(TibetanReview.net, Apr19’23) – A cross-party delegation of four Australian lawmakers, including Deputy Speaker Sharon Claydon, has visited the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) at Dharamshala, India, and called on HH the Dalai Lama on Apr 18. It followed a visit recently by a Senate staff delegation from the US on Apr 12 while a French Senate delegation is arriving in the coming days for a four-day visit.
The delegation from Australia’s All Parliamentary Group for Tibet, having arrived on Apr 17 for a four-day visit, has called on the Dalai Lama on Apr 18 morning. The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet emphasized the relevance of the values advocated by Tibetan culture and religion in today’s world while seeking the lawmakers’ contribution to promoting those values, especially to the younger generation in Australia, said the CTA on its Tibet.net website Apr 18.
The delegation has later visited the CTA and met with its Sikyong (executive head), Mr Penpa Tsering, and discussed a wide range of subject concerned with the Tibet issue, including the CTA’s stand on resolving the Sino-Tibet conflict through its Middle Way Approach of seeking autonomy, not independence, as well as the key concerns and priorities of the CTA in sustaining the welfare of Tibetans living in exile.
The delegation has then visited the Tibetan Parliament Secretariat and met with Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel and Deputy Speaker Dolma Tsering Teykhang while also interacting with other members of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile (TPiE).
The delegation is stated to include MPs from all four major political parties of Australia. Led by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, the other members are Senator Janet Rice, Sophie Scamps and Susan Templeman. They were accompanied by Executive Officer Zoe Bedford of Australia Tibet Council.
Earlier, on Apr 12, a delegation of US Senate staffers comprising Tom Melia, Senior Foreign Policy Adviser of Senator Ben Cardin; Megan Reiss, National Security Adviser of Senator Mitt Romney; and Adam Kozloski, Foreign Policy Aide of Senator Joni Ernst, visited the CTA and met with the leaders of the TPiE. The delegation was accompanied by the newly-appointed President Tenchoe Gyatso of International Campaign for Tibet, Washington, DC.
Meanwhile, Senator Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio, President of the International information group on Tibet, a Tibet friendship group in the French Senate, will lead a four-member delegation to the CTA in the coming days for a five-day visit. She will be accompanied by Senators Joseph and Rietmann.
The group had urged President Emmanuel Macron to raise the Tibetan issue including the colonial boarding school system, resumption of the Sino-Tibetan dialogue and the preservation of the fragile ecosystem of the Tibetan plateau during his recent visit to China.