(TibetanReview.net, Dec23’24) –As the UK’s Labour government looks to improve bilateral ties with the communist party-state of China, several members of the House of Lords, the upper house of parliament, have raised human rights and security issues Dec 19 arising from Chinese actions in Tibet, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the South China Sea, and against the Uyghurs in East Turkestan, said the Office of Tibet, UK, in a Tibet.net report Dec 23.
The criticisms were voiced during debate on the British government’s policy towards China on the 40th anniversary of the Sino-British Joint deceleration, 1984, which paved the way for the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
The criticisms were led by Lord David Alton, joined by Lord Martin Callanan, Baroness Smith, Lord Bishop, and Baroness Bannett. They raised concerns over China’s continued violation of Human Rights in the above regions as well as intensified transboundary repression and espionage, the statement said.
They were also stated to have scrutinised various aspects of the UK government’s policies towards China.
In his remarks, Lord Martin Callanan has highlighted China’s efforts to systematically erase Tibet’s true historical status from the global consciousness, saying, “the Chinese Communist Party’s decades-long campaign to erase Tibetan culture, religion and identity is a stain on the conscience of the international community. Let us not forget that, not that long ago, Tibet was an independent country, but nobody now refers to it as that; it has in effect been absorbed into China, and the Tibetan people have been slowly eradicated.
“I had the honour a few years ago of meeting the Dalai Lama in his exile home in Dharamshala. I do not share his religion, but he is an inspirational character, continuing to preach non-violence in the face of all the threats and indeed genocides that the Tibetan people have faced.”