The political leader of Dharamshala-based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), Sikyong Penpa Tsering, while calling for the resolution of the Sino-Tibet conflict, said that the policies by China is downgrading the status of Tibet.
In his remarks, at the 6th Geneva Forum which concluded on February 10, Tsering called for continued support from the international community and also highlighted a strategic shift in approach toward finding an enduring resolution to the Sino-Tibet conflict.
According to CTA, Tsering said, “After we took over, we made a strategic shift in our approach in relation to the middle way approach. To bring the international community to our side, we have emphasised that historically Tibet was never a part of China. We are not asking you to lie; it is a historical truth.”
“If there is going to be a resolution to the Sino-Tibet conflict, we have tried to engage with China. But if you look at all the policies in China, they are downgrading the status of Tibet,” Sikyong added.
Underscoring the importance of reaching out to the international community, Sikyong said, “Until we find a resolution, we need to continue engaging with the international community. It is not easy to convince the international community, as everyone looks after their own interests. Nevertheless, we have been quite successful. But we still need support.”
The two-day conference was convened by the department of information and international relations and the Office of Tibet in Geneva, Switzerland. At the inaugural panel of the Forum, Sikyong, delivered the keynote address and underscored that the Geneva Forum was established because Tibetans have long been denied adequate space to speak about the repression inside Tibet, and because “Tibetan voices have remained largely unheard on international platforms such as the United Nations,” he said.
Tsering also emphasised that the resilience of the Tibetan people is deeply rooted in Tibet’s history, reaffirming that Tibet existed as an independent state prior to China’s forced and illegal invasion.
Despite the sheer number of historical, political, and legal pieces of evidence verifying Tibet’s independent status in the past, the Sikyong emphasised that the CTA’s Middle Way Policy, proposed by the 14th Dalai Lama and unanimously adopted by the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, is a pragmatic and viable resolution to the longstanding Sino-Tibetan conflict.
