美国国会议员涉藏提案探析

An Inquiry into Tibet-Related Proposals in the United States Congress

美国国会在西藏问题上屡屡向中国发难,而其涉藏行为大都起始于国会议员的涉藏提案。本文对1979—2008年共15届美国国会的涉藏提案进行分析总结,发现涉藏提案集中于"人权民主"议题,反映了自由派民主党人和保守派共和党人的共同偏好。30年来,涉藏提案在数量和议题上的变迁,始终折射出中美关系大局的主导和达赖集团对美国政界特别是国会游说行为的催化作用。涉藏提案受到党争、府会关系、选区状况以及意识形态等多元因素的影响,其在议员中的分布也呈现出集中而不均衡的特点。对美国国会涉藏提案构成分布、发展变迁、影响因素等的探析,有助于正确认识和有效处理中美关系中的西藏问题。

One of the major ways for The United States Congress to intervene in China's internal affairs is to step in the Tibetan issue.Most congressional involvements in the Tibetan issue start with Tibet-related proposals.With a dataset of all Tibet-related congressional proposals from 1979 to 2008 we have built up,the paper finds a concentration of the proposals on the human rights issue,and a'consensus'of the Republicans and Democrats on this point. Changes in the number and topics of the Tibet-related proposals over the past 30 years reflect the main development of the Sino-USA relation,and the impacts of lobby by Dalai Lama and his followers.The distribution of sponsorship of Tibet-related proposals is uneven among congressmen and congresswomen,as a few of them are responsible for the sponsorship of most proposals.Partisanship,united or divided government,constituency,and ideology affect the number and substances of Tibet-related proposals.An understanding of Tibet-related proposals and the factors causing them to occur would be helpful for us to handle correctly the Tibetan issue in the Sino-USA relations.