The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) Europe has called on the EU to raise Tibet prominently during the sixth EU/China Summit in Beijing, which begins October 31.
In response to the two recent visits of the Dalai Lama’s envoys to China, ICT Europe calls on the EU to urge China to enter into unconditional dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives for a negotiated solution for Tibet.
“While the annual EU/China Summit must highlight a broad range of issues, a mature and responsible relationship between the two parties cannot be forged without paying serious attention to the issues of Tibet’s political status and human rights,” said Ms Tsering Jampa, Executive Director, ICT Europe.
Grave human rights violations in Tibet continue to occur every day. The EU-China Dialogue has not delivered any concrete results. A credible EU human rights policy cannot afford to shy away from tackling these critical and universal issues. In the past year alone, China has been responsible for the:
- Ongoing repression of religious freedoms in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns continue to be expelled from their religious institutions and hundreds remain imprisoned for their religious and political beliefs.
- Political persecution and lack of due process in the unfair trial of a senior religious leader, Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, who is under a death sentence for “incitement to separatism”.
- Arbitrary detention, including widespread use of torture and mistreatment of detainees.
“Human rights violations in Tibet will continue to occur so long as the political situation of Tibet remains unresolved. The EU/China Summit provides an important opportunity for the EU to deliver on the Commission’s own recent policy papers about the lack of freedoms in China and Tibet and to resolve this long-standing issue of protracted discontent,” Ms Jampa concluded.