TPiE Speaker Underlines Promotion of Peace and Harmony in Asia
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Tokyo: The speaker of Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Karma Chophel, delivered a key-note address at the third '2008 International Conference on Global Support for Democratisation in China and Asia', at Kudankain hall in Tokyo on 4 August.
The speaker was in Japan at the invitation of Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.
The two-day conference was organized by several international bodies committed to the promotion of democratic values in China and Asia.
Makino Seishu, a former Japanese Parliamentarian, convener of the conference and Dr Klaus Rose, former Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Germany, Chairman of the conference, welcomed the delegates and participants at the opening day.
They briefed the participants on the contribution that the two conferences made in promoting democratic principle and values in China and Asia.
Some three hundred participants comprising Parliamentarians, scholars and human right and democracy movement bodies from Taiwan, Australia, Canada, Japan, Hong kong, Uyghur and Inner Mongolia attended the conference.
A message from His Holiness the Dalai Lama was read out.
His Holiness has said that although no system of government is perfect, democracy is closest to humanity's essential nature, and for freedom as the essence of democracy in fact, is the very source of creativity and progress for both individual and society.
His Holiness has urged that those of us who enjoy freedom and democracy must continue to fight and inspire the morale of the oppressed people throughout the world.
His Holiness noted at the end that no one else, no outsider, can bring democracy to China except the Chinese people, therefore, they need to keep up their moral.
In his address, Speaker Karma Chophel thanked the organizers for this timely and important conference.
He said like many scholars and experts, he also firmly believes that democratisation of China is a matter of time, it will come sooner or later, but we all need to work together to increase the momentum of this movement.
He said that democratization of China is for the good of China itself and for the rest of Asia.
It will help promote peace and harmony in Asia and around the world, he added.
Other speakers in the first session included Tamazawa Tokuichiro and Yukio Edano, Japanese Member of Parliament, Goran Lidblad, Mark Bishop, H CLee, Rob Anders and Michael Danby; Parliamentarians from Sweden, Australia, Taiwan and Canada. They all spoke on how to promote democratisation and human rights in China and Asia after the 2008 Olympic Games.
In the second session, Dawa Tsering, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Taiwan spoke on the situation in Tibet and the nature of Tibetan struggle.
Khereed from Inner Mongolia and Ilham from Uyghur spoke on the situation in their respective countries and repression their people are facing.
Jianli Yang of Initiative for China, and Kanae Doi of Tokyo Human Right Watch spoke on the effects of the Beijing Olympic Games on human rights in Mainland China.
The participants noted that instead of bringing improvement in human right issue and press freedom as promised by China, the situation has gone the opposite way.
China has used the Olympic as an excuse to further consolidate the Party's grip on the people's freedom in China and in other areas of Tibet, Uyghur and Inner Mongolia, they further noted.
The news agencies from Japan, Taiwan and Hong kong have given a wide-coverage of the conference.
The first International Conference on Global Support for Democratisation in China and Asia was held in Berlin in 2006 and the second in Brussels in 2007.
The speaker is also scheduled give a concluding remarks on the concluding day of the conference on 5 August.
He will leave for Delhi on 6 August.
--Report filed by Tibet House, Japan. Editing by Lobsang CHOEDAK
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