(TibetanReview.net, Jun25’25) – The Sikyong (executive head) of the Central Tibetan Administration has concluded on Jun 23 what has been described as a high-impact three-day official visit to the United Kingdom which included an address to the members of the UK Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet (APPGT).
The APPGT meeting was held in the Westminster – which houses the UK’s parliament – on Jun 23. Apart from APPGT Chair Chris Law from the SNP, who welcomed Sikyong Penpa Tsering, and other MPs Jessica Morden, Clive Lewis, and Wera Hobhouse, parliamentary aides of two MPs attended the meeting. Also present were members of Tibet Support Groups—including Free Tibet, Students for a Free Tibet, and the Tibet Action Institute—as well as Tibetan community representatives and supporters, said the Office of Tibet, London, on the CTA’s Tibet.net website Jun 24.
The Tibetan Sikyong has outlined three key objectives of his UK trip, framed around the 90th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama: urging the UK government to reassess its official policy on Tibet; advocating for an official UK statement recognising the Dalai Lama’s sole authority to determine his reincarnation; and inviting a cross-party UK parliamentary delegation to visit Dharamshala, India—the seat of the CTA—later this year.
Law has committed to submit an Early Day Motion and write to the Foreign Secretary on Tibet. Clive Lewis has newly joined the APPGT, strengthening the group’s cross-party representation.
Earlier in the day, the Sikyong was stated to have met privately with officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), including the Head of the China Department. He has called for a unified European stance on the Dalai Lama reincarnation issue in view of China’s meddling with intent to appoints its own next Dalai Lama reincarnation.
At the Office of Tibet in London on Jun 23 morning, a ceremonial handover of two rare historical documents once belonging to Sir Basil Gould, a former British Political Officer in Sikkim, by his family and Giles Peppiatt of the Bonhams auction house. The documents, now destined for the Tibet Museum in Dharamshala, mark a powerful symbol of historical continuity and cultural reclamation, said the Tibet.net statement.
The Tibetan Sikyong’s other programmes after arriving on Jun 21 have included addressing the young Tibetan campaigners on the issue of Tibet at the London School of Economics, interview on Jun 22 with BBC Radio London’s Sunday Breakfast show host Jumoké Fashola about the issues to be highlighted during world-wide commemorations marking the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday.
Later in the afternoon, he was stated to be the chief guest at a joint celebration hosted by the London School of Tibetan Language & Culture and the Tibetan Community in Britain at the Asian Community Centre.