(TibetanReview.net, Oct04’23) – The Sikyong (executive head) of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), Mr Penpa Tsering, was on Oct 3 received in the Legislative Assembly of the state of Sao Paulo in its capital Sao Paulo, Brazil’s vibrant financial center and among the world’s most populous cities.
He was greeted by the Assembly’s President Andre do Prado and Vice President Gil Dinuz. Other members of the State Assembly, including Paula Fiorilo (Worker’s Party) and Rui Alves (Republicans), both of them members of the Committee on International Relations, also greeted the Sikyong on his first formal visit to the Sao Paulo Assembly, said the CTA on its Tibet.net website Oct 3.
Among those who accompanied him was stated to be Walter Feldman, President of Longevidade Expo+Fórum and a former president of the State Assembly.
He was stated to have met with the Assembly leaders for more than an hour, underscoring “the geo-political relevance of Tibet, highlighting its profound spiritual and cultural impact, and its indispensable role in addressing pressing environmental crises that resonate worldwide.”
He was stated to have appealed to the State Assembly leadership to “emphasized the crucial role of democratic nations such as Brazil in advocating for global environmental security and upholding human rights and freedom when engaging with their Chinese counterparts.”
He has also told the State assembly leaders that “Tibetan identity remains on the precipice of extermination under President Xi Jinping’s policy of Sinicization and forced assimilation of future generations of Tibetans by coercing a million of them into state-run colonial boarding schools.”
He has thanked the President, the Vice-President and the deputies “for their gracious reception (for him) for it would resonate as a ‘powerful message of hope’ for Tibetans inside Tibet.”
They, in turn, have congratulated the Sikyong on his inaugural visit to the State Assembly and expressed “wholehearted support for the peaceful resolution of the vexed and protracted Sino-Tibet conflict.”
As a House of People’s Representatives, the President has said the assembly remained committed to advocating for peace, dialogue, and an end to all forms of repression.
On the same day, the Sikyong has visited the Sao Paulo city hall where he met with the city’s human rights secretary Soninha Francine and Gilberto Natalini, Executive Secretary for Climate Change, before heading to speak at the University of Sao Paulo.
The Sikyong is on his first visit to South America and travelling to Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Mexico before heading to the United States, with the tour lasting from Sep 29 to Oct 24.