DHARAMSHALA: A new opinion poll commissioned by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), a Washington, DC based Tibet advocacy group, showed an overwhelming majority of French and German citizens want their leaders to prioritise human rights and Tibet during their meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. President Xi today arrived in France on his first four-nation European tour which will also take him to Germany and Belgium.
“An overwhelming majority of French and German citizens express solidarity and concern for the lack of respect for human rights and civil liberties of Tibetans; have a favorable opinion of the Dalai Lama and call on French President Hollande and German Chancellor Merkel to officially invite the Dalai Lama to their capitals,” ICT said, citing from findings of the new poll realized by the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) in advance of Xi Jinping’s visit to Europe.
The opinion poll, conducted from 10-14 March, showed that “in France, 90 percent and in Germany, 92 percent of citizens expressed their support for a meeting between China’s Party Secretary Xi Jinping and the Dalai Lama, to find a negotiated solution to the Tibetan issue.”
It showed that “citizens in these two major European countries give greater priority to their leaders raising Tibet and human rights with the Chinese leadership, than pushing for commercial contracts.”
“The polls give a clear message that European citizens’ priorities go beyond trade and business in our relationship with China,” said Matteo Mecacci, President of the International Campaign for Tibet, said in a statement. “People are concerned about human rights issues in Tibet, and they want European leaders not only to meet the Dalai Lama, but to encourage Xi Jinping to speak to him face to face to find a negotiated solution to the Tibetan issue. European Union leaders cannot ignore the opinion of their own citizens and should clearly assert their support for fellow Nobel Peace Laureate the Dalai Lama and the human rights crisis in Tibet during Xi’s visit. What is at stake in our relationship with China goes beyond a trade deal or access to their markets; it is the relationship with a rising authoritarian country that will shape the very nature and future of the world in which we all wish to live,” Mr Mecacci said.
