Chinese Embassy Seeks to Block Dutch Parliamentary Engagement with CTA Leader

By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 6 Nov: As Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) President (Sikyong) Penpa Tsering carried out high-level engagements during his official visit to the Netherlands, the Chinese Embassy in The Hague launched a diplomatic effort to prevent Dutch parliamentarians from meeting with him.

In a letter dated 4 November, a day after Sikyong arrived in the Netherlands, the Chinese Embassy wrote directly to members of the Dutch Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, expressing concern over his scheduled meeting with the committee.

The Embassy urged committee members not to provide Penpa Tsering with a platform, labelling the CTA an unconstitutional “separatist political organisation” pursuing “Tibet independence”. The letter maintained that Tibet is strictly an “internal matter” of China, citing Beijing’s infrastructure investments and economic growth while asserting that no country recognises Tibetan independence.

Despite Beijing’s objections to his parliamentary engagement, Sikyong continued with his scheduled engagements in The Hague. After arriving in The Hague on 3 November, Tsering met with senior Dutch government officials on religious freedom on 4 November and took part in a media roundtable with local journalists and China commentators, including former correspondent Garrie van Pinxteren.

The diplomatic developments coincided with Sikyong’s address on 5 November at the sixth annual summit of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), where 52 parliamentarians representing 30 countries gathered. 

During his address, Penpa Tsering reaffirmed the CTA’s commitment to the Middle Way Approach, emphasising that pursuing dialogue with Beijing did not diminish Tibet’s historical and legal rights. He urged foreign governments to counter China’s historical narrative through legislative measures, citing the United States’ Resolve Tibet Act, and called for international opposition to Beijing’s attempts to assert control over the selection and reincarnation of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders, including the future reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama.

During his visit to The Hague, he also held bilateral meetings with IPAC Co-Chair Jan Paternotte, Member of the European Parliament Miriam Lexmann, and delegations from Panama, Japan, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Romania and the Balkans.

While the Dutch Parliament’s official schedule listed a meeting between Penpa Tsering and the Committee on Foreign Affairs for 5 November, reports published on Tibet.net had not, at the time of writing, confirmed whether the meeting took place following the Chinese Embassy’s intervention.