By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Nov. 19: The President of the Central Tibetan Administration Sikyong Penpa Tsering expressed gratitude to long-time Tibet supporter Nancy Pelosi on Thursday as she announced that she will be stepping down as the leader of US House Democrats.
“Your presence at the helm of the House has been a great source of hope, inspiration and, above all, assurance,” the President of the Tibetan government-in-exile Penpa Tsering said in a letter. The 82-year-old is also the first woman in American history to become the Speaker of the United States, and has reproached the Chinese government on numerous occasions for human rights abuses in Tibet.
The head of the exile Tibetan polity in his letter urged Pelosi to continue her support as an honorable member of the US Congress, “We are comforted by the fact that we will continue to witness your fearless leadership and service as an honourable member of Congress in the coming year. I look forward to your guidance and advice on our future course.” Sikyong Penpa Tsering had last met Nancy Pelosi at the 8th World Parliamentarians’ Convention in Washington DC in June.
Pelosi strongly condemned the occupation of Tibet during her address at the convention, “The world has a moral duty to speak out with one voice against Beijing’s abuses & stand up for the Tibetan people, and if we do not speak out against human rights abuses in China because of commercial ties, we lose all moral authority to speak out against humans rights, anywhere.”
Speaker Pelosi announced she will not run again for the leadership of the House Democrats, although she plans to remain in the House as a lawmaker. Pelosi’s 12-year leadership as minority leader and eight years as speaker has overseen two house votes to impeach then President Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021. The decision for her retirement, experts opine, may be influenced by the recent attack on her husband, reported to be an act of political violence by an assailant looking for Pelosi.
2 Responses
Much better to stand on your own feet than ride on coat-tails.
Tibetans have been lucky to have such a wonderful supporter like Nancy Pelosi. Owing to the charisma, integrity, universal appeal to his message of peace without narrow, and parochial and tribalistic mentality, HH The Dalai Lama has won the hearts of millions of people across the world. Nancy Pelosi is one of those staunch fan of the Dalai Lama and His cause for the liberation of Tibet. Let it be known that I am by no means belittling the contribution and dedicated support of many US Politicians and non-politicians. I personally feel she has been amazing in supporting Tibet by never bulking under pressure, be it personnel safety, personnel interest or political correctness. She is a person who has the guts to call a spade a spade! She is a conviction politician who will not relent when the going is tough. Even the CCP allowed her to visit Tibet in order to win her over to them but she detested the CCP and its wayward ways and had genuine sympathy for those who are the victims of the evil cult. She had stood up against the slaughter of thousands of young Chinese students who were fighting for democracy at Tiananmen square in 1989! She has stood against the bullying and intimidation tactics of the CCP against Taiwan.
Using her high profile as the House speaker of the US Congress, she has sought to draw a line between democracy and autocracy. She pulled no punches in challenging the misdeeds of her own country’s President when it came to Trump. It may be because her Italian origin that she is so straight forward in her dealings. She warned others, “don’t mess with me”!
Trump infuriated her by not shaking hands with her even though she extended her hand as per decorum of the US House. She returned his insolence by shredding his speech right on her seat in front of the House members and the cameras recording everything to broadcast to the world! That’s the true grid of Nancy Pelosi, the Iron Lady of US politics. She was from the era of John F Kennedy who was without a doubt the most loved US President in its history. The 1960s was the greatest era of American supremacy when the whole world (except the communist bloke) adored and held the US in great esteem as the savior of the down trodden. She was inspired by John F Kennedy and entered politics. The recent attack on her husband by an election denier and QAnon conspiracist has made her to leave politics because the Trump camp has demonized her and pilloried her which was responsible for the attack. However, she left an indelible mark on US politics and she is undoubtedly the poster girl of Human rights and Women’s rights in the world and particularly in the US. Her departure from politics will leave a big hole when it comes to Tibet in the US Congress. Trump broke the tradition of meeting the Dalai Lama by successive US Presidents from George Bush Senior, Bill Clinton, Bush Junior and Obama. President Joe Biden has pledged to meet the Dalai Lama during his election which I am sure must have come through the prodding of Tibet supporters like Nancy but now, once she exits, even Joe Biden might not keep his election pledge to meet the Tibetan leader. Tibetans have to realize that as the Dalai Lama’s influence wanes among the many supporters he garnered because of age and other personnel factors, its time to double our effort to find friends and supporters in the US and all other countries. If we leave it like nothing is happening, every year, our supporters will only dwindle since nobody lives forever. It’s time to drum-up support in order to keep the Tibet issue in the lime light. Why the Tibet issue became a non-issue is OUR OWN MAKING!it was fatal idea to trust the honeyed words of the CCP and falling for their duplicity. The leader during the year 2000-2010 claimed that Tibet issue was an “internal affair of China” thus pandering to the CCP guile which confused western supporters and alienated them. In our own community, there was strong disquiet to such brazen disregard for the sentiments of Tibet supporters and in one stroke relinquished the overwhelming support Tibet enjoyed in the 1990s! Now that the Dalai Lama is come of age and unable to travel, it will be a Herculean task to get western support to the level we enjoyed before! The exit of Nancy Pelosi is a stark reminder that if we are unable to replenish the support base, one day, there will be non left who would support our cause! The double headed approach by the CTA leadership is a disaster! It wants to have both western support without acknowledging it in order to pander to the CCP is not only unethical but is doomed to fail. As we have a saying, if we trust the west fully, they will also reciprocate in kind but if we dither between the CCP and the west, we will be neither here nor there! Disloyalty doesn’t pay dividends. The CCP can’t be trusted and this has still not gone into the heads of the ruling class in Dharamsala! Their words are like words written in sand and their promises are like letters written in water!
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been a rock in her support of Tibet for at least two decades! We are incredibly indebted and extremely grateful for her unstinted support for Tibet and remaining a staunch friend of the Dalai Lama and people of Tibet. We owe you a huge Thank you Honorable Nancy Pelosi! The CTA and non-Governmental Organizations in exile should honor her for her dedicated support for Tibet.