By Tendar Tsering
DHARAMSHALA, March 1: Tibetan students in the Indian capital stormed the venue of an ongoing meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi and his Indian counterpart SM Krishna earlier today.
The 16 Tibetans, eight boys and eight girls, carried out protests at the Hyderabad House, stating that the Chinese communist regime “neither has the legitimate right nor the moral authority” to talk about a border that does not belong to them.
The Chinese Foreign Minister arrived in New Delhi yesterday to lay out the groundwork for President Hu Jintao’s trip to India at the end of this month for the BRICS summit as well as to discuss over a host of bilateral and international issues including border issues.
The students, all members of the Tibetan Youth Congress, the largest pro-independence group in exile, have been arrested and are currently detained at a local police station.
In a release, TYC asserted that the group carries a “significant political role and moral responsibility” in condemning talks related to Tibet’s border and to resist attempts by China to “rewrite” history.
“TYC has time after time, protested such visits by Chinese delegates and it will continue to protest any attempts made by China to undermine Tibet’s historical position,” the release said.
Stating that the self-immolation protests in Tibet that has witnessed an alarming increase in recent weeks were carried out in “direct defiance against the Chinese occupation and oppression,” TYC said Tibetans will never give up on their demands for a Free Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
“The actions of Tibetans in Tibet confront China to the reality that their occupation will not last and China will have to leave Tibet to the Tibetans,” TYC said.
Coinciding with Yang’s visit, an independent group of Indian analysts, in a hard-hitting report released yesterday warned that China may resort to territorial grabs on India, including through a “major military offensive.”
The report titled “Non-Alignment 2.0” said China could assert its territorial claims by the use of force and argued that India can’t “entirely dismiss the possibility of a major military offensive in Arunachal Pradesh or Ladakh,” while suggesting a response with “a strategy of quid pro quo.”
