Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen Visits Tokyo, Meets Japanese LawmakersMonday, 25 May 2009, 9:17 a.m.
Tokyo: Mr.
Kelsang Gyaltsen, Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, paid a
week-long visit to Japan from 19 – 25 May. The visit was arranged by Liaison
office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for Japan & East Asia. On
the day of his arrival, Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen gave a forty-minute
exclusive interview with Nihon Television (NTV), which was broadcast
the same evening in the city. Mr. Kelsang Gyaltsen explained about the
chronology of the negotiation with the Chinese leadership and the
Chinese government’s response to the proposal presented by the Tibetan
side. After the TV interview, Sankei Shinbum, one of major daily
newspaper, interviewed the envoy on the current status of dialogue with
the Chinese leadership.On the following day, Envoy Kelsang
Gyaltsen attended press conference organized by Foreign Correspondent
Club in Tokyo. Some 40 people representing all sections of foreign and
domestic medias, televisions, newspapers, magazines, radio etc.
attended the conference. During the interviews and the press
conference, Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen said, “Last November, as suggested
by the Chinese government, we presented a Memorandum on Genuine
Autonomy for the Tibetan People to the Chinese Government of the
People’s Republic of China. This memorandum puts forth the Tibetan
position on genuine autonomy and how the specific needs of the Tibetan
people for autonomy and self-government can be met through application
of the principle on autonomy of the Constitution of the People Republic
of China. “Unfortunately, the Chinese government rejected the
memorandum as a whole without presenting their views and comment on the
proposal. But from our side we are waiting for the Chinese response on
the memorandum presented last November. We are ready whenever Chinese
side is ready to address the Tibet issue sincerely.“Japan is a
democratic nation, it is an open society were rule of law exist.
Japanese economic contribution is also great. So Japan enjoys great
moral authority not only in Asia, but also in international circles.
Therefore, Japan is in a very good position to play a meaningful role
in promoting peaceful resolution of Tibet issue with the Chinese
government,” the envoy said. When asked about the main
differences about the two parties, Mr. Kelsang Gyaltsen said that the
Chinese leadership keeps on saying that there is no problem in Tibet
and that Tibetans are happy under Chinese rule. “This is one of main
differences. If there is no problem in Tibet, why all those
demonstrations in Tibet? Why the ongoing repression in Tibet?” “Another
thing is Chinese side says Dalai Lama has no right to talk about Tibet
issue, he can talk about his problem; this is a major difference. His
Holiness the Dalai Lama has always said that issue is not about his
personal well being, rather the issue is about the freedom and well
being of the six million Tibetan.“Lack of respect and
understanding of the Tibetan values, cultures and its religion from the
Chinese leaderships have resulted into misguided policy in Tibet. The
hardliners see the distinct identity of Tibetan as a source of threat
for separation, which must be suppressed brutally. But we are hopeful
of Chinese public, who have began to understand the Tibetan problem and
many intellectuals and lawyers are raising their voice for Tibet,”
explained the envoy.Other major media, with whom the envoy had
exclusive interviews and interactions during the visit were, Sankei
News paper, Kyodo Tsushin, Chinese News Week, Radio Free Asia, Japan
etc.Later in the afternoon, he met three Japanese lawmakers and
their assistants representing Japanese Parliamentarians for Tibet at
Parliament building in Tokyo. The Parliamentarians welcomed the Envoy
in Japan and showed keen interest about the status of Sino-Tibetan
dialog. Mr. Kelsang thanked the Japanese lawmakers for their interest
in Tibetan issue, and briefed them about the eight rounds of official
talks with the Chinese leaderships since 2002. The lawmakers jointly
assured the envoy that they would do their best in keeping the issue of
Tibet alive in Japanese parliament and urging the Government to talk
with Chinese counterpart to resolve the Tibetan issue. The
parliamentarians expressed their full support for His Holiness the
Dalai Lama’s Middle Way Approach; they further expressed their concern
about environmental damages taking place in Tibet and about the Chinese
government policy of using Tibet as nuclear waste sites. They said that
this not only a Tibetan problem, but also an Asian problem, for that
matter, an international issue.On the third day of his visit,
apart from other engagements, Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen gave a public talk
at Olympic Center hall at Shibuyaku, some two hundred Tibet supporters
and general public participated in the talk. The following day, he
participated in a talk organized by Association of non-sectarian
Japanese Buddhist monks at Gokokuji Temple. Prof. Ishihama of Waseda
University also participated in the talk. Mr. Lhakpa Tshoko,
Representative of Liaison Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for
Japan & East Asia during the inaugural speech at both the talks
said, “Since the turmoil in Tibet last year, Japanese supporters and
general public took keen interest in Tibetan issue. They put great hope
in the dialog agreed by Chinese leadership last November. But when
nothing came out of this dialog, people wanted to know what exactly
happened and what were the major points of disagreement between the two
parties. In view of this facts and numerous request from the public,
Liaison Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama invited Envoy Kelsang
Gyaltsen to address the above the issue and to enlighten the Japanese
supporters and the general public about the contents and the real
situation of the so-called `Sino-Tibetan dialog`, which began in 2002. Both
the talks were greatly well received by the general public. People took
active participation in the question and answer time. Some participants
said that China keeps on saying that Tibet issue is their internal
affair, but the internal affair does not give them the authority to go
on killing the peaceful Tibetan demonstrators. Some suggested that
Japanese government and public needs to take more responsibility in
resolving Tibet issue peacefully with the Chinese leadership.During
the visit, Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen met with several Japanese opinion
leaders, intellectuals and journalists from all angle of Japanese
society. He met with some Chinese scholars and intellectuals and
exchanged opinion about the Tibet issue. The Chinese intellectuals
expressed their full support for His Holiness the Dalai Lama approach
of finding solution to Tibet issue within the purview of Chinese
constitution. They suggested that although the talks with the current
leadership may not produce immediate result, but it is important to
continue the talk. The intellectuals were hopeful that young upcoming
Chinese leaderships would one day see the wisdom in addressing Tibet
issue rationally.To sum up the visit, Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen`s
visit to Tokyo was a great success from the point of the view that he
was able to update and inform the Japanese media, Tibet supporters and
general pubic about the truth and the real situation of the negotiation
with the Chinese government. His meeting with the Japanese
parliamentarians and Chinese intellectuals were also very meaningful in
a sense that they were able to get update on the status of negotiation
directly from the Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Tibet
supporters and general public appreciated the visit and said that the
visit enabled them to get first hand report on the Tibet situation,
especially on the status of the negotiation.In his concluding remark during a meeting with the Tibet supporters on last day of his visit, Envoy Kalsang Gyaltsen said
that he was very satisfied with the visit; that he was able to meet
cross-section of Japanese people. I am greatly encouraged and happy to
observe keen interest and dedication among the Japanese on Tibetan
issue, he added.Mr. Kelsang Gyaltsen will leave Tokyo on the morning of 25th May to Zurich. –Report filed by Office of Tibet, Japan
