Third World Parliamentarians: Convention On Tibet

Your Holiness, Mr. Chairperson, Fellow Parliamentarians, distinguished Guests and Friends, At the outset, I welcome all of you most sincerely and express my deep sense of gratitude on behalf of six million suffering people of Tibet. The parliamentarians who have taken the trouble of coming all the way to attend this conference to express solidarity and unflinching support for the cause of Tibet represent the noble political will based on the moral conscience of humanity.

If on your part there would not have been a deep sense of commitment to the values of freedom, justice and human dignity you would not have taken pains to assemble here. This is the gathering of people who possess indomitable courage and who without fear or greed have guts to stand up for truth and justice against a mighty force of our times. We all know that Tibet has nothing to offer as benefits to anyone to you or your country in material or political terms in contrast to what our oppressor China, so readily offers. Therefore, your presence here is not vitally important and invaluable for we Tibetans but also for the humanity at large. It is not a simple strategic support for a people of nation or a political group. It is the support which strengthens the forces of truth, justice and nonviolence and morality all over the world. His Holiness often says that “The Tibetan Supporters are neither pro-Tibetan nor anti-China; they are pro-justice, truth and nonviolence and anti-justice, falsehood and violence.”

This assembly consists of people who refuse to be neutral spectators when a section of humanity suffers from oppression and exploitation at the hand of totalitarian regime. Noble Laureate Eli Weisel rightly said that “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim; silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

It is a good augury that we have gathered in Washington to hold this convention of WPTC. The United States is rightly acclaimed as the champion of the ideals of democracy, freedom and justice. It has always stood for liberty, equality and human dignity. The great people of United States have consistently supported the cause of Tibet. Therefore it is my duty to express my gratitude to the organizers and supporters of this convention.`

With these preliminary remarks I may be permitted to share some of my thoughts with you. The situation in Tibet is worse than ever before. The ongoing systematic rampage of its civilization and the sinister policy of annihilating its cultural and racial identity is being pursued jealously. The escalating demographic aggression; the unending tale of various forms of discriminations; the rising wave of torture, killings and unlawful detentions; the never increasing onslaught on Tibetan language, culture and religion; the heartless sinocization of Tibet and the continuing destruction of its environment-all this and more- is going on unabatedly.

I do not want to take your time in recounting the numerous instances of violation of human rights, destruction of culture and civilization, indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources, misuse of economic development projects in Tibet particularly financed by world community which ultimately benefit the Chinese to settle down in Tibet. You are well aware of all these things. There is ample evidence available and there are numerous documents on these subjects prepared by independent agencies. So, I would like to avail this opportunity to draw your kind attention to some notable features of the Tibetan struggle along with the approach of the world community towards China. I would also try to suggest a few possible measures for our future line of education.

Basic nature of Tibetan Struggle                                                                                                     The nature of the Tibetan struggle is neither that of a confrontation between political ideologies, nor is it a clash between ethnic groups. Now it is a political power struggle. Basically, the problem of Tibet is related to the human situation and it cannot be perceived in isolation. We have to see it as a symptom of the pervasive human problem, i.e. the problem of struggle between truth and falsehood, between justice and injustice, between mortality and immortality, between right and wrong. The people of Tibet aspire for freedom not merely for the sake of a political identity.

Political Freedom, for us is only a means to perform our legitimate duties towards all sentient beings. It is not an end in itself. The people of Tibet of inherited for centuries a responsibility to preserve, promote and disseminate a unique culture and spiritual traditions for the benefit of all sentient beings. To enable the people of Tibet to fulfill these duties, we require a conductive social, political, economic and environmental situation. Human intelligence cannot awaken to its fullest extent in an atmosphere of oppression and terror. An uprooted cultural heritage cannot be properly preserved and promoted through replantation elsewhere. Therefore, political freedom is a means for Tibetans to fulfill their bounden duties.

Though the human rights situation in Tibet is extremely tragic, we have to be clear in our minds that it is not the basic problem. It is a symptom of a much deeper malaise-i.e. illegal and forceful occupation of Tibet by Peoples Republic of China.

Therefore, fundamental human rights and civil liberties in Tibet can be protected only by restoring the status of Tibet in an amicable manner, and relationship between China and Tibet is redefined by mutual consent through negotiations. Similarly, the problem of the environmental protection of the “roof of the world” can also be addressed properly only when the political question of Tibet is amicably solved.

Keeping in view the above – mentioned facts the settlement of the issue of Tibet is not only important for the people of Tibet but it is no less important than the people of China, and, from a larger perspective, it is also important for the world community. An agreed solution on Tibet will go a long way in bringing justice, equality, peace, stability and environmental protection for the world.

Perhaps the Tibetan problem is the only outstanding and unresolved international issue of the twentieth century-a century which will soon pass into history. One after the other, various international problems more knotty than that of Tibet, have been resolved during the course of the last five decades of this century. Why should not a vigorous international effort made to end the vestige of oppression and exploitation in the world before the turn of this century.

The World Community and the Chinese regime
It is a well-known fact that for more than three decades after the establishment of Chairman Mao Tse Tung’s Peoples Republic of China the free world considered the Chinese as totalitarian, ruthless and undemocratic and let China remain isolated. As a result the PRC almost broke down economically. Later, Cultural revolution Came to an end, Communes were dismantled and land and properties had to be redistributed.

Gradually,་with shifts and changes in the international scene–e.g. Thawing of the cold war; escalation of Sino- Soviet tension; end of the Mao era and the advent of Deng era in China; dissolution of the mighty USSR; the establishment of unchallenged world supremacy of the U.S.A. and the ultimate triumph of the free markets economy with ever increasing spread of liberalization all over the globe-the perception of the world community regarding the Chinese communist regime began changing.

Consequently, governments of the world started to promote and pursue two interdependent policies towards China simultaneously. One of these policies is based on the theory that since economic liberalization and industrial development have started taking place in the Mao China, the forces of democracy and political liberty will automatically be strengthened there. The world community decided to help China in its economic development efforts. China started to receive funds and technological know-how at a gigantic scale. It was believed that with the growth of consumerism and material prosperity political liberalization will follow and very soon democracy will be knocking at the doors of Beijing. Advocates of this theory believed “If winter is there can spring be far behind”

The second policy was based on the premise that China should not be isolated or should not be allowed to isolate itself from the world community. The more China remains isolated the more problems it will create for the rest of the world. Therefore, in accordance to the wishes of the rulers of China, it was given special treatment in the name of constructive engagement. Multilateral financial, industrial and commercial relationships were established with it by almost all the important nations, particularly by the most developed nations of the world. Incidentally, U.S.A. happen to be the greatest protagonist of this move as is reflected in its policy of awarding the exceptional status of the Most Favored Nation (MFN) to China. It is said that such favorable treatment will not only open up a vast market with immense potentialities and will thus give a boost to the world economy but will also provide more ways and opportunities if interaction with China at different levels which will ultimately bring democracy and the rule in that country.

Both of these policies have been experimented for the last twenty years, and now the results are as clear as ever. How much democratization and liberalization has taken place inside China was reflected most poignantly at the Tiananmen Square a couple of years ago. Chinese authorities have become more confident about the effectiveness of their tactics because they have seen that world community is not much serious about democracy and human rights.

It is evident that the totalitarian regime of China has become more powerful and carried on its ruthless repression of human rights and civil liberties at a faster rate than before. This is due to its increasing economic power augmented and stabilized by foreign aid and investment which poured into China at an unprecedented scale. All this has greatly increased China’s bargaining power. It is no wonder its policy of twisting arms and issue threats, day in and day out, flows from this bargaining power.

Now it is amply clear that both the policies being pursued since last twenty years or so by the world community as regards China have proved not only futile but have also proved to be counterproductive. China has become a world power both economically and militarily. So far so good. But what is more important, it has neither shown any sign of democratizing and liberalizing its policy nor has given a single proof of a change in its colonial and imperialistic policies. It has demonstrated its utter disregard for all human values. It is continually mocking at the feeble noises being made regularly about the disappointing human rights records of China of the annual UNHRC meetings. Hardly two weeks ago and to be precise, on the last 15th April at Geneva UNHRC meet China emerged victorious when it pushed for a “no action” motion on a resolution censuring Beijing’s dismal human rights record. It even prevented the world’s for most human rights forum from debating its own records and, thus, seriously undermining the credibility of the UNHRC. We Jainmen, head of the Chinese delegation, thundered, China’s progress is a historical certainty…and the backers of the resolution (against China) were pursuing a doomed cause.”

Here I would also like to point out that the U.N.Declaration on Human Rights has a sanctity of its own because it has been accepted by the entire community of Nation of world. Nevertheless China openly disowns and condemns the very concept of universality of human rights. It openly declares that the prevalent concept of human rights is a western concept which is not acceptable to China. But no response is forthcoming from the world community to such a blatant stand.

If the democratic world is really serious about its commitment to the principles of freedom, democracy and human rights than the prevalent approach towards China needs to reviewed with all seriousness. If this approach has strengthen the hands of those who flagrantly violate the basic norms of civil society and who perpetually perpetrate all forms of atrocities against the subjugated people and other racial and cultural minorities than it needs to be abandoned altogether.

Here I would like to recall the words of Mr. Paul Berkowitz, Asian policy Staffer for the Chairman of House International Relations Committee of the U.S. Congress. He had rightly said in the last WPCT Convention, “The American Strategic policy towards China over the last twenty years is no longer serving the vital national interests of the U.S. We have been conciliatory and the Chinese have taken it for our weakness. We have sort mutually beneficial commerce and the Chinese have taken us to be cleaners, using unfair trade rules and slave and prison labour.”

How one should interpret this situation? Can one say that the world community was not unaware of the reality and all talk about democracy, liberty and human rights was merely an eyewash? Can one say that the world community entered into financial and trade relations with China for economic gains? Why the democratic world did not visualize adopting such measure against China as were adopted earlier in the case of South Africa, Cuba, Iraq etc.

If only market and number of consumers are the considerations for entering into the preferred trade relations, then India has almost the same number of consumers as China. Why democratic India was not accorded the coveted MFN status? Is it because democracy and rule of law exists in India?

It is said that TNC’s or MNC’s find China most suitable country for investment because of the་nonexistence of the rule of the law and the absence of any genuine labor laws which enables them to reap easy profits. These profits are gained because there are no labor unions, no strikes and it is easy to settle the business and trade terms by greasing the plans of a few party cadres་bureaucrats. No dispute can be brought before an independent judiciary. If it is true then one is let to the conclusion that powerful trading and industrial interest operating on a global scale will never wish that democracy and rule of law are establish in China.

It is very pinching for us to realize that the issue of human rights can so easily be jettisoned from economic relations. But, at the same time, when the issue of intellectual property rights or copyrights comes up for consideration, the trade and economic relations are invariably tagged with it. The present global situation is such that the economic value is the only value which is accorded the highest status in the hierarchy of human values.

The entire world today, appears to be in competition to get access to Chinese market at the cost of ignoring human rights and moral values. The very idea of a market of a billion consumers is so alluring. But, ironically, the fact is that it will not be long before China becomes the land of a billion exporters,,, rather than that of billion buyers. China may very soon flood the western market with consumer goods and other products cheaper and superior to what the Western economy can offer. China is not only using its increased economic resources for augmenting its armed might and strengthening its arsenal but is also threatening the security of Asia. It is well known that China makes persistent claims on Taiwan, Nepal, Korea, Burma, and extensive area of Indian territory. When international relation is dominated by economic interests and trade considerations are given highest value what else can be expected? When humanity organizes its value structure primarily on the foundation of economic considerations such situation is bound to arise. Now commerce reigns supreme in the world affairs.

We may disagree with Charles Baudelaire who said, “Commerce is, in its very essence, satanic”. But we cannot overlook his contention that: “The least vile of all merchants is he who says let us be virtuous, since, thus, we shall gain much more money than those who are dishonest.” If the world community gives the central value to commerce it is all right, but, it can at least genuinely try to be honest and virtuous.

Our Commitment and Future Course of Action
Mr., Chairpersons, Ladies and Gentlemen: We the people of Tibet have not yet run out of patience, but the time is running out. I emphasize that it is time, now to save Tibet. Otherwise, entire Tibetan civilization will be completely wiped out of Tibet and from the globe. Nothing will remain to be rescued thereafter.

I may also add that for us it is a matter of extreme worry that the younger generation of Tibetans who are not deeply grounded in the traditional culture of peace and nonviolence, i.e. those who are born and brought up under Chinese occupation, might be driven by the Chinese policies to take recourse to extreme measure and a violent movement may erupt in future. That would be disastrous in many ways.

Despite the tremendous suffering inflicted on our people by China since 1949, and despite China’s intransigence in avoiding H.H. the Dalia Lama’s proposal to resolve the Tibetan problems through peaceful negotiations, the Tibetans have remained committed to the ideals of truth, nonviolence and genuine democracy. The Tibetans are also committed to find a solution which is in the best interest of the both China and Tibet. Under no circumstances the simple but brave people of the Tibet will ever flinch from their determination to regain their lost freedom through nonviolence. There are many ways of waging a nonviolent struggle. Mahatma Gandhi has shown us the way. I need not elaborate here various aspect of such a struggle. Here I can say only this much: come what may, we shall carry on our nonviolent struggle under the leadership of H.H. the Dalia Lama who symbolizes the forces of truth, peace, nonviolent and compassion. Even if many Tibetans have to shed their lives in the course of this nonviolent struggle it does not matter.

I am of the opinion that if the democratic world makes a really serious resolve to end oppression and injustice being inflicted upon Tibet I see no reason why we should not succeed in our goal.་Keeping all these facts in view this august convention has to explore all possible ways and means to achieve an earlier solution of the Tibetan problem. Some of the steps which may possibly be considered suitable for a desired course of action may consist of the following:

A. The resolution and New Delhi Action Program adopted at the first WPCT convention in 1994 and the Vilnius Resolution passed in the second convention of the WPCT in 1995 may be reviewed to find out what progress we could make through our efforts. This will help us to chalk out a more pragmatic strategy suited to the present situation.

B. As suggested in the Vilnius Resolution, United Nation may be persuaded to expand its de-colonization committee to include the issue of de-colonization of Tibet.

C. Effective steps have to be envisaged which will stop China from making a mockery of the United Nation Human Rights Commission. It is also necessary to put effective pressure on China so that the social, cultural and religious rights of the Tibetan are restored inside Tibet.

D. Above all, every possible effort should be made to persuade the Chinese to come around the Negotiation table along with H.H. the Dalai Lama.

Friends I have taken much of your precious time and I am afraid I have digressed a lot from what I was expected to say. But I could not help it. I may be excused for that.