Washington DC: On Friday the TPiE delegation and Representative Ngodup Tsering had a meeting with Congressman Tom Suozzi and Congressman Ted Yoho.

Representative Suozzi reaffirmed the group’s belief that the world must know what is happening to Tibet because of China’s occupation since the types of abuses are replicated among other ethnic groups, such as the Uyghurs. Representative Suozzi concluded the meeting by saying “Thuk Che Chay” (“thank you” in Tibetan). He mentioned that, as a member of the China Commission, a town hall meeting is being planned to be organized in July in Queens, NY, and Tibetan people will be invited to speak out with their concerns to the Commission directly.

Representative Yoho expressed his awareness about the colonialist design of the Chinese government in which he compared China as an “aggressive neighbor”. He assured the entourage that Tibetans have bi-partisan support in the Congress

Rep Yoho told the delegation that he admires the Tibetan people for fighting against adversity, and he stated that the Tibetan fight for religious freedom was akin to the fight the early Americans faced when escaping religious persecutions in different countries. He ridiculed China for abducting Panchen Lama and appointing their own pick as the reincarnation of him. He said he would be happy to introduce a resolution for providing more freedom to Tibetans to travel within Tibet. The delegation updated him about the severe restrictions on mobility for Tibetans within Tibet: the Han Chinese can move freely in and out of Tibet. Speaking on behalf of the delegation and TPiE, Juchen Kunchok expressed gratitude to him for the time to meet and hear them, and the US Congress and government for supporting Tibet all these years. She urged for continued to help; he assured that he will do his best.

In the morning, the delegation had an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA), an international broadcasting corporation that publishes news for people in East Asia.

After the meeting, Representative Ngodup bid farewell to the TPiE delegation as they headed towards New York where they had a public talk and meetings with the NY Tibetan community. Overall, the delegation had a successful three and a half day visit to the Nation’s capital.

-Filed by Office of Tibet, Washington DC