His Holiness the Dalai Lama visits the Regional Autonomous Governments of South Tyrol and Trento in Italy Thursday, 19 November 2009, 10:03 a.m.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrives at the Autonomous Province of Trento on 17 November.

Rome, 17 November: 
His Holiness the Dalai Lama today visited Bolzano and Trento, the
capital cities of the Regional Autonomous Governments of South Tyrol
and Trento, in Northern Italy.  His Holiness expressed his appreciation
for the support from the people and governments of the two autonomous
regions. President Luis Durnwalder of South Tyrol warmly
welcomed His Holiness by saying, “Welcome to our country, city and
home, Your Holiness”. When President Durnwalder asked about
the situation in Tibet,  His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that the
situation inside Tibet was worst.  His Holiness said that His Holiness
hoped, after 10 March 2008 demonstrations across Tibet the Chinese
government would address Tibet’s real problem but  unfortunately this
hasn’t happened. His Holiness the Dalai Lama showed President
Durnwalder the map of Tibet showing all the places where peaceful
demonstrations took place in 2008. While looking at the map President
Durnwalder asked where Lhasa was. After showing where Lhasa was, His
Holiness pointed on the map where  His Holiness was born in Amdo. Despite
the grim situation in Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said things
are changing. More Chinese scholars were showing sympathy and
understanding of the Tibetan struggle. Over 800 articles in Chinese
have been written on the Tibetan issue and many were written from
Mainland China. While in Bolzano as part of the Series “Meet
the Nobel Laureates” organized by European Academy Bolzano, His
Holiness the Dalai Lama in questions and answers session spoke about
his childhood, reincarnation, Tibetan Buddhism, non-violence and the
Tibetan issue. After meeting President Lorenzo Dellai of
Trento in the afternoon, His Holiness addressed the round table
discussion on Autonomy of Tibet. Both President Luis Durnwalder and
President Lorenzo Dellai also spoke at the conference. The two days
conference was organized by Autonomous Province of Trento in
cooperation with department of legal sciences, University of Trento and
European Academy in Bolzano. Resolutions of Autonomous Regions in Support of Tibet Trento,
17 November: In March of 2008, the world was shocked about the violent
repression by the Chinese Government of demonstrations and uprising in
Lhasa and many other parts of Tibet, in which Tibetans protested
against the violation of their human rights and for freedom. In the
run-up to the Olympic Games, the issue of Tibet therefore once again
entered world public opinion. Shortly after the Games, representatives
of the Tibetan Government in exile presented to their Chinese
counterparts the “Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan
People”. In this memorandum, the Tibetan side agrees to accept
Chinese sovereignty in exchange for real autonomy. Furthermore, the
Memorandum calls for the respect of the Tibetan identity and culture,
while respecting the framework of the Chinese constitution. The
Memorandum provides a basis for discussing the implementation of a
right that has formally been recognized by the Chinese Government first
in the “Seventeen Point Agreement” of 1951 and then with the
establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region, but actually denied since
1959, after the complete Chinese take over and the induced settlement
of Han Chinese, which is reducing the Tibetans to a minority in their
own territory. The autonomy of our Regions and Provinces we
represent is the best proof that conflicts can be settled in a
nonviolent way, fully respecting the rights of both sides, and that it
is possible to preserve the culture and identity of a people, even
minority, through forms of autonomy and self-government. It has
especially shown that the rights of minority groups and peoples are
fully compatible with the sovereignty and unity of the state. For
these reasons we support the decision of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan
Government and Parliament in exile to pursue internal
self-determination instead of independence. The proposals contained in
the “Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People” is the most
effective way to achieve recognition of the rights of Tibetan people to
self-government in all regions of Tibet and for the preservation of
their language, culture, and religion, as well as for the protection of
their environment and natural resources. Considering the
experiences of the many autonomous regions around the world, which have
shown that conflicts can be prevented or overcome by respecting the
fundamental rights of distinct peoples and ethnic and linguistic
minorities and enabling them to exercise the right to self-government
while  respecting the territorial integrity of state. We call on the Chinese Government to: ·      
Consider the existence and experience of these autonomous regions and
their capacity to overcome conflict and maintain constructive
institutional dialogues between respective central governments and the
autonomous authorities; ·       And to engage in negotiations with
the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government and Parliament on basis of
the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy. We call on the Chinese Government, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government and Parliament in exile to: ·      
Speed up the negotiation in order to ensure the implementation of
genuine autonomy by the Tibetan people as soon as possible and to
prevent the aggravation of the conflict.  Finally, we ask the
United Nations and the governments of its member states to support the
objectives of this resolution which is entirely in conformity with
international law. As territorial entities which enjoy
autonomy and self-government, we offer our support for the achievement
of a just and genuine autonomy for the regions of Tibet which is in the
interest of all parties. We offer our expertise and lessons
learned from our history, our statutes and our legal systems which may
provide useful examples on how to accommodate different territorial and
ethnic identities within different national constitutions in ways that 
serve the interest of all parties in resolving their differences. We
offer our legal and administrative resources to support the search for
and development of normative and legal provisions and structures for
the realization of autonomy in keeping with the specific and complex
situation in the Peoples Republic of China.  We call on
all autonomous regions to sign this resolution and to appeal to their
respective national governments to support the quest for a just and
mutually acceptable autonomy, which enables the Tibetan people to enjoy
genuine self-government and peace within the framework of the Chinese
constitution. -Report filed by Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa, Representative, The Tibet Bureau Geneva