Brussels: French Senator Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio asked the French Government to raise the issue of Tibet during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the country. The following is the English translation of the written question Senator Eustache-Brinio tabled in the French Senate on Tuesday, 12 March.
‘Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio draws the attention of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs on the situation in Tibet on the 60th anniversary of the uprising in Lhasa. Indeed, the recent closure of the Tibet Autonomous Region illustrates the refusal by the Chinese Government of reciprocity of travel and information flows between China and the world. In this context, our knowledge of the situation there, unfortunately, remains an inadequate and partial – the information available mainly the one propagated by the Chinese authorities.
However, the report of Freedom House ranks Tibet as the second least–free region in the world, behind Syria and before North Korea. The high-tech surveillance methods allow China to closely monitor all spheres of lives of Tibetans. In preparation for the visit of the President Xi Jinping in France at the end of March, she wanted to know what actions the Government intends to take to challenge the Chinese government in order to allow the Tibetan culture and language to foster in the People’s Republic of China of borders, in accordance with its Constitution on ethnic minorities.’
Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio is a Senator from Val-d’Oise in France. She is a staunch supporter of Tibet and member of Tibet group in the French Senate. She attended and addressed the recent European Rally on March 10 in Brussels.
-Filed by Office of Tibet, Brussels