Sam Brownback, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, has urged the American government to recognize China’s actions in Tibet as genocide and to oppose Beijing’s efforts to control the Dalai Lama’s succession, he told Radio Free Asia in an interview.
Brownback also called for banning any form of Chinese Communist Party lobbying in the U.S. capital.
The Chinese government has stepped up its repressive rule in Tibet in an effort to erode Tibetan culture, language and religion, said Brownback, 68, who served in that role 2018 to 2021 — the fifth person to hold the position.
Brownback said the decades-long repression of Tibetan culture and religion by the Chinese government meets the legal definition of genocide, and that Tibet should be formally recognized as a site of genocide.
“(What) needs to take place now is to declare genocide in Tibet,” he told RFA. “The genocide definition is about targeting a specific group of people for annihilation and that’s what’s taking place in Tibet, and it’s been happening over a 70-year time period… and it needs to be talked about and doesn’t get discussed near enough.”
Appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump during his first administration, Brownback was tasked with promoting religious freedom as a key objective of U.S. foreign policy while monitoring religious persecution and discrimination around the world.
He made the comments during an interview with RFA on Feb. 5 on the sidelines of the 2025 International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, which he co-chaired.
Calls for no CCP lobbying
At the conference, members of the international religious community released a white paper with a series of policy recommendations for the Trump administration to undertake to advance religious freedom globally.
“The lead recommendation we make is no lobbying by the CCP in Washington,” said Brownback, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
“We see so much lobbying against the interests of people in Tibet, people in Xinjiang, the Christians, the Falun Gong … and we’ve got to get them [the CCP] out of the halls of Congress and trying to influence us in Washington,” he said.
“This is a major issue… and [they’re] pushing for things that are in China’s interest but really are against American interest,” said Brownback, a former U.S. senator and state governor of Kansas.
Also at the summit, Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow and director of China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, urged the United States and its allies to impose Magnitsky sanctions on top Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses in Tibet.
The sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act, imposed by the Treasury Department, prevent those listed from accessing the U.S. financial system and prohibit American citizens from conducting business with them.
“Under [Chinese President] Xi Jinping, religious oppression continues to get worse,” Zenz said, while highlighting China’s increasing ideological crackdown and crushing of religious freedom in Tibet. “There’s no improvement and none is in sight.”
When U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance addressed the 1,500 religious freedom advocates at the summit, he highlighted the Trump administration’s commitment to combating religious persecution worldwide.
The administration believes it must stand for religious freedom “not just as a legal principle” but “as a lived reality, both within our own borders and especially outside our borders,” Vance said.
Dalai Lama succession
On China’s efforts to control the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, Brownback dismissed Beijing’s claim to having the authority to appoint a successor to the 89-year-old spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism as a “fraud.”
He emphasized that the U.S. government must make clear — again — that it will not support any such recognition by the Chinese government and that there will be consequences should Beijing attempt to interfere in the process.
Brownback noted that when he was the ambassador-at-large, he traveled to Dharamsala, India, the residence of the Dalai Lama and headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile, to announce that the U.S. government would not recognize attempts by the Chinese government to select the next Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader.
“We need to step back up and say that again,” he told RFA.
“We also need to put teeth in it, saying that there will be consequences if the Chinese government attempts to do that,” he said. “The big thing really right now is to announce to the world that this is a fraud if the Chinese government attempts to do this.”
The Dalai Lama, who turns 90 in July, has been the face and symbol of the Tibetan freedom struggle for over seven decades, having fled Tibet into exile in India amid a historic Tibetan national uprising that took place on March 10, 1959, against Chinese rule in Tibet.
The Dalai Lama, who is expected to outline his succession plan this year when he turns 90, has said Beijing will have no say in who will succeed him as Tibet’s spiritual leader if he decides the tradition should continue.
“The Dalai Lama has been picked for hundreds of years by the process set forth by Tibetan Buddhists,” Brownback said. “And the Chinese government’s going to step in and declare itself the wise person to choose? This is a complete fraud by the Chinese government.”
American support for Tibetans
Rashad Hussain, another former U.S. ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, told RFA that despite ongoing concerns over religious freedom in Tibet, he was optimistic that U.S. bipartisan support for protecting religious freedom would continue with the Trump administration.
“We’ve been very, very clear about the right to succession and that the people of Tibet should have the sole authority to choose a successor,” he said. “I am confident that we will continue to reinforce this point.”
The Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2020, which outlines U.S. policy on Tibet, says the Dalai Lama’s succession is solely a religious matter to be decided by him and the Tibetan Buddhist community, without interference from China.
Under this law, any Chinese officials attempting to appoint a future Dalai Lama will face sanctions, including asset freezes and visa bans.
Additionally, the U.S. State Department is mandated to collaborate with like-minded nations to counter Beijing’s attempts to control Tibetan religious affairs — a policy that aligns with Brownback’s warnings at the summit about China’s interference in the Dalai Lama’s succession and his call for Tibet to be recognized as a site of genocide.
“The cavalry is coming,” said Brownback as he urged Tibetans inside Tibet to not give up hope.
“You’re seeing more and more people in the world standing up for religious freedom,” he said, “and that means Tibetan Buddhists will be able to practice their faith freely and carry on their traditions.”
