Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, MAR 13: Europe continues to support Tibetans’ right in selecting their own religious leader, without any intervention from China, and rebukes China’s attempt to cut off Tibet from the world, reports International Campaign for Tibet (ICT). High ranking German federal government officials and the European Commission put out statements backing Tibetans on these important issues.
The statements followed by major legislative wins in the US show that repressive policies in Tibet are being discussed on the international platform with many governments speaking up for basic freedom. Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA) was passed in January which has made it a US policy that only Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Buddhist community can decide his succession. It will now be discussed in the Senate in the coming months.
Margarete Bause, German Member of Parliament, released a statement in response to a question that read, “The Federal Government is of the opinion that religious communities may regulate their affairs autonomously. This includes the right to determine their religious leaders themselves.” She also said that German government recognizes Dalai Lama as the head of Tibetan Buddhism.
Belgian Foreign minister Philippe Goffin said, “It is logically up to the Tibetan religious community to designate [the Dalai Lama’s] successor without interference from the temporal authorities.” Last year, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Stek Blok said, “The government is concerned about interference by the Chinese government in religious matters. According to the Chinese authorities, the reincarnation process is subject to Chinese legislation. The position of this cabinet is that it is up to the Tibetan religious community itself to appoint a future successor to the Dalai Lama.”
Five members of the European Parliament: Petras Auštrevičius, Aušra Maldeikienė, Hannes Heide, Francisco Guerreiro, and Petra De Sutter submitted a question to Josep Borrell asking about the position of EU on the succession of Dalai Lama and what measures the EU intended to take.
Similarly, Josep Borrell, Vice-President of the European Commission spoke of reciprocal access to Tibet, “The Commission will continue to call on the Chinese authorities to allow reciprocal access to Tibet”. Borrell noted that his predecessor, Federica Mogherini, also called on Chinese authorities to grant access to Tibet last year. He said that the EU has raised concerns over violations of religious freedom in Tibet.
In 2018, the US Congress passed the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act (RATA) that denies entry to the US for the Chinese officials directly responsible for keeping Americans out of Tibet. RATA has also had international success when a British lawmaker introduced a bill mirroring RATA in the UK Parliament in 2019. Moreover, a Canadian senator introduced a motion last year for Canada to receive reciprocal access to Tibet without any limitation.
