To understand China, one should understand Tibet: President Sangay
DHARAMSALA, Feb 1: The President of the Central Tibetan Administration, Dr Lobsang Sangay has said on Thursday that to understand China one should understand Tibet at a public talk on the issue of Tibet in Osaka, Japan.
President Sangay has made the remarks at the tail end of his weeklong official visit to Japan at a talk organized by Fire under the Snow, a Tibet Support Group in Japan which was also attended by Mr Nagao Takashi, a member of the Japanese Parliament.
“What happened in Tibet will happen to you, China first built roads to exploit natural resources like minerals and forest in Tibet and now it is repeating the same strategy in Asia and African countries. Therefore, it is of paramount importance for the countries around the world where China is extending its tentacles, to know what happened in Tibet and what kind of policies are being implemented by the Chinese government in Tibet,” CTA’s official webpage Tibet.net. quoted President Sangay as saying.
“To understand China, one should understand Tibet,” he added.
Referring to the China’s controversial Confucius Institute(CI), funded by Beijing and which has come under increasing international scrutiny off late, the political head of the Tibetan people has said that academic freedom and discussion on Tibet issue are not allowed and teachers are threatened with expulsion in universities where Chinese students study are coming under increasing pressure and coercion of the Chinese government and warned Japan of the “dangerous trend that could threaten academic freedom in Japanese educational institutions.”
Appeals were also made by the Tibetan leader urging Japanese public to encourage the All Party Japanese Parliamentary Support Group, which has the world’s largest number of parliamentarians, to be the support group with the biggest action on the issue of Tibet.
Mr Nagao Takashi in his address has said that while efforts are on from the Japanese Parliamentary Support Group to support education and health of Tibetan community in exile, every Japanese can contribute to the protection of Tibetan culture, religion and freedom in Tibet.
CTA President Dr Sangay later met with the members of Parliament of the All Party Japanese Parliamentary Tibet Support Group at the Parliament office building in Tokyo which was attended by the executive members of All Party Japanese Parliamentary Tibet Support Group.
President Sangay was on a weeklong visit to Japan from January 25 – February 1. His engagement includes meeting with important dignitaries and officials, talks at Universities and meeting the local Tibetan community.
