GERMAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS TIBET RESOLUTION
Urges China for a direct negotiation with the Dalai Lama
Geneva, 19 April – The German Parliament adopted a new resolution on Tibet titled, “Human Rights and Development in Tibet” and called upon the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China to “press for a direct dialogue to be taken up with the Dalai Lama, with the aim of negotiating a Statute on Tibet that would be based on the Tibetans’ right to self-determination and guarantee them extensive rights of autonomy within the structure of the People’s Republic of China.”
The resolution supported by all major political parties in Germany also expressed its backing to the dialogue on human rights between the European Union and the People’s Republic of China but expressed concern that this dialogue “has not yet been possible to achieve progress” in Tibet.
On the Tibetan Issue, the Resolution “shared European concern…appeals to the parliaments of the European Union’s member states and the European Parliament, and calls upon the European Union and the governments of its members states to press for the speedy uptake of a dialogue between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese leadership in their bilateral contacts with China.”
The Resolution further added, “The German Bundestag considers a direct dialogue about the situation in Tibet, as proposed by the Dalai Lama on a number of occasions, to be indispensable to a lasting political solution. It would be a great gain for China and the people who live in China if the dialogue about the situation in Tibet were to commence without delay and lead to a lasting political solution.”