By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Sept 21: The second day of the ongoing parliamentary session of the 16th TPiE here saw several members of the parliament question the incumbent Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and his cabinet’s progress on the front of Sino-Tibetan dialogue which remains the rudimentary phase in realizing a solution between the two sides, in line with the ‘Middle Way Approach’, the official stand of the Dharamshala based Central Tibetan Administration.
Harvard educated Sangay today reiterated that he is prepared and hopes that the Tibet-China issue will be resolved in the not so distant future through dialogue although the reaction and cooperation from the other side will play a significant role in realizing that.
Members of the Parliament including Serta Tsultrim raised the question if the Sikyong’s second term in the office will usher in more encouraging developments in the aspect of communication with the Chinese leadership and that despite the stagnancy, what steps in the background had been taken.
Former envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kelsang Gyaltsen who stepped down from the role in 2012 in a recent interview, questioned whether efforts to “push in any conceivable ways towards dialogue” is being made by the Tibetan leadership and that the current approach from the Tibetan side is seemingly limited to making public statements in readiness for talks with China. “My impression is that since 2010, since the last round of the meeting, our policy has been more or less of a “wait-and-see” approach. To watch how the new leadership in China performs, what the thinking and the policies of the new Chinese leadership are,” Gyaltsen told Tibetsun.
Dr. Sangay who assumed his second term at the helm of the Central Tibetan Administration earlier this year responded that he continues to strive towards a line of communication between Beijing in Dharamshala. He said, “We (Kashag) continue to move forward with a plan and have received support especially when US President Barack Obama urged Xi Jinping to have dialogue with the Dalai Lama at a joint press conference at the White office’s rose garden last year.” Sangay however added that the Chinese reaction will also determine the success of a potential communication.
The relation between the Tibetan set up in exile and the Chinese government has stalled since 2010 after nine rounds of talk between the two sides.
In April 2015, China published a ‘White Paper’ where they rejected CTA’s ‘Middle Way Policy’ for Tibet’s autonomy.
Internationally, declarations, resolutions and motions of support for the Middle Way Approach have been passed in parliaments in the U.S. European Union, France, Italy, Japan, Australia, Brazil and Luxembourg with support from others such as India, Britain and Germany.
