Sikyong Penpa Tsering Continues US Engagements After IPAC Summit, Despite Chinese Objections
By Tenzin Chokyi
DHARAMSALA, 10 Nov: Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) President (Sikyong) Penpa Tsering arrived in Washington, D.C., today, following his participation in the sixth annual summit of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) in The Hague, the Netherlands, where his engagements with European parliamentarians drew objections from the Chinese Embassy.
On his first day in the US capital, Sikyong met with former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to discuss a range of issues concerning Tibet. He also met with Senator Chris Van Hollen’s team to discuss the situation in Tibet, according to a report published by Tibet.net, the CTA’s official website.
Before the meetings, he received a briefing from representatives of the Office of Tibet, the advocacy team of the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), and CTA programme officers from Social and Resource Development.
He also participated as the featured speaker at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s annual China Forum. The programme included a panel discussion with experts on Tibet, moderated by Dr Adrian Zenz, followed by a featured conversation with Penpa Tsering, moderated by Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, former US Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues.
His participation in the forum follows his address at the IPAC summit on 5 November, where he reaffirmed the CTA’s commitment to the Middle Way Approach, maintaining that its pursuit of dialogue with Beijing did not diminish Tibet’s historical and legal rights. He also urged foreign governments to counter China’s historical narrative on Tibet through legislative measures and oppose 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.
His engagements in Washington come against the backdrop of China’s diplomatic efforts to discourage foreign lawmakers from meeting with him during his Netherlands visit. In a letter dated 4 November, a day after his arrival in The Hague, the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands wrote to members of the Dutch Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, urging them not to meet with him or provide him with a platform.
The Embassy described the CTA as an unconstitutional “separatist political organisation” pursuing “Tibet independence” and maintained that Tibet was an “internal matter” of China. The letter was sent ahead of Sikyong’s scheduled meeting with the parliamentary committee on 5 November.
Following his engagements in the Netherlands, his meetings with US lawmakers and participation in the China Forum mark the continuation of his outreach to international political and policy circles during his overseas visit.
