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Major Issues
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Asia
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Other Foreign Policy Efforts
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Asia
From
India to Indonesia to China
to Japan, Asia is a vast continent with a diversity of interests to
the United States. In the 21st century, many nations in Asia are
dealing with continuously changing political, military and economic
systems.
In a
relatively short period, Asia has experienced explosive population
growth, rapid urbanization, and emerging economies despite the
persistence of poverty. With this rapid change also come challenges
in development, governance, and civil society.
As Chairman or
Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations for more
than a decade, I have worked to promote human rights, economic
development, judicial reform, and democratic change in Asia. I will
continue to play a role in the development of this important part of
the world.
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In Vermont: Ngawang
Choephel, a former Fulbright Scholar at Middlebury
College who studied and taught ethnomusicology, returned to
Tibet in 1995 to make a video about traditional music and
dance. Shortly thereafter he was detained and held
incommunicado for 15 months. In December 1996, Mr. Choephel
was sentenced to 18 years in prison after a secret trial.
Before he was detained Mr. Choephel sent many hours of
video footage to India, which reportedly deals only with
traditional music and dance. Other than his alleged
"confession," the Chinese never produced any evidence to
support the charge that Mr. Choephel engaged in espionage.
The Vermont Congressional Delegation fought tirelessly to
obtain Mr. Choephel’s release, which finally occurred on
January 20, 2002. Since his release, I remain in close
contact with Ngawang Choephel to
this day. |
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Sen. Leahy's travels have taken him many countries
in Asia, including Japan, Vietnam, Hong Kong,
Taiwan, and China. During a 1996 visit, he and
other senators met with then Chinese President Jiang
Zemin. |
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