled by your campaign to urge President George W. Bush to boycott the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony on August 8, as a show of support for the rioters in Tibet," it added.

The letter cited an article by Foster Stockwell on April 8, 2008 at A New Chapter Blog, titled "Tibet -- Myth and Reality," saying "the idea that most Tibetans are unhappy about what has happened in Tibet and want independence from China is a product manufactured in the West and promoted by the dispossessed landlords who fled to India."

"Who really can believe that a million former serfs - more than 90 percent of the population - are unhappy about having the shackles of serfdom removed? They now care for their own herds and farmland, marry whomever they wish without first getting their landlord's permission, aren't punished for disrespecting these same landlords, own their own homes, attend school, and have relatively modern hospitals, paved roads, airports and modern industries," the article reads.

Quoting the Tibetan population that has doubled since 1950 as proof, the letter noted that progress in Tibet can be found in objective statistics.

The two groups urged Pelosi to make a few fine distinctions, first of all, between the initial media misrepresentations due to incomplete information and the true facts that are only beginning to surface; secondly, between the unfounded claims by some Tibetans that Tibet was an independent country but forcibly "occupied by China since the 1950s," and the true legal status of Tibet.

"Not only was Tibet never recognized by any foreign state as an independent nation, but a treaty signed by Britain and Russia in 1907 explicitly recognized that Tibet was part of China," they said in the letter.

The congresswoman from California was also urged to tell violence from peaceful protest, and to acknowledge that violent protests had been planned and carried out before the Olympics to pressure the Chinese government to talk to the Dalai Lama.

"There is no justification for unprovoked killing, beating, smashing, looting and arson in the broad daylight in Tibet," it added.

At the end of the letter, the two groups' members, who are US citizens, noted that the US constitution stipulates that foreign relations properly fall within the realm of the Executive branch, with the president being "the sole organ of the nation in its external relations and its sole representative with foreign nations.

As for the Congress, they suggested that at such a difficult time as the United States finds itself in, the legislature should "pay more attention to the threat of recession, a housing crisis, health care, the environment, and the war in Iraq" and let President Bush make his own decision on whether to attend the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony.

The Illinois-based "One China Committee" was formed on October 18, 2003 by a group of Americans and Americans of Chinese descent with the aim to support one China and the peaceful unification of China and to enhance the American public's understanding that Taiwan is an integral part of China.

China-US Friendship Exchange, Inc. was established in Northern California in September 2006, aiming to improve the Sino-US relations and promote peace between China's mainland and Taiwan.