China allows US Congressional staffers to visit Tibet[Monday, 15 August 2009, 9:49 a.m.]
Dharamshala: The
Chinese government has allowed US Congressional personnel into Tibet
for the first since the Chinese authorities brutally suppressed the
peaceful demonstrations by Tibetans throughout Tibet last year, the
International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) based in Washington, DC reported.At least 10 Congressional staffers depart for travel in China and Tibet this week. The
US based rights group said the itinerary will likely be tightly
scripted with scant if any opportunity for independent inquiry. Several
European government officials and foreign journalists have been allowed
on tightly controlled visits to Tibet, almost exclusively to Lhasa,
since the peaceful protests began in March 2008. Todd Stein,
Director of Government Relations at for the ICT said: “The U.S.
Congress has a demonstrated interest and remains very engaged in
Tibetan issues. What these staffers will be given permission to see and
do will be another indication of how the Chinese government wants the
international community to interpret the situation in Tibet. To date,
Chinese authorities have explained away tension and unrest across Tibet
as isolated incidents resulting from outside interference.”“We
hope the staffers will see enough to make their own judgments about the
underlying causes and the impact of Chinese policies on the Tibetan
people and their prospects for the future,” Stein added.The Central Tibetan Administration expressed hope that the visit by congressional staffers to Tibet will pave way for more
visits by diplomats, journalists and researchers in the future to
“independently” investigate the situation inside Tibet.
