By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, July 28: The 16th Kashag led ‘Permanent Strategy Committee’ conducted its second meeting in Dharamshala on Wednesday. The three-day meeting is being held at the Asia Health Resort with all committee members including advisors former Kalon Tempa Tsering who will virtually attend the meeting, Dongchung Ngodup who is currently the Representative of His Holiness at Tibet Bureau in New Delhi, and former special envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen. The meeting held from 27 to 29 July will review the CTA’s progress in the last year and determine future prospects to build a stronger base for the Sino-Tibet dialogue to resume.
“This is the second meeting conducted by the Permanent Strategy Committee; we are going to deliberate on the Sino-Tibet dialogue. Since he took this responsibility, Sikyong Penpa Tsering has visited Europe, Canada and the US where he met with high-profile officials such as US Special coordinator on Tibetan Issues Uzra Zeya . These are some of the important steps that we will be reviewing in these three days,” DIIR Secretary Karma Choeying told RFA service on Wednesday.
“Issues of international geopolitics, preparing for opportunities that might arise for dialogue, reviewing the Sikyong’s interactions with world leaders during his visit are some of the crucial points we would be taking into consideration as we proceed with the meeting,” Secretary Choeying further said.
Secretary Karma Rinchen of the Department of Security, Secretary Karma Choeying of Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR), Secretary Dawa Tsering of Tibet Policy Institute (TPI), and political secretary Tashi Gyatso of Kashag Secretariat were also in attendance at the first day meeting.
The committee held its first meeting in November last year. President Penpa Tsering dissolved the ‘Task Force on Sino-Tibet Dialogue’, an exclusive round table of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) on negotiations with Beijing and in in its place founded the Permanent Strategic Committee.
4 Responses
My God, its strange & funny, why main leaders like DIIR Kalon Norzin Dolma & so called good political exp leader like Gyari Dolma were not present in the meeting. Now don’t tell us they are not in the members of this committee. Then who appoint these members. Are they good in minds?
I believe these are two main leaders out of some, who must present in the meeting discussion, if they are serious.
Bodh Gyalo.
Gyalchepa is absolutely right, Agreed bro. This is merely a show to the Tibetan Public, its absurd.
The CTA should pull up its more serious efforts to fight for Tibet in the international political scene & garnering much support esp from major powers of the world. I don’t understand what the CTA has been playing currently for political role like campaigns, strategy & efforts under the leadership of Sikyong Penpa Tsering. Now in reality, we don’t hear news on Tibet like before we are seeing. Hence, whose fault is this. I must say the CTA is fully accountable for this esp like PT and DIIR Kalon, now the Covid is torn out and opportunities & free times are there. The Kalon Gyari Dolma should also help to deal with the Indian leaders as we say, she is well associated with the high leaders in India.
I know there will be those who will brand me as a radical or a fringe element. But do anybody know the insidious nature of the CCP? They thrive on deceit and double speak! Their monstrosity is mind boggling and most Tibetan readers couldn’t even imagine!
Did you know that the CCP sent the late Thubtan Jigme Norbu or better known as Taktser Rinpoche to assassinate the person of Dalai Lama in the 1950s?
They told him to convince the Dalai Lama to accept the Chinese demands . “If he accepts them, well and good but if he doesn’t kill him!” They told him. Much as he was horrified even at the thought of it, he replied them in the affirmative knowing fully well the consequences if he didn’t. The CCP promised to reward Jigme Norbu handsomely, if he does as they demanded by appointing him in the CCP hierarchy.
He left his native Taktser and came to Lhasa to meet his brother, the Dalai Lama. He told him everything and warned The Dalai Lama that he must not stay in Lhasa and instead move to the Indo-Tibet border. Jigme Norbu himself fled Tibet and sought asylum in the US.
When the Dalai Lama visited India on the 2500th occasion of Buddha Jayanti in 1956, Thubtan Jigme Norbu and Gyalo Dhondup prevailed upon the Dalai Lama to seek asylum in India instead of returning to Tibet. They were extremely concerned about the safety of their brother. Nehru initially agreed but reneged after Chou Enlai won over gullible Nehru with his cunning rhetoric and The Dalai Lama had to return to Tibet.
Nobody believes the CCP- be they Hong Kong people, Taiwan people or the Indian Government who have been left fuming after they discovered that the CCP pledges and promises were nothing more than empty bubbles that evaporated into thin air the moment they were made! So, why should the Tibetans trust the CCP? Have we not learned enough lessons from their deception, double speak, treachery and their betrayal of the “17 point Treaty”? Do we have such short memory to forget all the deceit, treachery, lies and terror we have been subjected to in the last seventy years? Do we suffer from amnesia?
This is like shooting the arrow without seeing the target! འདི་ལ་འབན་མ་མཐོང་བ་མདའ་འཕེན་ཟེར་བ་རེད་ It’s a futile exercise to play to the public gallery in order to gain mileage for his own political ambitions. The CCP will NOT COME to the negotiating table. As far as they are concerned there is no Tibet issue! The U-Mey Lam has been REJECTED by the CCP!
I don’t understand why the CTA is burying its head in the sand! It seems they never learn but persist the same thing even if it is crystal clear, there is no prospect of dialogue whatsoever. The only thing the CCP will come to talk is the “return of the Dalai Lama”. They are desperate to have the Dalai Lama in their hands which they believe will add legitimacy to their effort to install the next reincarnation of the present Dalai Lama. THIS IS THE ONLY ISSUE THEY ARE INTERESTED! Nothing else!
If the CTA is willing to usher the Dalai Lama into CCP hands, then, they can prepare for talks for his journey which will be ONLY in China and will NOT BE IN TIBET! Once, the Dalai Lama arrives in Beijing, they will keep him hostage for the rest of his life and then claim that The Dalai Lama “made explicit instructions that he would be born in a Chinese controlled land (they call China) which means in occupied Tibet”. They will also claim that the Dalai Lama said explicitly “Tibet is part of China” and that The Dalai Lama “has full allegiance to the CCP”. They have done this to a Panchen Lama who died in China during the Chinese Republican era.
With such game plan of having the Dalai Lama under their control, the exile outfit will be a ship without a rudder and will become collapse. They will strike the last nail in the exile coffin by buying off desperate groups in exile who are engaged in internecine warfare among themselves. It will splinter the feuding groups and those who are most compliant to the CCP dictates will be favoured and lionised while those who resent the CCP will be marginalised. This will be the end of the Tibetan struggle if the Dalai Lama is allowed to go to Beijing and allowed to be kidnapped!
Instead of playing to the public gallery, the CTA should seek recognition of itself as the legitimate representative of the six million Tibetans in occupied Tibet. Learn a few lessons from the recognition of Taiwan as an independent country by many countries like Lithuania and Czech Republic despite extreme Chinese threat and pressure. The US is on the verge of such recognition by sending House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan! The Czech Republic has been one of the most ardent supporters of Tibet. The CTA should realise that the antiquated so called “one China” policy is discredited and most nations are only paying lip service. This is the time to gain recognition of CTA as the legitimate authority on Tibet to delegitimise Chinese illegal occupation of Tibet. The more the CTA gains traction on the international scene about the legitimacy of the CTA, the more the CCP will be compelled to talk to the CTA. Without any leverage to speak of from the Tibetan side, why would be the CCP need to talk to the CTA?
Therefore, instead of pretending to do something to pull wool over the eyes of the unwitting Tibetan public, do something that will pay dividends in the long run!