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Ottawa, May 10 May: It is with profound shock that the Canada Tibet Committee
(CTC) learned today that the Belgian government succumbed to Chinese pressure
and conveyed its apprehension to His Holiness the Dalai Lama over his planned
visit to Brussels on Friday for a global conference of Tibet support groups,
announced CTC Executive Director Dermod Travis.
Belgian pressure on the Dalai Lama is unquestionably linked to the upcoming
visit of a Belgian trade delegation to China, led by Belgium’s Crown Prince in
June, and resulted in His Holiness the Dalai Lama canceling his long-planned
visit. Ironically, the cancellation of the visit by the Dalai Lama also comes on
the eve of the European Union - China human rights dialogue from May 15 to 16 in
Berlin.
“While the Chinese government can convey any opinion they wish to foreign
governments, equally those governments are free to limit their response to a
simple acknowledgment of the opinion,” said Travis. “Belgium’s decision to
convey this pressure to the Dalai Lama demonstrates that Belgium’s desire to
curry favour with the Chinese government trumps Belgium’s honoured democratic
traditions and institutions.”
'We are hugely disappointed that Belgium, a founding member of the European
Union has acquiesced to China's strong-arm tactics by silencing the Dalai Lama,
one of the world's greatest advocates for peace', says Tsering Jampa, Executive
Director of the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) in Europe.
'The ICT has consistently called for a coherent EU position on Tibet. The EU
must now consider the message this cancellation sends in the week prior to their
human rights dialogue with China, where we know the Tibet issue will be on their
agenda,' said Jampa.
The cancellation of the Tibetan leader's Brussels trip follows the postponement
under similarly controversial circumstances of an earlier visit meant to take
place in June 2005. The date had coincided with a state visit by the Belgian
King Albert II to China. The CTC believes that the level of Chinese pressure on
Belgium shows how seriously the Chinese government takes the enduring influence
of the Dalai Lama, as well as its continued intolerance of the support of
foreign governments for human rights and the Tibet issue.
For more information:
Dermod Travis
Executive Director
514.487.0665
514.281.1907
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