(TibetanReview.net, Oct05’21) – Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the executive head of the Central Tibetan Administration, has on Oct 4 met with Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to India, Mr Baushuan Ger, in New Delhi. Taiwan and the Tibetan Administration in exile were once foes, given the former’s stand that it was the legitimate government of China and Tibet was part of it. Development in relations between the two sides have come a long way since then.
“Sikyong Penpa Tsering called upon Taiwanese Ambassador H.E. Baushuan Ger at his office and discussed issues of mutual concern and interest for about an hour today, in addition to diplomats of some other countries,” wrote Penpa Tsering on his official twitter account Oct 24 at 4:57PM.
Senior diplomat Baushuan Ger is the Taiwan Representative to India and heads the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India (TECC), which is based in New Delhi. He took charge in Sep 2020.
Due to its “One China policy”, India, like most other countries, does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan. In 1995, the two countries established representative offices in each other’s capitals, namely the TECC for the Republic of China (Taiwan) in New Delhi and India-Taipei Association (ITA) for India in Taipei.
Besides promoting bilateral relations in economy, trade, investment, media and tourism, TECC has divisions for consular, economic, education science and technology activities that are responsible for advancing mutual interests between Taiwan and India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
Taiwan and the exile Tibetan administration were once at odd with each other over the former’s stand that Tibet was part of the Republic of China, its official name. On its payroll through its Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission were dissentient and disgruntled elements within the exile Tibetan community whose job was to create as much trouble as possible for the Central Tibetan Administration.
However, it all changed after Taiwan became a democracy and Mr Lee Teng-hui, who played a pivotal role in it, became the country’s first popularly elected president in Mar 1996. He invited HH the Dalai Lama for his first visit to the country in 1997. The visit led to the setting up the same year of a Tibet Religious Foundation of HH the Dalai Lama, functioning as an Office of Tibet, in Taipei. The Dalai Lama visited Taiwan twice more afterwards – in 2001 and 2009.
