(TibetanReview.net, Oct08’24) – The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) of the exile Tibetans has on Oct 7 announced guidelines requiring any exile Tibetan who wishes to visit Tibet or China to intimate its Security Department beforehand.
The general guidelines announced online notes that after Tibetans got separated between those remaining in Tibet and the others who escaped into exile, visits to each other and for other purposes became possible after 1979. However, the Chinese government has been using the opening up to infiltrate the Tibetan community in exile, which it has viewed as separatists and anti-China enemy forces, or their tools.
The announcement accuses China of having continued to carry out various kinds of devious plans with objectives to weaken the exile Tibetan setup and to create dissention and internal conflicts. In this milieu, there has been a sharp increase in recent times of the Chinese government enticing Tibetans living in India, Nepal and Bhutan as well as other foreign countries to visit Tibet for all sorts of purposes, including tourism, family visits, pilgrimage and so forth while at the same time engaging in transnational repression of Tibetans living abroad. These developments have seen a marked increase in numbers and prominence in recent times, which makes it necessary to urge everyone to take note of certain points for consideration and caution, the seven-point announcement said.
The announcement then begins by asking all senior leaders and officials at all levels of the CTA, whether current or former, not to undertake any visit to Tibet without taking into confidence its Department of Security.
The CTA has no objection to any private exile Tibetan undertaking visits to Tibet. However, they should intimate their travel plans to their concerned Settlement Representative or Welfare Officer, as the case may be, or, otherwise, the Department of Security itself.
The announcement notes that the Chinese government imposes all sorts of conditions on exile Tibetans while granting them permits; that under it, a few had set up Tibetan or Tibet-related organizations in a variety of names to organize visits to Tibet in the name of pilgrimage, tourism, scholarly visits and so forth. However, it says, these are devious programs designed to carry out political objectives, and it is important that visitors do not get snared in them, such as by becoming their members.
In the case of those who have visited Tibet and had been deceived into falling under the influence of the Chinese government, and have absolutely abandoned the fundamental Tibetan cause, anyone who publicize the Chinese propaganda and acts against the interest of the Tibetan people after their return should be considered as an opponent of the CTA. It is important that all Tibetans counter their propaganda efforts and expose them, whoever and wherever they may be, the announcement said.
The announcement also expresses concern that the Chinese government deceives Tibetans who visit Tibet by compelling them with use of monetary or material enticements, pressure tactics, threats, dire warnings, and so forth to enter into partnerships or co-operations, continuations of relationships, and so forth. It asks such people not to allow themselves to become victims of such machinations, but remain steadfast in their stand. Tibetans should make efforts to obtain guidance from concerned entities before their trip to Tibet. In order to pre-empt any chance of falling victim to such traps, Tibetans living abroad should obtain the telephone and other contact details of their host countries’ embassies in China, the announcement said.
Anyone who had mistakenly accepted Chinese government’s conditions due to the latter’s deception are asked to understand that once they return from their trip, they are free from the harassment and pressures of the Chinese government. They should therefore submit a timely report of the difficulties they had faced to the CTA’s Department of Security and thereby make efforts to free themselves from the Chinese government pressure. Any such people who ignore such situation or who continue their clandestine contacts can find themselves in any sort of legal trouble with their host countries, the announcement warned.
The announcement notes that these days, the government of China carries out transnational repression of exile Tibetans by trying to compel them to refrain from engaging in activities for promoting the fundamental and political causes of Tibet and, instead, co-operate with it and facilitate its repressive activities. Calling such practices a violation of international law, the announcement says that in the best-case scenario, anyone who come under such pressure should publicize it before the media with proof thereof. Otherwise, such targeted persons should report the same with all the relevant details to their concerned host governments, or CTA Representative offices, or Settlement Heads, or the Department of Security, as the case may be.