By Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, July 18: The President of the Central Tibetan Administration has said that the CTA had back-channel talks with Chinese authorities “through a third country” in the first week of July.
Speaking to a group of media in Delhi on Wednesday, Sikyong Tsering revealed “We have been having back-channel negotiations with the Chinese side. We do not have any expectations from these talks but we have to keep the engagements going as these are part of our long-term plans. We met in the first week of this month and the talks are being held with the help of a third country”. The Sikyong however, didn’t reveal the name of the third country involved in the talks.
The president of CTA landed in Delhi on July 17 from his trip to Ladakh and is scheduled to visit the United States, according to reports to meet with the US politicians as the “Resolve Tibet Act” received bipartisan support and the signature of President Biden on 12 July making it a law of US constitution.
Speaking to the media, He said stated that using words like “Tibetan issue” and “Tibetan dispute” reduces the substance of the problem, “Tibet continues to be an unresolved conflict and its resolution has to be based on international law. The Promoting a Resolution to Tibet-China Dispute Act also known as the Resolve Tibet Act has used “dispute” to describe the Tibetan issue, but Tibetan conflict is the term to give it a proper status as the real issue is the Chinese occupation of Tibet.” He pointed out that while countries of Europe and the West often talk about violations of human rights and religious rights in Tibet, these fail to convey the real problem.
The President further pointed out that the new Act passed by the U.S. Congress will help in countering the Chinese official position on Tibet which he characterised as a “misinformation campaign”. He continued, that the Chinese official position on Tibet often underplays Tibet’s own rich history as it projects Tibet as part of China since the ancient era.
President Tsering took a stand on the renaming of various places of Tibet by China saying that renaming will not erase Tibet’s unique culture and identity. “Nowadays Beijing has started calling Tibet as Xizang but now we are researching every name in Tibet and we will have a map of Tibet that will show all the original Tibetan names of all the places in Tibet,” said Tsering. He also said that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama will be determined by the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans, saying, “It is the reincarnation of His Holiness Dalai Lama and not the reincarnation of Xi Jinping.”
“All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right, they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” Sikyong Tsering interpreted “self-determination” as the right to vote and choose their representatives in Tibet and added, “Self-determination means plebiscite. The question is whether China will allow plebiscite in Tibet.”
3 Responses
Penpa Tsering better be careful because Xi Jinping can play a really terrible game of chess against him. I don’t think Penpa tsering can operate at the same level as Xi Jinping in global geopolitics. Penpa needs to train more, and learn more to challenge Xi in chess game. Chinese are very clever at these kind of games and we tibetans have to catch up to challenge them people. Chinese are always at deception game.
The so called back-channel talks are nothing but another communist Chinese diabolical machination to get a handle on the reincarnation issue of the Dalai Lama. In 1953, the Chinese had their invading army as far as Chamdo and then dictated to the Tibetan Government in Lhasa to sent a delegation for talks or the PLA will invade the rest of Tibet with violence! Independent Tibet had no choice other than sent a delegation in order to save the rest of the nation from a violent invasion. After Tibet was forced to sign the so called “17 point Treaty” with the Chinese communist Government and got what they wanted (sending PLA invaders to Lhasa), they rejected the Tibetan Kashag Government of Tibet!!! They used the “17 point Treaty” as a conduit to legitimise their invasion and illegal occupation of Tibet as being “consented by the Tibetan Government and its people” to ally international community’s concerns about Chinese conquest of Tibet! The communists beguiled Pandit Nehru to gain his approval of their fictitious claim over Tibet and Tibet was gobbled up by the Chinese communist thief in broad daylight! Notwithstanding their illegal occupation of Tibet, they have the audacity to call the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in exile “separatists”!!! Tibet belongs to Tibetans and not China! Communist China has no right to be in Tibet!
Now, the Chinese communists have suddenly realised that the Dalai Lama is ageing fast and they see the need to get a grip of Dalai Lama to legitimise its planned candidate of the Dalai Lama in future. At the moment, they have no legitimacy whatsoever in their attempt to bring a candidate of their choosing. So, they are desperate that they get something out of the talks which they can easily twist as a signal from the present Dalai Lama for the CCP to interpret as the blessing of legitimacy for the future Chinese communist candidate. The Chinese may even invite the Dalai Lama to China but not Tibet. There will be pandemonium in occupied Tibet if the Dalai Lama visits Tibet which will embarrass the regime who vilified the Dalai Lama as a “theocratic despot and serf-owner” from which the Chinese communist thieves supposed to have “liberated” Tibet! It will turn all the CCP propaganda and disinformation on its head! Once, the Dalai Lama arrives there, they will forcibly urge him to remain the rest of his life in China. The Dalai Lama made it clear that he wants to die in India surrounded by friends who are genuine and not artificial, cold and calculating smiles of the Chinese communists. When he doesn’t agree, he will be charged with “sedition to seperate Tibet from China and running a serfdom prior to Chinese “liberation” of Tibet”. They will not allow the Dalai Lama to return to India. The world press and leaders will make vociferous calls for his release for a month and soon the voices will fall silent and the Dalai Lama and Tibet’s fate will be doomed! Once, he passes away, the Chinese will claim, “that the Dalai Lama had left specific instruction about the whereabouts of his birth and the Central Government will meticulously follow them”. Thus, exile Tibetans and the Tibetans in occupied will be will be marooned and the fate of the Tibetan movement will face a devastating blow! If the Tibetan exiles don’t have the Dalai Lama as its figure head, the Tibetans inside Tibet will lose their trust. In exile itself, the different interest groups will vie to reach to China to gain favour and legitimacy and there will be severe polarisation of the community. As a result of divisions among the exiles, many people especially, young people will lose interest in the Tibetan movement owing to the discord riven community. There will be distrust among the exiles and the Head of the exile Government will be plagued by paralysis which will further diminish people’s trust that will finally cause the demise the Tibetan freedom movement. Therefore, the Dalai Lama should not be naive to the Machiavellian ways of communist China and be firm in his statement that only the Ganden Phodrang and the Tibetan people have the prerogative to install the 15th Dalai Lama and nobody else lest of all heathen communist China. He has also said way back in the 1980s that he will not be born in Chinese occupied territories such as occupied Tibet but instead in a free country. In order to prevent the possible kidnapping of the Dalai Lama by communist China under the guise of “talks”, Tibetan leadership MUST NOT TALK ABOUT THE REINCARNATION ISSUE WITH COMMUNIST CHINA. THE DALAI LAMA HAS SAID UMPTEEN TIMES THAT THE DALAI LAMA’S PERSON IS NOT THE ISSUE BUT THE MAIN ISSUE IS THE HAPPINESS OF THE SIX MILLION TIBETANS! IF CCP DOESN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT GENUINE AUTONOMY, THEN THERE IS NO POINT IN TALKS FOR THE SAKE OF TALKING. THE CCP HAS NO INTEREST IN THE WELBEING OF THE TIBETANS BUT ONLY IN THE REINCARNATION OF THE DALAI LAMA. THEREFORE, THERE IS NO AGENDA TO TALK BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES. DALAI LAMA ISSUE IS NONE OF CCP’S BUSINESS WHILE GENUINE AUTONOMY IS OUT OF CCP’S AGENDA!
As honourable Sikyong revealed that CTA has back channel contact with the PRC to aim to find an amicable solution for the issue of Tibet, but we must not be taken away by the Chinese authorities as China has divided Tibet into six different regions in Traditional Amdo and Kham. If ever China is willing to resolve the Tibet issue, it will be exclusive of Amdo and Kham. Under the undisputable leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, no Tibetan is looking for solution of Tibet issue without Amdo and Kham