Tibetan Parliament congratulates President Trump, expresses hope for resumption of Sino-Tibet dialogue
By Lobsang Tenchoe
DHARAMSALA, Jan 25: The Tibetan Parliament-in-exile has congratulated the new US President Donald Trump and hopes that the new administration will lead the international effort to encourage the Chinese government to resume Sino-Tibetan dialogue to amicably resolve the Tibetan issue.
Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile has congratulated Donald Trump for being sworn in as the 45th US President on behalf of the Tibetans inside and outside Tibet.
The Tibetan Speaker further expressed his hope that Trump’s administration will lead the international effort, like the administrations under successive Presidents of the United States, to encourage the Chinese government to resume Sino-Tibetan dialogue to amicably resolve the Tibetan issue.
“We are confident that under your presidency as well, the United States will continue this longstanding tradition and will re-energise the international effort to resolve the issue of Tibet amicably with China based on the Middle Way Approach,” Tibet.net, the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration, cited the Tibetan Speaker as saying in his congratulatory letter.
Describing the situation inside Tibet under the Chinese government’s regime as grim and alarming, he called the US government and people a strong supporter of the non-violent struggle of Tibet.
“The situation inside Tibet under the Chinese government’s intensive political repression continues to remain grim and alarming, despite China’s lofty claims of having liberated and developed Tibet for the past 66 years. Since 2009, over 145 Tibetans in Tibet have resorted to self-immolation in protest against China’s rule in Tibet, calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet,” Khenpo Sonam Tenphel concluded.
