Tokyo: Representative Dr. Tsewang Gyalpo Arya of the Liaison Office of H.H. the Dalai Lama visited the Japanese parliament building and met with lawmakers Yamatani Eriko and Yamada Hiroshi, Chairperson and General Secretary of the Japan Parliamentary Support Group for Tibet, respectively.

Representative Arya extended New Year’s greetings and thanked the Chairperson and the General Secretary for all the help and guidance the Support Group had rendered the previous year. He briefed them on the increased repression of Tibetans in Nepal due to Chinese pressure and the situation in Kham Zachukha in Tibet, where Tibetans protesting against Chinese gold mining were arrested and taken into custody. He presented the brief report on the two issues in Japanese. Representative further informed the lawmakers of the Chinese colonial boarding schools and submitted the Japanese translation of the updated report on the schools by the Tibet Action Institute, where more than one million Tibetan children are forcefully taught Chinese and indoctrinated in communist ideology.

Representative Arya requested statements from the Parliament and lawmakers to condemn the continued Chinese repression and violation of human rights and religious freedom in Tibet. He updated them on the forthcoming events and requested their cooperation and guidance on the matters.

Chairperson Yamatani Eriko and General Secretary Yamada Hiroshi expressed satisfaction over the past events like the organization of the 9th World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet and the Japanese participation in the Tibetan Democracy Day in Dharamsala. Regarding the situation in Nepal, Kham gold mining repressions, and colonial boarding schools, they expressed solidarity and promised to share the information with others and see what they could do to redress the matters.

The lawmakers and Representative Arya discussed the forthcoming local Tibet Support Group meeting in Japan and the International Tibet Support Group meeting in March in Dharamsala. Some ten members of the Japan Tibet Support Groups are expected to attend the meeting in Dharamsala.

Tibet House staff member Hasegawa accompanied Representative Arya to the Parliament building for the meeting.

– Report filed by Office of Tibet, Japan