GENEVA: Mr Penpa Tsering, the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile based in Dharamsala, today addressed the conference “China’s New Leadership: Challenges for Human Rights, Democracy and Freedom in East Turkestan, Tibet and Southern Mongolia” in Geneva. The conference organised by the World Uyghur Congress in collaboration with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization and the Society for Threatened Peoples, and financial support from the National Endowment for Democracy.
Speaker Penpa Tsering spoke on the subject ‘Democratic china in the 21st century’. Through his personal experience, he explained the Tibetan democratic polity and stressed that for a future democratic China, we need to practice democratic practices in exile.
He called for a common ground where the people from East Turkestan, Tibet and Southern Mongolia, could cooperate and learn from each other’s experiences.
“We try to reach out to all Chinese group” for better understanding of the Tibetan issue and called for unity among the various Chinese pro-democracy groups, he said. He explained the structure of the Central Tibetan Administration based in Dharamsala.
The devolution of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s historic political authority to the directly elected Tibetan leadership would ensure the continuation of the Tibetan struggle, he said.
Other Tibetan speakers include Mr Kelsang Gyaltsen, Special Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mr Lobsang Nyima, Chinese Liaison Officer, Gyaljong Tsetrin, Tsewang Norbu, a correspondent for Tibetan service of Radio Free Asia and Mr Khedroob Thondup, former member of Tibetan Parliament in Exile.
