Washington DC: Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama Ngodup Tsering attended the inaugural function of the 13th Interethnic Interfaith Leadership Conference held on 10 December at the Capitol Hill in Washington DC.

In his address to the impressive gathering of leaders, he said that It has been almost sixty years in exile for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and some 150,000 Tibetans and it is also sixty years for the Tibetans in Tibet who has been enduring endless suffering under the brutally repressive regime of Communist China. But the Tibetan people believe in the quote by His Holiness the Dalai Lama – “The Winds of evil may blow, but it can not extinguish the flames of Truth”.

He informed the gathering that more than 153 Tibetans burnt themselves in a final bid to attract world attention to their aspirations for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet and restoration of freedom for Tibetan people.

He went on and said, “What is becoming clear is that China wants the Tibet and its resources and not the Tibetan people. Otherwise, there can be no more realistic and sincere offer to address the Tibet issue proposed His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Central Tibetan Administration which is to grant Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetans as enshrined in the Chinese Constitution.”

On the sidelines of the conference, the Representative met with Congressman Jim McGovern; Congressman Chris Smith; Congressman Jamie Raskin; Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy; Katrina Lantos Swett, president of Lantos Foundation; and many leaders of Ugyur, Mongolian and Chinese who spoke on the occasion.

With the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the conference was organized by the Citizen Power Initiatives for China (CPIFC) headed by Dr Yang Jianli. It seeks to advance mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation among the diverse ethnic, religious, cultural, and regional groups seeking democratic and rights-respecting China.

-Filed by Office of Tibet, DC