His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be the guest of honour at the Fourth World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet, when it convenes in Edinburgh later this week (18-19 November).
At the invitation of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party and the Westminster Parliament’s All Party Groups on Tibet, some 160 Parliamentarians from 40 countries will gather to consider recent developments in Tibet, and to debate how best to reconcile the differences facing the Chinese and Tibetan peoples.
The Convention will conclude with a formal declaration which is expected to stress the desire of the Tibetan people to negotiate a devolved settlement with China, and which will urge the Chinese authorities to enter more fully into dialogue to achieve a resolution of the difficulties facing their two peoples.
Delegates will arrive in Edinburgh on Thursday 17 and will be welcomed to the Parliament by Chris Ballance, Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group, to a reception in the Garden Lobby, to which journalists are invited. In addition to delegates, guest speakers from the United States and India are expected to be in attendance. His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be unable to attend the reception as he has an engagement in New York, but he will be in Edinburgh on the 19th as the guest of honour.
The formal proceedings of the Convention will take place in Edinburgh City Chambers and the Carlton Hotel.
Chris Ballance MSP, Convener of the Cross Party Group on Tibet, said:
“I am delighted that we are able to bring the Convention to Edinburgh and am particularly pleased that we are welcoming His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Scotland, so soon after his visit last year. It is particularly appropriate that this Convention should come to Scotland as the Tibetan people are now seeking to negotiate some form of devolved government within the Chinese state, as the way forward in healing Sino -Tibetan relations and to secure peace and cultural security for their people. I am sure that there is much that can be learned from the experience of our own devolution settlement.
“I am also delighted to be welcoming His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet to Edinburgh the week after Tony Blair hosted the visit of the Chinese President. I hope that this Convention will highlight the human rights abuses and torture in China and Tibet, and the need for China to address these running sores before she can be fully welcomed into the international community.”
The Convention (2) is being held some 8 years after the previous one. The worldwide Tibet movement has moved from strength to strength since the first WPCT. There has been considerable increase in the number of Tibet support groups and Parliamentary groups for Tibet. The number of formal parliamentary groups for Tibet has increased considerably, apart from the individual parliamentarians from many countries. The international Tibet supporters have been effective in many ways in exerting pressure on their governments and on Peoples Republic of China.
Ballance added: “The Chinese population transfer policy in the name of development is seriously threatening the very identity of the Tibetan people. If the situation is not reversed, the loss of the unique Tibetan civilization would not only be detrimental for the Tibetans but to the whole world. There is an urgent need to resolve the Tibet issue to save the Tibetan civilization.”
Editor’s notes
(1) Thursday 17th – Reception at 18.00 at the Scottish Parliament by the Co-hosts: the Cross Party Group on Tibet at the Scottish Parliament and the Westminster All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet. Journalists welcome.
Friday 18th – Conference at Carlton Hotel all day
Saturday 19th – Conference at the City Chambers all day (lunch at Carlton Hotel). Final agreement and pronouncement of an ‘Edinburgh Declaration’ to be read out at the Convention by Chris Ballance MSP.
Additional specific appearances of His Holiness the Dalai Lama:
– speaking to a conference on Positive Education at 3.15pm on the Friday 18th at Edinburgh University Pollock Halls.
– The Edinburgh Interfaith Association and The City of Edinburgh Council – Conversation on ‘Ethics for the New Millennium’. His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Prof. Sheila MacLean and Richard Holloway. Saturday 19th November, 10.00am – 11.45am. Edinburgh Usher Hall. Tickets: £14.00 (+ £1 booking fee)
(2) The objective of the 4th World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet is to share information, review current developments, and develop a plan of governmental action to advance Tibetan issues and secure effective governmental support for the process of dialogue between the Chinese leadership and His Holiness the Dalai Lama or his representatives leading to a negotiated solution for Tibet. The last World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet held in 1997 in Washington D.C. was hosted by the Chairman of the US House of International Relations and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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