(TibetanReview.net, Jun13’24) — The Canadian parliament’s House of Commons has on Jun 10 unanimously adopted a motion, recognizing the right of the Tibetan people under Chinese occupation rule to self-determination.
The non-binding motion is based on the recognition of Tibetans as “a people and a nation” with the inherent right to determine their own social, economic, cultural and religious policies, including the selection of the next Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. It condemns China’s systematic cultural assimilation of the Tibetan people.
The motion was sponsored by the bloc Québécois and introduced by the party’s lawmaker Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe.
“The purpose of the motion was for the House of Commons to recognize that Tibetans are victims of systemic cultural assimilation by China; and to offer unanimous support to the Tibetan people’s efforts and actions towards self-determination,” the Tibetan service of rfa.org Jun 11 quoted him as saying in a written response.
The report said the motion’s passage followed a series of meetings between Sikyong (executive head) Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration at Dharamshala, India; Namgyal Choedup, the Dalai Lama’s Washington-based representative for North America; and the Canada Tibet Committee members with Bloc Québécois leaders in Montreal, Ottawa, and Washington.
Welcoming the motion’s passage, Spokesman Tenzin Lekshey of the CTA has said, “This motion holds immense significance for the Tibetan people inside Tibet, addressing key issues such as Tibet’s self-determination, the future reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, Chinese interference, Chinese assimilation policies, and the importance of preserving Tibetan culture.”
Earlier, in Dec 2022, Canada’s House of Commons unanimously passed a motion endorsing the CTA’s Middle Way Approach and supporting the resumption of dialogue between Tibetan representatives and the Chinese government.
The Middle Way Approach seeks genuine autonomy for a united Tibet in exchange for recognition of China’s sovereignty. China has rejected it as a form of demand for independence and refuses to deal with the CTA. It only wants, if at all, to discuss the personal status of the Dalai Lama, subject to conditions.
The Dalai Lama is the originator of the Middle Way Approach and rejects any idea of talks with China not concerned with the well-being of the six million or so Tibetan people.
Recognizing the Tibetan people’s right to self-determination is also the underlying theme of a bill titled “Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act” (“Tibet-China Dispute Act”, in short) that was passed by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Apr 16, 2024, and is now being considered by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The bill, when passed, will mandate the US government to pressure China to negotiate with the Dalai Lama or his representatives or the democratically elected exile Tibetan leadership to reach a settlement on the legal status of Tibet.