China again lobbies embassies not to meet Tibetan delegation

August 30: The Chinese embassy in New Delhi has once again issued letters and even paid visits to foreign embassies in the Indian capital, telling them not to receive a visiting Tibetan delegation from Dharamshala. The Tibetan parliamentary delegation, led by Speaker Penpa Tsering, has been in the Indian capital for almost a week now, calling on foreign missions, seeking urgent and concrete actions to end China’s repressive policies in Tibet. Speaker Tsering, while addressing a press conference in New Delhi accused the Chinese embassy of lobbying foreign embassies, sending their staff with a letter telling them not to meet the Tibetan delegation. However, representatives of the diplomatic missions have seemingly ignored Chinese ‘persuasions’ and went on with their planned meetings with the Tibetan delegation. Speaker Tsering said 23 embassies, including that of England, Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland, New Zealand, Belgium, Jordan, Hungary, Germany, Canada, and the Czech Republic among others, have already met the Tibetan parliamentarians. The offices of the United Nations and the European Union in the capital have also received the delegation. Speaking to Phayul, one of the delegates, Geshe Lobsang Nyendak said that they have been raising the critical situation inside Tibet, heralded by the ongoing wave of self-immolations, during their talks with the representatives of the diplomatic missions. He added that the delegation has also been urging the respective governments to “immediately intervene and impress” upon the Chinese leadership to look into the actual causes of the Tibetan people’s discontentment. The Tibetan Parliament, in an appeal letter presented to the embassies, has expressed hope that their governments will “continue to stand for truth, justice, equality, freedom, human rights and human dignity.” “Such values cannot be held hostage to tyranny, suppression and inhuman treatment in the name of development nor in the face of growing China’s military, economic and political clout,” the appeal letter reads. “Subjugation of these values will not only be encourage China’s authoritarian ways but will also be self defeating in the long run for a peaceful world, in the pursuit of short term national interests.” The Tibetan Parliament added it was “highly unlikely” that the self-immolations would stop in the immediate future. “The responsibility of the exiled Tibetan community and the Administration is to make sure that the anguished voices of the Tibetans inside Tibet are heard by the international community and seek their help in resolving the issue,” the appeal letter states. “Watching the trend, it seems highly unlikely that self-immolations will stop in the immediate future and every time the phone rings, we are left wondering, who next?” Earlier this year, the Chinese embassy had issued a letter to the diplomatic missions, warning of adverse effect to bilateral relations if they met with a visiting delegation of Tibetan parliamentarians. That time too, China’s muscle flexing went largely ignored as a host of Ambassadors and representatives met with the four-member Tibetan parliamentary delegation led by MP Karma Chophel.