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World parliamentarians to meet for Tibet
From United Nations to European Parliament, from United States Congress to German Bundestag, from Irish and Hungarian to Basque and Nordic Sammi Parliaments, hundreds of resolutions have been passed in support of Tibet and the Tibetan people. Global Tibet movement crossed a major milestone when the All Party Parliamentary Forum for Tibet, under the stewardship of Mr. George Fernandes and Mr. Mohan Singh, organised the First World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet (WPCT) in New Delhi, March 1994, during which 65 parliamentarians from 25 countries passed what is now widely known as the New Delhi Statement on Tibetan Freedom, which called for "the formation of all-party parliamentarian groups on Tibet in the parliaments which did not have such groups, as well as an international network of parliamentarians to coordinate activities on the Tibetan issue." Since then three more conventions have been held. The 5th WPCT will now be held in Rome within the first half of April 2008, the speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile said, following his recent official visit to Italy. The convention will be co-hosted by the Italian Inter-Parliament Group for Tibet, said Speaker Karma Chophel, during an exclusive press conference for the Tibetan media on Wednesday. Regarding the past conventions, the 2nd WPCT, held in Vilinius, Lithuania, March 1995, and attended by 88 parliamentarians from 21 countries, "reaffirmed its support to the New Delhi Statement and resolved to initiate investigations, hearings and inquiries on the legitimacy of China’s claim, in every parliament represented at the convention, and to persuade members of other parliaments to do the same", as a prelude to according recognition to the Central Tibetan Administration. The 3rd WPCT in Washington, DC, April 1997, reaffirmed support for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Middle-Way Approach seeking genuine autonomy for the whole of Tibet within the People’s Republic of China. Since the convention in Washington, DC, the number of parliamentary groups for Tibet has risen steadily to 27, most in the West and Latin America, and also in India and Japan. After an eight-year-long gap, the 4th, and the latest, WPCT was co-hosted by the Scottish Cross Party Parliamentary Group on Tibet and the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet, in Edinburgh on 18 and 19 November. Attended by 96 parliamentarians and other delegates (total 133) from about 30 countries, the convention urged the Chinese government "to indicate commitment to the negotiation process by making visible improvements in its policies in Tibet, in particular." The convention also decided to hold the next WPCT prior to the 2008 Olympic Games and review the progress. (Read full text of the Edinburgh Declaration) |
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Last updated: 11-June-2007