Restriction Fear Grips Nepal-Office of Tibet
New York, 2 June: Tibetans in Nepal and their Nepalese sympathisers fear that the government of Nepal may find itself forced to mount new restrictions on the activities of the Tibetan Representative Office and Reception Center in Kathmandu.
Their fear is based on Ambassador Sun Heping’s talk on 28 May at an event organised in Kathmandu by Nepal Council of World Affairs and China Study Center, in which the Chinese Ambassador dealt at length with the flow of Tibetan refugees to Nepal and made pointed objections to the Representative office and Reception Center’s activities to help them.
The Ambassador blamed the Representative Office and Reception Center for indulging in anti-China activities on Nepalese soil.
Describing the repatriation of refugees as a lawful act, the Ambassador criticised “some external organisations” of helping “Tibetan separatists to do anti-China and anti-Nepal activities by politicising the lawful repatriation of Tibetan illegal immigrants and criticizing China for so-called human rights violations, without paying attention to their violations of law by illegally crossing the border”.
Tibetans are escaping not “because of what the Chinese government is doing in Tibet”, the Ambassador said. They are escaping, he said, because of the false lure of better life promised by “Tibetan separatists under religious cloak”.
Following is an excerpt from the Ambassador’s speech:
“I would like to take this opportunity to refer to the Tibet issue, which is China’s major concern in Nepal. We appreciate it very much that His Majesty’s Government of Nepal is committed to the one China policy, understands how sensitive the Tibet issue is to China and never allow any anti-China activities to be carried out on Nepali soil.
“The Tibet issue is one related to the sovereignty and integrity of China. Since it was officially incorporated into the domain of China’s Yuan Dynasty in the mid-13th century, Tibet has been under the jurisdiction of China’s Central government as an inalienable part of Chinese territory. The external forces, however, have never stopped instigating Tibetan independence since the beginning of the 20th century. With the support of foreign, anti-China forces, the Dalai clique’s separatists have been engaged in numerous activities to split the motherland.
“In September 1960 the Dalai clique re-organised the “religion guards of the four rivers and six ranges” in Mustang, Nepal, which carried on military harassment activities and violence along the Chinese border for ten years. There are no more Khampas who were disarmed by the Nepalese government in the 1970s, but it its place is the free Tibet movement advocating Tibet independence. Together with this movement, Dalai’s representative’s office and reception station in Kathmandu and Tibetan extremists have never stopped anti-China activities by destabilizing and attempting to separate Tibet from China.
“China’s position on the Dalai question is clear-cut and repeated on many occasions. The door of dialogue with Dalai is always open. At the same time, we request them that Dalai renounce his attempts for Tibet independence, acknowledge that Tibet is an inalienable part of China, Taiwan is a province of China, and the government of the People’s Republic of China the sole legal government of China.
“However, Tibetan separatists and pro-Dalai external forces use the question of Tibetan illegal immigrants as a ploy against China. While neglecting China’s opposition and Nepalese law, some external forces granted these illegal immigrants a status of refugees, put pressure on the Nepalese government not to repatriate them back to China and criticize China for the so-called human rights violations and political and religious persecution.
“…There are, however, still some Tibetans illegally crossing the border between China and Nepal. It is not because of what the Chinese government is doing in Tibet. It is because they are misguided by Tibetan separatists under religious cloak, who make use of ordinary Tibetans’ simple aspiration for better life. Some external organizations advocating free Tibet campaign also help Tibetan separatists to do anti-China and anti-Nepal activities by politicizing the lawful repatriation of Tibetan illegal immigrants and criticizing China for so-called human rights violations, without paying attention to their violations of law by illegally crossing the border. I advise them not to destabilize or split China by helping make Tibet independent from China. A stable China, of which Tibet is an inalienable part, is in the interest of peace and security in this region and world at large.”
Report sent by OoT, New York