A large number of law makers from European nations are now demanding reciprocal access to Tibet. This is a strong move against the Communist regime in China as European citizens are commonly denied entry to Tibet while Chinese citizens freely travel across the European territory. The law makers are campaigning for their governments to press China.
A group of 57 law makers from 19 European countries have published an open letter in the Euractiv news portal demanding their respective governments to pass a Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act. According to the report, it is a way to expose China’s secrecy and a common sence response to China’s intransigience.
“Governments across the continent should pass their own versions of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act and send Beijing a message that its unfair treatment of Europeans—as well as its isolation of the Tibetan people—is no longer acceptable.” said the letter by the law makers on Monday.
The letter began by saying that since long before the COVID-19 crisis began, the Chinese government has been permitting only select groups of foreign visitors into Tibet. But now that, as widely reported by the media, China’s secrecy and misinformation helped unleash the pandemic, the world can no longer accept its isolation of Tibet, where another potential crisis with global implications is looming.
When it comes to Tibet, Europe’s relationship with China is defined by a lack of reciprocity. Most European governments allow Chinese citizens to travel freely throughout our countries, while China routinely forbids Europeans from visiting Tibet.
China’s blockading of Tibet is unfair most of all to the Tibetan people themselves. In Europe, Tibetan exiles are cruelly denied the right to visit their homeland and the family members still living there. In fact, when they apply for visas to China, Tibetans are subjected to a discriminatory and humiliating process by the Chinese embassy before their applications are, almost without exception, rejected.
Why should this matter to most Europeans, especially those who have no desire to visit Tibet? The answer is simple: With China posing a greater threat to global freedom and stability than ever before, we must stand up to its secrecy and authoritarianism before we find ourselves with another global crisis on our hands, explained the letter.
United States of America in December 2018 passed the Tibet Reciprocal Access bill unanimously the Congress into a law. The bill is sealed of a law of the country which will ban Chinese from entering US until Tibet opens up to the Americans and the Tibetan Americans. The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act is based on the diplomatic principle of reciprocity, which calls on countries to give equal rights to one another’s citizens.