We have Truth on our Side: Sikyong on China’s White Paper on Tibet
April 30, 2015
By Staff Writer
DHARAMSHALA: Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Tibet Museum’s inauguration, Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay made a brief remark on the White Paper on Tibet published recently by China’s State Council Information Office.
Explaining what he called the Chinese government’s nervousness over its grip on occupied Tibet, Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay said the latest White Paper on Tibet is another attempt by the Chinese government to mislead the world about the real situation inside Tibet.
“Since the early 1990s, China has issued 13 white papers on Tibet. This means Beijing has issued a white paper on Tibet for almost each of the two years within this intervening period,” Sikyong said.
“China has issued two white papers on Xinjiang, one on Hong Kong and none on Inner Mongolia so far. The fact that China has published not one, not two, but 13 White Papers on Tibet, is a testament to the fact that the information provided, principally by the Central Tibetan Administration, as well as by other leading international Tibet support groups, are the ones considered factual and authentic by the world,” he said.
“White papers by nature are authoritative guides on complex issues that need to be resolved or commercially as sales and marketing documents. For the Chinese government to issue 13 white papers on Tibet means that it is having great difficulty in convincing potential customers to buy its arguments on Tibet. These white papers are a dozen too many, too unconvincing and too late to arrest the worsening conditions in Tibet,” Sikyong reasoned.
Describing truth and justice as its guiding principle, Sikyong said that “the Chinese government is economically much more powerful and has a large resource of manpower and finance at their disposal. The resources available with the Tibetan people pales in comparison to those of China. However, our wholehearted efforts to create awareness on the Tibet issue has been much more significant as we have truth on our side,” Sikyong asserted.
The latest whitepaper on Tibet issued by the Chinese government has been heavily criticised by the Central Tibetan Administration and Tibet support groups worldwide as another attempt to whitewash the tragic reality in Tibet.
The CTA has issued a press release earlier, in response to the White Paper, urging the Chinese government to open up Tibet to both international rights groups and media instead of issuing White Papers on Tibet.
“Let the international media do an objective report on the issue of Tibet and let the world be the judge,” the CTA has said.