DHARAMSHALA, October 7: Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, the elected leader of the Tibetan people, has said the issue of Tibet should be “on the table” during talks between India and China.
Dr Sangay was talking to reporters in the Indian capital New Delhi enroute to a 20-day visit to the United States and Europe, Friday.
“I believe Tibet should be on the table as a foreign issue,” media reports quoted Dr Sangay as saying. His statement comes days after the Indian Defence Minister AK Antony said negotiations with China over the Indo-Tibet border dispute were in the “final stages.”
Speaking on the ongoing wave of self-immolations in Tibet, Dr Sangay blamed China’s “repressive” policies for the crisis.
"There is no space for any form of protests and hence Tibetans are resorting to self-immolations. The Tibetans are sending a message not only of tragedy but also urgency," he said. "We seek and need support from the international community to push China to stop oppression in Tibet."
The Delhi and Harvard educated Tibetan leader called the issue of Tibet a "test” for Chinese government.
“If they really say we believe in moderation then Tibet is the test, it's not Hong Kong it's not Macau, it's not Taiwan. Tibet is the test because if Tibetans are granted autonomy then that is an indication that finally the Chinese leadership or the Han Chinese people have accepted diversity," Dr Sangay said.
He also cautioned India on China’s military activities on the Tibetan plateau, pointing out that Beijing has already built five major airfields in Tibet and has 23 military divisions stationed there.
Dr Sangay noted that China should stop the migration of Han Chinese into Tibet and gave details of the extent of the migration.
"More than 50 percent of people in urban areas of Lhasa, Tibet’s capital are Chinese, 70 percent businesses in Lhasa are owned by Chinese, 50 percent of the public sector jobs and posts in the Communist Party in Tibet belong to Chinese. On the other hand, 40 percent of Tibetan high school and college graduates are unemployed," he said.
He went on to criticise China's policy of "forcibly rehabilitating" hundreds of thousands of Tibetan nomads from their ancestral grasslands to cemented buildings, cutting them off from their traditional way of life, while leaving them “no source of earning money.”
According to the Central Tibetan Administration, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay will be visiting Harvard, Columbia, New York, Virginia and Minnesota from October 6 – 19 on the first leg of his tour.
He will then leave for visits to Prague, Czech Republic on October 21, followed by London on October 23 and Rome, Italy from October 24-26.
Sikyong Dr Sangay will return to Dharamshala on October 29.
Source: Phayul.com
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
