London: On 18th October, the Tibet Society’s Annual General Meeting and Tibet Relief Fund’s (TRF) Annual Review was held at the Meeting Room in St. James’s Church in London and was open to Tibet Society members and Relief Fund supporters. The evening meeting included a presentation of the TRF’s Youth Enterprise initiative, working through Youth Opportunity Trust Asia (YOTA), an update on the projects the TRF has supported, a review of the Tibet Society’s activities plus financial reports. There was also a short talk by Tenzin Samphel, former Vice President of the Tibetan Youth Congress on the current Tibetan elections.
The Tibet Society of the United Kingdom was founded in 1959 within weeks of the flight of the Dalai Lama from Tibet following the uprising against Chinese occupation. The Tibet Society exists to support Tibet’s right to self-determination and draw attention to the plight of Tibet since its brutal occupation. It also provides direct and practical support to the Tibetan people, either in exile or in Tibet, through its sister charity, the Tibet Relief Fund of the UK.
The Tibet Society has been lobbying the UK government through the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet (APPGT), to actively encourage the Chinese authorities for unconditional dialogue with the Tibetan government in exile. Over the years it has influenced the approach of HMG to the issue and is taken seriously by the Chinese authorities. Having renounced violence, parliamentary pressure is the main means of peaceful resolution left to the Tibetan people.
On 28 June, in a debate on Tibet at Westminster, replying for the government, Minister of Trade, Ian Pearson said: “I want to stress that, in our view, it would be lamentable if the Chinese Government lost the opportunity to negotiate with the Dalai Lama, who has such authority over his people and is in a unique position to agree a lasting and legitimate solution to the benefit of Tibet and China. We sincerely hope that the Chinese Government have the courage to grasp the opportunity that His Holiness offers.”
For the upcoming state visit of the China’s President Hu Jintao, the Tibet Society is calling the UK government and PM Tony Blair to ask Hu Jintao to have a direct talk with His Holiness the Dalai Lama for a peaceful solution on Tibet. This will give PM Tony Blair a great opportunity to build on the progressive contacts between the Tibetan and Chinese governments to find a way forward on the issue of Tibet, an issue for which the Dalai Lama has peacefully been seeking a resolution for 46 years.
Earlier this month, Tenzin Samphel of the Tibet Society, a former Vice President of Tibetan Youth Congress met PM Tony Blair during the Labour Party’s Annual Conference held in Brighton and raised the Tibet issue. “This meeting was significant for the Tibetan issue, especially before the state visit of China’s President Hu Jintao to UK in November. ” said Philippa Carrick, CEO of the Society.
On the 24th-25th October, the Tibet Society is hosting a delegation of 11 Tibetan MPs to Westminster as part of a tour of Europe in order to improve their understanding of the ways in which western democratic governments operate. This is an excellent opportunity for the Tibetan MPs, members of the APPGT and British MPs to meet and will give the Tibetan MPs an invaluable insight into the workings of UK government. “The Tibet Society is delighted to be hosting this historic visit by Tibetan MPs to our parliament. It is a testament to the Tibetan government in exile that they have achieved so much in bringing democracy to their exiled community and it is tragic that the Tibet people inside Tibet do not have the same opportunities for self-determination.”
The APPGT is co-hosting the fourth World Parliamentarians’ Convention on Tibet with the Scottish Tibet Group to be held on 17-19 November in Edinburgh. Through this convention the international community can improve co-ordination and devise common action plans towards the resolution of the issue of Tibet.
Further information: www.tibetsociety.com; www.youthopportunity.org
