Thank you very much.
First of all to state that immediately after the death of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, the European External Action Service published a statement reading that following his death we expressed our deepest condolences to his family, friends and supporters.
The EU had consistently called for his release and adequate medical treatment. We expressed our expectations that the Chinese authorities would investigate and make public the circumstances surrounding his death. However, since then, I am afraid, we do not have much information to follow up on his case. Generally on human rights in China and in Tibet I would like to underline that defense and promotion of human rights is a key component of our Foreign policy. In this context we follow closely the situation in Tibet and we are deeply and sincerely concerned by the deterioration witnessed over the past years. We have a new European Union strategy on China adopted in July 2016 which replaces the last communication on China of 2006. This is an ambitious strategy stating that the EU’s engagement with China will be principled, practical and pragmatic staying true to its interest and values in particular adherence to International rules and norms and respect for human rights. In line with that, it is an integral part of our engagement with China. And we raise our human rights concerns in all occasions including high level dialogue meetings such as the EU-China Summit in July 2016 where President Tusk voiced the EU’s concerns both bilaterally with the Chinese Premier and publicly at the press conference. We raise our human rights concerns specifically the question of Tibet at human rights Council through item 4 statements and we regularly publish statements by the spokesperson of the High Representative and EU delegation in Beijing. While we are attached to the one China Policy and we do not question that Tibet is an integral part of China, we are committed to engage with China to improve the situation on the ground. We regularly call on the Chinese authorities to refrain from the use of force, to allow peaceful protests and respect human rights in Tibet as well as in other parts of China. Concerns of Tibetans should be addressed through dialogue as the only way to reach a solution with respect for Tibetan culture, religion and traditions. We welcome China’s wish to raise the living standards of the Tibetan population. However, we are aware of the growing discontent among Tibetans regarding local development policies and protest against mining and hydro-electric projects. We are concerned that such protests are most of the time considered splittism and are frequently and often violently suppressed by the police. We see that unequal distribution of benefits in China of economic development which seems to leave Tibetans behind in favor of the Han Chinese as well as heavy handed repression by the government is fueling great dissatisfaction.
Although, the pace of self-immolation has slowed down they still continue. In fact March 2016 saw the 150th case of self-immolation among Tibetans since 2009. The criminalization of self immolations and associations with self-immolators including friends, families and communities has led to prison or death sentence, financial and other penalties for entire communities. The EU is worried by restrictions also on expression of Tibetan identity and freedom of expression in Tibet. Over the last years an increasing number of Tibetan intellectuals and bloggers and cultural figures have faced criminal charges or have been imprisoned. On cultural rights, while the preservation of minority language is encouraged in the Chinese constitution, many minorities in China express concerns that Beijing’s policy encourage the use of Mandarin at the expense and marginalization of minority languages. We are also concerned about the ongoing demolitions and restrictions at Larung Gar Buddhist academy as well as the expulsion of monastic individuals from these areas.
