(TibetanReview.net, Dec20’24) –A new Japan Parliamentary Support Group for Tibet (JPSGT) has been launched of Japanese lawmakers following the recent elections to the country’s legislature, the Diet, with its first working committee meeting held on Dec 19. The meeting, held in the Upper House Parliament building, unanimously appointed Ms Yamatani Eriko as Chairperson and Yamada Hiroshi as General Secretary, said the Central Tibetan Administration on its Tibet.net website Dec 20.
The statement described Eriko as a respected lawmaker with a strong feeling for the Tibet issue and the human rights situation in neighbouring countries.
It said Hiroshi expressed hope to work with the Tibetans and all the parliamentarians across the political parties to deliver justice and freedom to the Tibetan people.
At the committee meeting, Madam Sakurai Yoshiko of the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals has spoken about the importance of the Tibet issue and strongly urged that the Tibetan people should have full freedom to practice their religion and culture. She has said despite the Chinese constitution, the CPC has been denying Tibetans and other nationals of their rights to practice their language and preserve their identity.
While greeting the new office-bearers, Representative Dr Tsewang Gyalpo Arya of the Liaison Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has thanked the outgoing Chairperson Shimomura Hakubun and General Secretary Ishikawa Akimasa for their strong support for Tibet. He has apprised the committee members about several pending issues and future projects on Tibet-related issues.
Furuya Keiji, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee to Monitor China’s Human Rights, has encouraged the participation of members of other parliamentary committees also in such discussion in future to enable information sharing and to see what all the committees could do together.
The JPSGT is still the largest Tibet group in any parliament, despite some 30 of its members (out of about 100), representing the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and seven other political parties, losing their seats in the recent elections. They included Hakubun and Akimasa as well.
Tibet.net did not say how many members the JPSGT now has, following the recent elections, including if newly elected members have joined it.
The JPSGT is scheduled to host the 9th World Parliamentarians’ Convention on Tibet, organized by the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, in Jun 2025.