(TibetanReview.net, May01’26) – In what is seen as a significant escalation in international opposition to Beijing’s policies of forced assimilation in Tibet and other “ethnic minority” regions of the People’s Republic of China, the European Parliament has on Apr 30 adopted a resolution, strongly condemning its so-called “Ethnic Unity Law” which formally comes into effect on Jul 1. China has condemned the resolution, claiming it “grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs”.
Like many others, including UN human rights experts, the resolution warned that the new Chinese law represents a systematic attempt to erase the cultural, religious and linguistic heritage of the Tibetan people by mandating state ideology and prioritising Mandarin over native languages in all public spheres.
With regard to one aspect of the Law’s effect in Tibet, the European Parliament has expressed firm rejection of Beijing’s interference in Tibetan spiritual affairs. It says the succession of the Dalai Lama is a strictly religious matter that must be determined exclusively according to Tibetan Buddhist traditions, free from government coercion.
Atheist China has made it clear that the reincarnation of the current Dalai Lama will be one chosen by it, rather than as decided by the Dalai Lama himself, the bedrock on which the Tibetan Buddhist belief in reincarnation rests.
The resolution also calls for the immediate and unconditional release of high-profile political prisoners, including the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as well as Choktrul Dorje Ten Rinpoche and Palden Yeshi, whose detentions remain matters of grave international concern.
Also, the resolution calls for concrete steps to protect the Tibetan communities in exile from Beijing’s reach, given the “extraterritorial” nature of the new law and China’s resort to transnational repression in violation of laws of democratic countries.
In her post-debate intervention Hadja Lahbib, the European Commissioner for Equality; Preparedness and Crisis Management, has voiced the EU’s grave concern for the human rights situation in Tibet, including restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, preservation of culture and identity and the rights of the religious communities to manage their affairs without interference and to freely choose their religious leaders, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and in full respect of religious norms.
The resolution was adopted with 439 votes in favour, 52 against and 71 abstentions.
A spokesperson of the Chinese Mission to the EU has on May 1 claimed that the resolution “maliciously smears China’s laws and ethnic policies, and grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs”
The spokesperson has cited the state news agency Xinhua report to say that at the closing of the fourth session of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) on Mar 12, China’s top legislature adopted the law to promote ethnic unity and progress, reinforcing the legal foundation for national cohesion and common prosperity among 56 ethnic groups as the country enters the final decade in its drive to basically achieve modernization by 2035.
The European Parliament should immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights, stop endorsing and supporting anti-China separatist forces, stop smearing China’s policies and laws, and take concrete steps to safeguard the sound and steady development of China-EU relations, China’s official globaltimes.cn May 1 cited the spokesperson as saying in the My 1 statement.