Exile Tibetan minister meets with supporters in Japanese parliament

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Health Kalon Choekyong Wangchuk with members of the Japanese Parliament at the Parliament hall in Tokyo, Japan, on July 5, 2018. (Photo courtesy: OOT Japan)
Health Kalon Choekyong Wangchuk with members of the Japanese Parliament at the Parliament hall in Tokyo, Japan, on July 5, 2018. (Photo courtesy: OOT Japan)

(TibetanReview.net, Jul08, 2018) – Health Kalon (minister) Mr Choekyong Wangchuk of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) at Dharamshala, India, held an hour-long meeting with executive members of the All Party Japanese Parliamentary Support Group for Tibet in the Japanese Parliament, or the National Diet, Hall on Jul 5, said the Office of Tibet, Tokyo, Jul 7.

Those who took part in the meeting were stated to include the group’s Chairman Mr Shimomura Hakubun from the House of Representatives, Vice-Chairman Mr Watanabe Shu from the House of Representatives, Vice-Chairperson Mrs Yamatani Eriko from the House of Councillors, General Secretary Mr Baba Nobuyuki from the House of Representatives, and Secretary Mr Nagao Takashi from the House of Representatives.

The health Kalon was stated to have explained that his visit was a part of the CTA’s observing of 2018 as year to thank governments and peoples, including of Japan, for their support for the Tibetan issue and people over the past decades.

He was stated to have spoken about the Chinese government’s suppression of the Tibetan people’s language and religious freedom as well as about the lack of basic health facilities in remote areas of Tibet. He has also spoken about measures being undertaken by the CTA’s Health Department to improve the health of Tibetan refugees living in India and Nepal.

Mr Shimomura has spoken about his meeting with the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala and his consequent founding of the Tibet Support Group in the Japanese Parliament, which is now the world’s largest parliamentary support group for Tibet with 90 members. He has said there was growing interest among Japanese Parliamentarians on the issue of Tibet and was optimistic that the number of Japanese MPs supporting the Tibetan people will increase.

Mr Shimomura has said the issue of Tibet was also an issue for the Japanese people. He has expressed concern that because of pressure from the Chinese government, the media in Japan was reluctant to publish information on the issue of Tibet. He has called it a moral duty of the Japanese people to support the cause of truth and justice.

The group is currently stated to have 49 National Diet members from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, 8 from Nihon Ishin no Kai, 7 from Party of Hope, 1 Independent, 1 from Democratic Party of Japan and 1 from Party for Japanese Kokoro (Heart).

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