The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPiE), in a press release on January 28 had announced that a four-member parliamentary delegation, headed by MP Karma Chophel would be visiting New Delhi to call on representatives of Diplomatic Missions and the United Nations, following the recent surge in mass demonstrations and the growing instances of self-immolations in Tibet.
The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in India responded by writing a letter addressed to “all Diplomatic Missions and Offices of the Specialised Agencies of the United Nations,” urging them not to receive the Tibetan parliamentarians.
“[T]he Embassy of the People’s Republic of China sincerely hope that the Diplomatic Missions and Offices of the Specialised Agencies of the United Nations in New Delhi will not receive the so called “representatives” of Dalai clique and refrain from having any contact with them, so as not to send out wrong signal which may be misused by Dalai clique and cause adversely effect to the mutually cherished bilateral relations,” the letter said.
Terming “Tibet-related issue” as an “internal matter” of China concerning the country’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the letter dated January 30, went on to call the Tibetan parliamentary delegation, a “part of their plot to fabricate rumours and distort the truth to discredit the Chinese Government.”
However, China’s muscle flexing went largely ignored as a host of Ambassadors and representatives of Diplomatic Missions met with the Tibetan parliamentary delegation.
Ambassadors from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, and Denmark personally met with the Tibetan MPs, while deputy heads and political officers from the United States, British, Canada, Germany, France, Taiwan embassies, and the European Union among others, received the Tibetan delegation.
The TPiE, in an open letter addressed to the president of the People’s Republic of China, Hu Jintao, had urged him to withdraw the large military reinforcements from Tibetan areas and take measure to give due consideration to the aspirations of the Tibetan people.
The letter also urged President Hu to “stop policies and programmes aimed at destroying the identity of the Tibetan people” while calling for the resumption of “dialogue with the Tibetans with the commitment and conviction to seek a lasting solution to the issue of Tibet.”
“We express the above sentiments with hope in our hearts that positive sense will prevail over you and your colleagues and immediately respond to the legitimate concerns, failing which you and your government will be held solely responsible for any adverse consequences if the matter are not addressed in a humane way,” the letter read.
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