By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, March 12: The European Parliament (EP) on Thursday adopted a resolution on Tibet putting pressure on China to resume dialogue on “real autonomy for Tibet”.
The resolution was adopted by the European Union law makers to “mark the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule”.
In the resolution, the assembly “urges the Chinese government to consider the Memorandum for Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People of November 2008 as a basis for substantive discussion.”
“The Memorandum, produced at the request of the Chinese Government and presented by envoys of the Dalai Lama at the eighth round of talks in November 2008 in Beijing, respects the principles underpinning the Chinese Constitution and the territorial integrity of the People’s Republic of China, but was rejected by the Chinese Government as an attempt at ‘semi-independence’ and ‘independence in disguise’,” a press release by the assembly said.
The resolution, which was adopted by 338 votes to 131 with 14 abstentions, calls on the EU Council Presidency to “adopt a declaration calling on the Chinese government to open a constructive dialogue aimed at reaching an overall political agreement.”
In addition, the resolution “condemns all acts of violence, whether they are the work of demonstrators or disproportionate repression by the forces of law and order” and calls on the Chinese Government “to release immediately and unconditionally all those detained solely for engaging in peaceful protest and account for all those who have been killed or gone missing”.
In the resolution, the MEPs ask the Chinese authorities “to provide foreign media access to Tibet, including the Tibetan areas outside the Tibet Autonomous Region” and “to grant UN human rights experts and recognised international NGOs unimpeded access to Tibet so that they can investigate the situation there”.
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising against China’s colonial rule over Tibet. The uprising in Lhasa in March 1959 was was brutally crushed down by Chinese Communist troops and eventually forced the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetan to flee into exile. China also undertook a violent military crackdown in Tibet last year after anti-China unrests broke out across the region.
Addressing the E.U. lawmakers, E.U. External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner reportedly expressed “regret that dialogue had not brought substantive results” between China and envoys of the Dalai Lama.
She insisted on “the necessity for both parties to resume the dialogue promptly,” adding that it would be the “best way to avoid frustration and violence among young Tibetans.”
Previous EP action on Tibet
The EP press release says: The European Parliament has followed events in Tibet closely over the years”. After the repression of demonstrations by Tibetans a year ago, the EP adopted a resolution condemning “all acts of violence from whichever source”. EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering then announced on 10 July that he would not attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games last August because talks between China and the Dalai Lama had made no progress. The Dalai Lama himself addressed the European Parliament on 4 December 2008 as part of Year of Intercultural Dialogue.
