News and Views on Tibet

China’s influence highlighted as pro-Tibet event dissuaded in Switzerland

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By Choekyi Lhamo

DHARAMSHALA, APR 17: Ten municipalities in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland received a letter on Mar. 9 from the cantonal government asking them to refrain from raising the Tibetan flag on the Tibetan Uprising Day, reports swissinfo.ch. Swiss Tibetan Friendship society (GSTF) had planned to take part in a flag-flying campaign for Tibet to commemorate 10th March. Nine municipalities went ahead whereas one complied with the message to discontinue.

The letter from the cantonal government said that the campaign would contradict the “One China Policy” of the Swiss government referring to consultations with the Federal Department of Foreign affairs. “Foreign policy is a matter for the federal government,” the letter stated.

Chinese ambassadors had written to the Vaud government days earlier asking them to call on the municipalities to desist from raising flags and other demonstrations of solidarity. The cantonal government said that all it had done was to share the position of the Department of Foreign affairs.

GSTF president Thomas Büchli said that there is nothing new about Chinese embassy trying to disrupt or prevent such demonstrations from happening; the embassy often communicates in writing or by telephone and sometimes received personal visits at their offices. “What is new, however, is that the relevant authority responded to Chinese intervention by writing an official letter that simply passed on the request,” Büchli says.

Fabian Molina, MP from the left-wing Social Democrat party, proposed a motion urging the government to “develop a coherent foreign policy strategy for China” which was rejected by the Senate in late 2019. However, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said that China is currently the subject of “in-depth analysis” keeping with the aims stated in the Foreign Policy Strategy report for 2020-2023.

MP Milano said “At last something is happening . . . It would make more sense to include all of Switzerland and provide orientation for cantons, towns and municipalities.” He says that the latest example in canton Vaud shows that it is not enough for the departments in Bern to reach agreement among themselves. “China will exploit Switzerland’s federal structure,” Milano added.

Switzerland is one of the very few countries in Europe to sign a Free Trade Deal with China. The two countries signed the CSFTA in the year 2013 after only two years of negotiation. In 2017, the Swiss government was criticised as 32 Tibetan protestors were arrested when Chinese President visited the capital Bern during a state visit.

4 Responses

  1. Tibet and Hong Kong and Taiwan must be liberated from mainland China…Western Sahara must be liberated from Morocco…Zimbabwe must be separated into Matebeleland and Mashonaland… Greenland must be liberated from Denmark.

  2. Tibetans living in Tibet and in exile should consider getting advanced scientific (STEM) training so they can make significant contributions to infrastructure development within Tibet. Perhaps take a chapter from Native Americans and see what can be carved out of what has changed. It’s a gamble, but after all these years, what is there to lose? Tibet supplies water to most of population centers of Asia from the Indus river drainage to the Mekong. And that’s not all–look at all the mining activity in the region that has displaced nomadic tribes. If they get retrained as geologists, engineers, scientist, that’s one small step in reclaiming.

      1. Try Taiwan–there’s already a historic link. And there Tibetans living in many other countries including Switzerland, the UK and the US. Some may not want to relocate. The first group of Tibetans to flee in the 1950s, settled in Switzerland.

        Even “free” societies need liberation from status quo. If people want change, they also have to play their small role in the change that they want.

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