29th April: Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s All Party Japanese Parliamentary Support Group for Tibet has congratulated Sikyong Lobsang Sangay on completing his two-term term and pledged continued support for the Tibetan cause. Lobsang Sangay thanked the people and government of Japan for their unwavering support for the truth and justice of the Tibetan cause in his virtual address from here.
Lobsang Sangay said he has visited Japan on a regular basis since his first meeting with Shimomura Hakubun and Sakurai Yoshiko, president of an influential think tank in Japan, during their visit to Dharamsala under the leadership of former Prime Minister Abe.
Shimomura Hakubun, former Japanese education minister and chairman of the Japanese Parliamentary Support Group for Tibet, spoke at the gathering, expressing his delight at the opportunity to congratulate Sangay and thank him for his leadership of the Tibetan government in exile based in Dharamsala.
“The meeting today sends a clear and strong message to the rest of the world that Japan is committed to human rights and democracy. You’re also sending a powerful message to the six million Tibetans who are victims of China’s persecution in Tibet: Japan is for justice “Support for Tibet does not imply anti-China sentiment, Lobsang Sangay said.
He praised Japan for supporting Tibet, the Uyghurs, Mongolia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, saying that “in doing so Japan sends a message that human rights are fundamental and democracy is universal, in comparison to what China claims is socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
Lobsang Sangay shared his concern that the world’s option is “Either you turn China into a more democratic country that respects the human rights of Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Hong Kongers, and Taiwanese, or China will dictate and enforce Chinese-style socialism throughout the world, including Japan.”
According to a Freedom House survey, the situation in Tibet is as poor as it is in Syria, and there are numerous human rights abuses in Tibet, according to Sikyong.
“Monasteries are being destroyed, the Tibetan language is being discouraged, and more than 500,000 Tibetans have been uprooted from nomadic areas and placed in labor camps to assimilate Tibet into China. This assimilation drive is jeopardizing Tibetan identity and civilization “Sangay was quoted in a post on the CTA website.
Shimomura recalled that the idea for the Japanese Parliamentary Support Group came from a chance to accompany former Prime Minister Abe, Japanese lawmakers, and Sakurai Yoshiko to India for a meeting organized by the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals (JINF) to improve relations with India ten years ago.
“We met Sikyong Lobsang Sangay at his modest office after arriving in Dharamsala and spoke at length about the Tibet problem, as well as his interest in developing human capital by educating Tibetans. We eagerly expressed our desire to establish a parliamentary support group in Japan to support the Tibetan cause to His Holiness and the Sikyong “he said
He also said that they would continue to reinforce their support and make concerted efforts to assist the Tibetan people, noting that former Prime Minister Abe had been invited to the online felicitation ceremony and that they hoped he will join the parliamentary support group for Tibet.
Picture courtesy: tibet.net
Leave a Reply