News and Views on Tibet

Tibet talk at the French political science institute in Paris

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On 27th February 2003, the Institut des Sciences Politiques here in Paris, organised a talk on Tibet. This talk was initiated by two students Diane Angemuller and Frederika who have considered Tibetan situation for their academic thesis resports. This is the first ever political talk programme on Tibet organised by this venerable French school.

Venerable Matthieu Ricard commented largely on a series of slides he has taken in Tibet and in India. He exposed the cultural, religious and political situation of Tibet, and related his first hand experiences. Venerable Matthieu Ricard, son of one of the most prominent French intellectuals, Mr Jean Francois Revel, has been ordained as Buddhist monk in early 1970 after completing a brilliant medical research studies at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Well versed in Tibetan, he studied under Kangyur Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and is residing in Shechen Monastery in Kathmandu for the last twenty years.

Following this slide show, a panel of Tibetan and Chinese affairs speakers gave their view on the current situation of Tibet, but mostly about their vision of the future evolution.

Wangpo Bashi, Secretary of the Office of Tibet, while acknowledging contradictory recent development within Tibet, spoke about the reconciliatory approach of the Sino-Tibetan relations and underlined the non-violent nature of the Tibetan struggle.

French Sinologist, Mrs Marie Holzmann, spoke about the democratic movement within China, and expressed strong hope over the positive evolution when the new leadership actually assumes their power this year.

Mr Chen Li Chuan, a Chinese intellectual who has participated in the 1989 Tien Anmen event, exposed a very interesting analysis of the Sino-Tibetan relations. He argued about the similarities between the 17 Point Agreement and the 5 Point Peace Plan exposed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the European Parliament in Strasbourg in 1988. Indeed, in a very astute manner, he presented his retouched version of some of the major articles of the 17th Point Agreement that remarkably suit with His Holiness’ peace proposal.

The talk was concluded by Miss Sandrine Bourgogne, a Parliamentary assistant to Mr Louis de Broissia, a longtime Tibet friend who heads the Tibet Group at the French Senate. Miss Bourgogne made a comprehensive presentation of the roles and actions of the Tibet Group which is functioning at the French lower house National Assembly since 1990, and at the Senate since 2000. She demonstrated the complementarity of the executive diplomatic demarches and the Parliamentary actions which effectively voice the French people’s will. French Parliament’s actions at various levels including those with their European counterparts were stressed, and underlined the importance of having an EU Special Coordinator for Tibet.

The entire session was moderated by Mr Jean Paul Ribes, President of the French TSG called CSPT. In his conluding speech, Mr Ribes who is a seasoned journalist for over 20 years, made a strong and moving suggestion about various actions everyone can take individually and collectively for Tibet. He also announced the Uprising Manifestation being organised on 9th March in Brussels, and on 10th March in Paris.

The 500 seat lecture hall was fully packed with students, faculty members, and Tibet friend guests who attended attentively the two hour talk programme. In parallel, information desks distributed different literatures on the current situation of Tibet, the 9th March European level manifestation of Brussels and 10th March national manifestation in Paris, and collected petition signatures in favour of Tibetan political prisoners.

This Report submitted by Bureau du Tibet, Paris, on 28th February 2003.

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