By Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, 8 May: Penpa Tsering, the President of the Tibetan government in exile, known officially as the Central Tibetan Administration revealed that there is an active backchannel dialogue happening between the Tibetan and Chinese counterparts, during his exclusive interview with BBC Hard Talk on May 5, 2023.
When asked what purpose the backchannel serves, President Tsering said, “If the Sino-Tibetan conflict needs to be resolved peacefully then there is no way other than talking with the Chinese leadership”, however adding that the two sides are not at the negotiation stage yet and that building contact is the priority at the moment.
The last official talks between Tibetan and Chinese leaders on resolving the Sino-Tibetan conflict happened over a decade ago; There have been a total of nine rounds of talks from 1982 to 2010 between the two sides.
The former President Dr. Lobsang Sangay told Reuters in 2014 “China has kept open informal channels of dialogue with the exiled Tibetan leadership even though official talks have been stalled since 2010”. The Chinese government refused multiple attempts made by the Tibetan government to resume official Talks. On November 10, 2021, China said it is “open” to talks with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama to discuss his “personal future” but not on issues relating to Tibet.
During the BBC Hard Talk interview, Tsering said that he wants the Tibetan people to have genuine autonomy “not only in name but in essence”. He wanted China “to resolve the Sino-Tibet conflict in a non-violent peaceful means through negotiations that should be mutually beneficial and lasting”. He also said that all the Chinese government’s policies in Tibet aim to eradicate the Tibetan identity, language, culture and religion.
While condemning the current forced enrolment of Tibetan children in colonial-style boarding schools, he said, “these boarding schools, children are taught Chinese, even the medium of instruction is Mandarin. Then you are taught Chinese history, historical version of Communist China, you are taught how to maintain allegiance to Communist Party.”
He also said that the Chinese government fails to understand the Tibetan people’s aspirations and that the Tibetan people inside Tibet are miserable even after all the so-called developments that China boasts are taking place in Tibet.
The political head of the Tibetan government in exile is on an official visit to four European countries; the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark and Germany from April 21 to May 9, 2023 where he met parliamentarians, members of Tibet Support Groups and Tibetan communities in these countries.
