Czech MPs urge their president to talk Tibet with China
Posted by freetibet on May 16th, 2009
Czech MPs urge their president to talk Tibet with China
Phayul[Saturday, May 16, 2009 14:55]
By Tenzin Tsering
Dharamsala, May 16 – The Czech parliamentary group for Tibet has petitioned the Czech Presidential Office to bring the issue of human rights concerns in Tibet at the EU-China summit to be held at Prague on 20 May 2009, says Greens MP Katerina Jacques.
This summit is scheduled twice after China canceling it previously to show its resentment over French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s meeting with the Dalai Lama. China regularly opposes any decision by a state to receive the Dalai Lama or make any contact with him. The summit was originally scheduled for December 2008.
Czech Republic now holds the rotating presidency of the 27-member bloc. President Vaclav Klaus will chair the summit where EU and China plan to discuss their bilateral trade and co operation.
MP Jacques said, “None of the current global challenges that the world faces can be dealt without cooperation between the EU and China. But at the same time the EU cannot keep silent to the violation of human rights in China.”
The European Union can play an important role in bringing forth a constructive dialogue between China and the Dalai Lama, given the interdependency of the member nations and around the globe in general, analysts say.
However, China accuses the Dalai Lama and his proposal of “genuine autonomy” as seeking independence in disguise and the dialogue so far has resulted in a stalemate.
Tibetans and their supporters say that the condition inside Tibet is still worsening, where a slightest dissent against the Chinese repressive doctrine and human rights violation is met with ‘brutal suppression and violation of human rights’. Absence of international organizations, aid or free media has strengthened and encouraged the Chinese hardliners in Tibet, according to Tibetan right groups.
Kelsang Gyatsen, the Dalai Lama’s envoy, said that the EU must impress on China that the issue of Tibet continues to remain an important agenda in their bilateral relationship and the pressing need to properly address and resolve the issue through dialogue to provide the solution. “Failure to address the issue of Tibet will greatly undermine the credibility of the EU position on the issue of Tibet in particular and on human rights in China in general.”
The Green MP’s petition also included release of Aung San Suu Kyi from prison and the initiation of a dialogue among Suu Kyi, representatives of the ethnic groups and the Junta.
