(TibetanReview.net, Aug03’26) – Citing Lobga Rangzen’s protest self-immolation before the UN Headquarters in New York City on Jul 2 as symptomatic of the depth of Tibetan people’s grievance over China’s recently enacted law claimed to be meant to promote ethnic unity and progress, the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile has issued an open letter Aug 3, urging the international community to pressure and impress Beijing to work to solve the Tibet issue through a negotiated settlement.
“This law deepens policies that threaten the Tibetan people’s language, religion, culture, identity, and fundamental human rights,” said the open letter, which was addressed to heads of state and government, parliamentary leaders and members, the United Nations, human rights organizations, religious and interfaith leaders and friends of Tibet.
China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, which formally came into force on Jul 1, has been widely criticized or condemned across the democratic world both before and after its National People’s Congress adopted it in Mar 2026 and especially after it came into force, including at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The open letter called for sustained international scrutiny and monitoring of China’s implementation of this law, especially where it impinges on the human rights of the Tibetan people.
It called for independent investigations on the effects of the law’s implementation through United Nations human rights mechanisms, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Special Rapporteurs, Treaty Bodies, and the Universal Periodic Review process, and support for such investigations.
Along with these, the letter urged the international community to publicly express concern on the implementation and consequences of this law.
It also wanted the issue to be raised in bilateral engagements and at multilateral forums, including the United Nations and other international institutions.
The open letter called for support for the protection of the cultural, linguistic, religious, and human rights of Tibetans and other affected nationalities.
Given the law’s provisions to punish people outside the country for any perceived violation of the provisions of this law, the open latter called for opposition to all forms of transnational repression that threaten democratic freedoms in the world. It called strengthening of measures to counter transnational repression and protect Tibetan communities, human rights defenders, and advocates living in concerned countries.
The open letter called for the recognition of Tibet as an independent country under illegal occupation by China and support for its efforts to reach a negotiated peaceful settlement by pressuring Beijing.
The open letter called China’s threat to the identity of the ethic groups under its coercive rule a risk to the principles upon which the international human rights system is built.
And it called for the future of Tibet to be shaped through dialogue, not assimilation, or coercion.