Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, Dec. 23: China has imposed sanctions on two Canadian organisations and 20 individuals connected to Tibet and East Turkestan (CH: Xinjiang) advocacy efforts. The Chinese foreign ministry announced the measures on Sunday, stating they took effect on Saturday.
The sanctions target the Canada Tibet Committee (CTC) and the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP). The ministry stated it is freezing “movable property, immovable property, and other types of property within the territory of China” belonging to the organisations and individuals. Those sanctioned are also barred from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macao.
Among those named are Sherap Therchin, executive director of the Canada Tibet Committee, and Samphe Lhalungpa, chair of the organization. Former Canadian diplomat Charles Burton and Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, both policy advisers at the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, are also on the list.
Speaking to The Globe and Mail, Therchin said, “This just makes it more formal. Members knew from the day they joined the organisation that they would no longer be permitted to visit or own assets there.” He added, “Tibetans who speak out over issues such as mass relocation, environmental degradation, or the phasing out of the Tibetan language in primary education are met with repression. Having banned content on one’s phone or merely contacting Tibetans in exile can result in detention.”
The Canada Tibet Committee (CTC), in response to sanctions imposed by China, stated, “For 38 years, the CTC has advocated for Tibet within democratic, non-violent, and human rights frameworks aligned with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way. These sanctions formalise the PRC’s long-standing practice of denying diaspora Tibetans access to their homeland, but public participation in a democratic society is not a crime in Canada. We call on the Canadian government to protect those sanctioned and stand with our Uyghur and Canadian allies. This move strengthens our resolve to continue advocating for justice and an end to repression in Tibet.”
The World Uyghur Congress issued a statement in response to the sanctions, saying, “These sanctions targeting two organisations actively advocating for Uyghur and Tibetan rights in Canada are clearly retaliatory. They aim to intimidate human rights defenders from these persecuted communities into silence.” The statement added, “The WUC strongly condemns all acts of transnational repression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which seeks to silence human rights advocates. The WUC stands in full solidarity with the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and the Canada Tibet Committee.”
China’s measures come after Canada imposed sanctions earlier this month on eight former and current Chinese officials over human rights violations in East Turkistan (Xinjiang) and Tibet. Among those targeted by Canada were Chen Quanguo, former Communist Party chief of Xinjiang, and Wu Yingjie, former party head of Tibet.
China has denied allegations of human rights abuses in Tibet and East Turkestan (CH:Xinjiang), stating its policies aim to maintain stability and promote economic development. It has also called on Western nations to refrain from interfering in its domestic affairs.
Relations between Canada and China have been strained since 2018, when Canada detained Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States, and China detained two Canadian citizens on espionage charges. All three were later released, but tensions remain unresolved.
One Response
The Canada Tibet Committee has a long history of campaigning for Tibet. I remember reading about it during the time of Thupten Samdup, the first ever Tibetan pop singer of Zepai Rigzin Wangmo fame! They had a news letter of their activities in Canada and it was encouraging for some one who was living in India in poor conditions. It gave me a sense of optimism that, such organisations will surely make a dent in the Tibetan independence Movement since they were in a western country! Today after almost four decades, it is once again in the lime light after the CCP has sanctioned the organisation and some of its members. The response from the organisation seems rather muted and even craven. When the Chinese communists described Jamyang Norbu as a “radical” in their description of him for his writings, Jamyang Norbu said: “it was a badge of honour”! The Canada Tibet committee should see this as a badge of honour in recognition of its tireless effort to expose the crimes of the evil CCP. The CCP’s actions in Tibet are no different from the actions of the apartheid Israeli Government. The injustice the CCP is inflicting on the Tibetans is exactly the same as that of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people. For example, Just like Israel does not allow Palestinians to come to Israel even though they speak Arabic, have connection with their land and have relatives in Israel while it allows all Jews from America, Russia, Africa or any other country to visit Israel freely even though they don’t speak Arabic, no connection with the land nor have any relatives! Tibetans who have connection with their country of Tibet, who speak the Tibetan language and who have relatives in Tibet are not allowed to visit Tibet while any Chinese, be they Chinese from China, Malay, Singaporean, Indonesian, Hong Kong and Taiwan are free to travel to occupied Tibet. This is racial discrimination, ethnic vilification and apartheid policy on racial grounds. If this is not racial discrimination, what constitute racial discrimination? Tibetans must think of long term welbeing of the Tibetan people rather than short term benefits. We should sacrifice little things such as visiting occupied Tibet for the long term good of our nation. These acts of so called “sanctions” by the CCP is an act of desperation. They have for a long time denied there was a Tibet issue but this act exposed the hypocrisy of the regime’s stand! If everything was hunky dory in occupied Tibet, why bother to “sanction” individuals and organisations that are not credible threat to its illegal occupation of Tibet? Tibetans should be even more determined to fight the enemy who has killed one sixth of our population and continues to oppress our people! Without fighting, nobody is going to give anything on a platter. Many Tibetans in exile have lost the real goal of fighting for Tibetan freedom and instead indulge in petty politics of division. How stupid are these people! How low are their IQ! They don’t understand the cry of Tibetans inside Tibet who are imprisoned, tortured and murdered! They don’t feel for the fellow Tibetans who are constantly threatened with eviction from their ancestral land! If they protest, they are branded as separatists and jailed or disappear for good! It’s a shame how many Tibetans in exile even think of Tibetans in occupied Tibet! All of them seem to be caught up in a senseless squabble about Penpa Tsering and Lobsang Sangye’s rivalry than plight of fellow Tibetans burning themselves in sheer disgust and desperation under the most ruthless regime on earth!