News and Views on Tibet

190 km walk to urge UK to support ‘Access to Tibet’ bill

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Four Tibetan marchers with MP Kerry McCarthy at the Peace March commencement event in Bristol (Facebook)
Four Tibetan marchers with MP Kerry McCarthy at the Peace March commencement event in Bristol (Facebook)

By Choekyi Lhamo

DHARAMSHALA, Aug. 11: Four Tibetans from the UK concluded their ‘Peace March’ for Tibet on Monday from Bristol to London in 6 days covering approximately 190-kms. The group was led by Tenzin Sangmo along with Tashi Dhondup, Sonam Tsering and Tenzin Phunstok as they expressed their joy in fulfilling their journey campaigning for Tibet. The team urged the UK government to support the Tibet Reciprocal Access Bill presented in the parliament by MP Tim Loughton to hold China accountable. 

Representative of Office of Tibet, London, Sonam Tsering Frasi, and Chair of Tibetan community in Britain, Dalha Tsering along with representatives from activist groups Free Tibet and Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) welcomed the marchers for their campaign on the concluding event in front of 10 Downing Street in London. 

Representative Sonam Tsering congratulated and thanked the campaigners, “To have an effective macro-level change of this kind, the stakeholder on a micro level must be very active. And this is one example of how on a grass root level we can energize those people who are affected.”

Four Tibetan marchers along with local Tibetans, conclude their Peace March from Bristol to London in front of 10 Downing Street (Photo- CTA)

Organizer and participant of the Walk for Tibet in the UK, Tenzin Sangmo addressed the event, “I am here today to fight against the Chinese regime and the illegal occupation of Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and also against the organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners.” She called on the UK PM Boris Johnson and MPs to join the existing parliamentary group for Tibet and support the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Bill presented by MP Tim Loughton. 

She also urged the government to investigate the controversial CCP funded Confucius Institutes in the UK and recognize the Dalai Lama’s sole authority over his reincarnation. The marchers concluded the event with a last stretch through central London to the Chinese embassy where the team submitted a petition stating their demands. The commencement event for the Peace march was attended by Labour MP Kerry McCarthy who also expressed her solidarity with the Tibetan struggle.

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