Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities

A week after his initial announcement to run for the Europe seats in the forthcoming Tibetan parliamentary elections of 2021, Tsering Passang spoke on his four “Key Priorities”. Reiterating his intention to stand in the forthcoming elections, the London-based Tibetan parliamentarian candidate used his social media platform to reach out to Tibetans living in Europe and Africa.

Tsering said that as elected Chithu, in addition to his legislative responsibilities in the Tibetan Parliament, he would focus on the following key priorities:

1. Leading, coordinating and strengthening political campaigning and advocacy work on Tibet in Europe and beyond.
2. Supporting dialogue with the Chinese leadership towards finding a lasting political resolution of the China-Tibet issue.
3. Strengthening Tibetan Communities in Europe.
4. Ensuring the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) delivers its vital public services to the Tibetan Communities in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

The London-based aspiring Tibetan parliamentarian shared his ideas on Tibet advocacy, cultural preservation, and strengthening unity amongst the Tibetan communities in Europe through a range of events such as annual lobby days, political rallies, Eurovision style Tibetan festivals, Europe Chithu channel, etc.

Tsering also explained how he intended to achieve his priorities during the five-year term in office:

1. In Europe and Africa, I will work towards strengthening relations with key stakeholders including parliamentarians, government officials, support groups, Buddhist centres, human rights advocates, Chinese dissidents, Tibetan communities, and Offices of Tibet.  I will pursue new alliances and opportunities for the Tibet issue and the Central Tibetan Administration.
2. I will maintain cordial relations with all the key Departments and Offices of the Central Tibetan Administration and find ways to help our communities in the Indian subcontinent and beyond.
3. I will make every effort to pay visits, listen to and interact with Tibetan communities in Europe and Africa and to learn about their views, opinions and problems and their solutions during my term as a Chithu.
4. I will release regular updates – both in written and video materials – so that I keep all concerned members informed.
5. In addition to public meetings, I will also make myself available for individual meetings to discuss any issues or concerns and finding amicable solutions.

Tsering responded to questions from the public via his social medial channel on 26th November. So far, eight candidates had declared their candidacies for the two seats (allocated for Tibetans in Europe) in the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile, based in Dharamsala, northern India. Exiled Tibetans go to the primary elections of Sikyong (President) and Chithu (parliamentarians) on 3rd January 2021.

(Tibetan Translation as below):

གུས་པའི་ལས་འཁུར་གཙོ་འདོན་ཁག

སྤྱི་འཐུས་ལ་འོས་འདེམས་བྱུང་ན་གྲོས་ཚོགས་ནང་ཁྲིམས་བཟོའི་ལས་དོན་ཁག་ལ་ཆ་ཤས་འཐུས་གཙང་ཞུ་བ་དང་ཆབས་ཅིག་སྤྱི་འཐུས་ཀྱི་ལས་རྒྱུན་རིང་ས་གནས་ས་ཐོག་ཏུ་ཁ་ཡོད་ལག་ཡོད་ཀྱིས་གཤམ་འཁོད་ལས་འཆར་ཁག་ལ་དམིགས་གསལ་ཤུགས་སྣོན་བྱེད་རྒྱུ་ཡིན།

༡ བོད་ཀྱི་ཆབ་སྲིད་ལས་དོན་གྱི་ཐོག་ཡོ་རོབ་དང་ས་ཕྱོགས་གང་སར་བདེན་པའི་ཞུ་གཏུགས་ཀྱི་ལས་འགུལ་ཤུགས་ཆེ་རུ་སྤེལ་རྒྱུ།

༢ བོད་རྒྱའི་འབྲེལ་ལམ་དང་ཞི་མོལ་གྱི་ལས་དོན་ཐད་རང་ནུས་གང་ལྕོགས་ཀྱིས་རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་ཞུ་རྒྱུ།

༣ ཡོ་རོབ་ནང་གི་བོད་རིགས་ཚོགས་པ་ཁག་ལ་གང་འོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་ཅི་ནུས་ཞུ་རྒྱུ།

༤ རྒྱ་བལ་འབྲུག་གསུམ་ནང་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་མིའི་སྒྲིག་འཛུགས་ཀྱི་ཁྱབ་ཁོངས་བོད་མི་ཡོངས་ལ་དགོས་ངེས་ཀྱི་རོགས་རམ་ དུས་ཐོག་ཐུབ་པ་ཞུ་རྒྱུ།

གུས་པའི་ཐབས་ལམ།

༡ ཡོ་རོབ་དང་ཨ་ཕི་རི་ཀའི་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་སོ་སོའི་འབྲེལ་ཡོད་མི་སྣ་དང་། གྲོས་ཚོགས་ཁག བོད་དོན་རྒྱབ་སྐྱོར་ཚོགས་པ་ཁག བོད་བརྒྱུད་ནང་བསྟན་ཆོས་ཚོགས་ཁག འགྲོ་བ་མིའི་ཐོབ་ཐང་རྩོད་མཁན་གྱི་ཚོགས་པ་ཁག བོད་རིགས་ཚོགས་པ་ཁག དོན་གཅོད་ལས་ཁང་། དེ་བཞིན་དུ་རྒྱ་ནག་དམར་པོའི་གཞུང་དང་ལངས་ཕྱོགས་མི་མཐུན་པའི་རྒྱ་ནག་གི་ཕྱོགས་འགལ་ཚོགས་པ་ཁག་ བཅས་ལ་འབྲེལ་བ་ཟབ་ཏུ་བཏང་ནས་གོ་སྐབས་དམ་འཛིན་གྱིས་དབུས་བོད་མིའི་སྒྲིག་འཛུགས་ཀྱི་ དམིགས་ཡུལ་ཐོག་ཤུགས་སྣོན་ཐེབས་ཐབས་ཞུ་རྒྱུ།

༢ དབུས་བོད་མིའི་སྒྲིག་འཛུགས་ཀྱི་ལས་ཁུངས་མ་ལག་དང་བཅས་པར་འབྲེལ་བ་དམ་ཟབ་ཀྱིས་རྒྱ་གར་དང་། ཕྱི་རྒྱལ་གླིང་ཕྲན་ ཁག་བཅས་ན་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་པ་དང་བོད་རིགས་ཚོགས་པ་ཁག་ལ་དགོས་ངེས་ཀྱི་རོགས་རམ་དུས་ཐོག་སྨིན་ཐབས་ཞུ་རྒྱུ།

༣ རང་ནུས་གང་ལྕོགས་ཀྱིས་ཡོ་རོབ་དང་ཨ་ཕི་རི་ཀའི་ནང་ཡོད་པའི་བོད་རིགས་ཚོགས་པ་ཁག་ལ་ངོ་བཅར་གྱིས་ས་གནས་ མི་མང་གི་བསམ་ཚུལ་དང་། དཀའ་ངལ་སོགས་ལ་གཟབ་ཉན་གྱིས་སྐབས་འཕྲལ་གྱི་དཀའ་ངལ་གང་ཡོད་སེལ་ཐབས་ཞུ་རྒྱུ།

༤ ལས་རྒྱུན་རིང་དུས་བཅད་ཀྱིས་མི་དམངས་ཀྱི་མཁྱེན་རྟོགས་སླད་བསྒྲུབས་ཟིན་པའི་ལས་ཀའི་སྙན་ཐོ་དང་། བསྒྲུབ་རྒྱུའི་ ལས་འཆར་རྣམས་ཡིག་ལམ་དང་ བརྙན་ཐུང་དྲྭ་རྒྱའི་ལམ་ནས་སྤེལ་རྒྱུ།

༥ ལས་འགན་གནད་སྨིན་ཡོང་ཆེད་དམིགས་གསལ་ཡོ་རོབ་སྤྱི་འཐུས་ཁྱབ་ཁོངས་སུ་གཏོགས་པའི་མི་སྒེར་སོ་སོའི་ དཀའ་ངལ་དང་། བསམ་ཚུལ་ལ་ཉན་རྒྱུའི་དུས་ཚོད་ཆེད་འབུལ་གྱིས་སྐབས་བབས་ལས་དོན་ལ་གྲུབ་འབྲས་ཐོབ་པའི་ཐབས་ལམ་འཚོལ་རྒྱུ།

(London, UK | 20^th November 2020)

Tsering Passang is the latest candidate to announce his decision to run for the Europe seat in the forthcoming Tibetan parliamentary elections of 2021. He is passionate about Tibet and the Tibetan issue. Tsering believes that his long commitment to the Tibetan cause and extensive experience in the field makes him a suitable candidate to advance the Tibetan cause both within the Tibetan Parliament in Exile and beyond, including in Europe. The announcement was made online this morning via his social media channel.

Tsering said: “Tibet continues to remain under the illegal occupation of Communist China. The current shift in global attitudes towards China presents a unique opportunity to promote stronger advocacy work on behalf of Tibet on the international forum. The current situation also presents a new opportunity for us Tibetans to strengthen and form new alliances with like-minded nations around the world.  I am therefore keen to use my initiative, experience and social networks and to work hard towards achieving the goals of advancing Tibet’s just cause by challenging Communist China.

“With nearly 20 years of experience as director, fundraiser, programme manager, special adviser, rights advocate, and public events and community organiser for a number of British Tibet-related, membership-based NGOs (charitable, political, advocacy and voluntary community organisations), I know what needs to be done for my community and for our freedom struggle. I am ready to take on a challenging and public leadership role in uniting our people to secure a greater impact for our peaceful freedom struggle and justice in Tibet.”

Running for the Tibetans in Europe’s Chithu seat, Tsering said: “I have shown time and again that, when given the opportunity to lead an organisation such as the Tibetan Community UK as the elected Chairman from 2014 to 2016, I can make a huge impact in a short period of time, whether through public mobilisation or fundraising initiatives. I have proven success  with other Tibet organisations such as the Tibet Foundation, the Tibet Society and Tibet Relief Fund, in securing substantial funds as well as undertaking new initiatives in support of Tibetans inside Tibet as well as for those in exile in the Indian subcontinent.”

Tsering’s latest initiative – the Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities (GATPM) – aims to highlight the plight of Tibetans and other persecuted peoples under China’s control. Within months of starting this new platform, Tsering has successfully organised numerous public and online events, and secured political support from British MPs through their parliamentary debates and public statements.

Apart from giving talks in public settings, including schools and universities, Tsering has addressed special forums on human rights and political issues in Geneva and with Chinese student groups at Oxford. In addition to organising many political, cultural and community events, Tsering continues to engage with the UN, and with British and European political figures and their governments on Tibet advocacy work.

Tsering was brought up in a Tibetan refugee camp in western Nepal, home to the Mustang-based Tibetan Resistance veterans.

CONTACT:

BRIEF BACKGROUND

Name: Tsering Passang

Residence: London, UK

Present occupation: NGO Director (Former Chairman of Tibetan Community in Britain)

Education:

1998 – 2001: BSc (Hon) Information Technology, University of Salford, UK

Professional Service:

2019 –         : Director, Tibet Foundation

2017 – 2018: Special Adviser, Tibet Society

2007 – 2016: Sponsorship Programme Manager, Tibet Relief Fund

2001 – 2007: Art & Culture Programme Manager, Tibet Foundation

Community and Voluntary Service

2020 –         : Convenor, Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities (GATPM)

2018 – 2020: Adviser, Tibetan Community UK

2014 – 2016: Chairman, Tibetan Community UK

2014 – 2016: Chairman, Tibetan Refugee Charitable Trust

2014 – 2016: Trustee, Tibet House Trust

2014 – 2016: Council Member, Tibet Society

2014 – 2016: Board Member, Young Tibetan Education Club (Y-TEC)

2009 – 2010: General Secretary, Tibetan Community UK

2002 – 2006: Culture Secretary, Tibetan Community UK

སྐུ་ཞབས་ཚེ་རིང་པ་སངས་ལགས་ནི་བོད་མི་མང་སྤྱི་འཐུས་ལྷན་ཚོགས་སྐབས་༡༧ པའི་ཡུ་རོབ་ཀྱི་སྤྱི་འཐུས་སུ་བཞེངས་མཁན་གསར་ཤོས་དེ་ཡིན།

ཁོང་ནི་ལོ་ངོ་༢༤ རིང་དབྱིན་ཡུལ་དུ་གནས་སྡོད་བྱེད་མཁན་ཞིག་ཡིན་པ་དང་། བོད་མིའི་རྩ་དོན་དང་འབྲེལ་བའི་ལས་འགུལ་ བྱས་དང་བྱེད་བཞིན་ལ། རྒྱ ་བལ་འབྲུག་གསུམ་དང་། བོད་ནང་གི་བོད་མི་ཚོའི་དཔལ་འབྱོར་ཡར་རྒྱས་རོགས་རམ་ཚོགས་པའི་ དམིག་བསལ་གྱི་ངེས་སྟོན་པ་དང་། ལོ་མང་རིང་དབྱིན་ཡུལ་བོད་རིགས་ཚོགས་པའི་རྒྱུན་ལས་ཀྱི་ལས་འགན་སྤྱི་དང་། སྐབས་འགར་ཚོགས་གཙོ་དང་དྲུང་ཆེའི་ཞབས་ཞུ་ཡང་གནང་ཡོད། མདོར་ན། གཞུང་འབྲེལ་མ་ཡིན་པའི་ཡན་ལག་མང་དག་ཅིག་ནང་ལྷག་བསམ་བཟོད་མེད་ཐོག་བོད་མིའི་ངོ་ཚབ་མཚོན་བྱེད་དམ་བཅའ་གཏན་པོ་གནང་དང་གནང་བཞིན་པ་ཡིན།

གཞན་ཡང་བོད་དེ་བཞིན་རྒྱ་དམར་བཙན་གནོན་དང་སྡུག་རྩུབ་བསམ་ཡུལ་ལས་འགལ་བའི་དཀའ་ངལ་ལོ་རེ་བཞིན་ཇི་སྡུག་ཏུ་འགྲོ་བཞིན་པར་བརྟེན། ཁོང་གི་ལས་འཆར་དང་པོ་བོད་མིའི་ཐབ་རྩོད་འདི་བཞིན་འཛམ་གླིང་སྡིངས་ཆའི་ཐོག་གླེང་སློང་གང་མང་བྱེད་ཐབས་ བྱ་རྒྱུ་དང་། བོད་གཞིས་བྱིས་གཉིས་མཉམས་འཛོམས་ཡོང་ཐབས་སུ་འབད་བརྩོན་ཞུ་རྒྱུའི་དམ་བཅའ་གཏན་པོ་ཡོད།

ད་ལྟའི་དུས་མཚམས་འདིར་བཙན་འབྱོལ་བོད་མིའི་སྒྲིག་འཛུགས་ནང་མེད་དུ་མི་རུང་བ་ནི་བོད་མི་ནང་ཁུལ་ཆིག་སྒྲིལ་ཡར་རྒྱས་གཏོང་ཐབས་གལ་གནད་ཆེ་བར་སོང་། ཡར་རྒྱས་གོང་མཐོར་གཏོང་ཐབས་སུ་ཁོང་ནས་ལས་འགུལ་ཇི་འཆར་ཁག་མི་མང་རྣམས་འབྲེལ་གཏུགས་ཞུ་རྒྱུ་ཡིན།

བརྗོད་དོན་མཐའ་མར།  ཁོང་གྱི་ལོ་རྒྱུ་དང་བོད་མི་རིགས་ལ་བཅངས་པའི་སེམས་ཤུགས་ཀྱིས་འདས་པའི་བྱས་རྗེས་རྣམས་ཞིབ་ཅིང་ཕྲ་བ་རྣམས་ཇི་བཞིན་གཟིགས་འདོད་ཡོད་མཁན་རྣམས་ཀྱིས་དབྱིན་ཡིག་ནང་གཟིགས་གནང་བའི་ཐུགས་མངའ་ཞུ།

Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, Co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), led the Westminster Hall Debate on Wednesday, 7th October 2020 from 9.30am to 11am. He introduced the debate by stating that Tibet was in the news before but then it got forgotten for a while. The former Conservative Party leader said that this important debate was about China’s rapid expansion of the mass labour programme in Tibet. Sir Iain Duncan Smith also stated that the report was co-published by IPAC with Adrian Zenz, an independent scholar.

The debate was attended by MPs from all political parties namely – the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party (SNP). The Debate was chaired by Mr Philip Hollobone MP.

This timely debate was welcomed by Tsering Passang of the Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities (GATPM. He said, “We welcome and thank Sir Iain Duncan Smith and all the other MPs for taking part in this important debate on China’s rapid expansion of labour programme in Tibet. We are also encouraged by MPs from all political spectrum taking keen interest on the latest developments in Tibet, East Turkistan, Hong Kong and other parts of China. We urge the UK government to use its power and work with international partners and allies to bring about a positive change, dignity and freedoms for Tibetans, Uyghur Muslims and all the other peoples currently suppressed by the Chinese regime.”

Video source: https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index…

 
PRESS STATEMENT ON THE GLOBAL ACTION DAY - 1 OCTOBER 2020
By Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities (GATPM)
Contact: Tsering Passang
Email: gatpm2020@gmail.com
Tel: +44 (0) 7927 376 532

1. The Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities (GATPM) welcome Statements by British MPs – Tim Loughton and Abena Oppong-Asare from the Conservative and the Labour Parties respectively on the ‘Global Action Day’ – 1^st October 2020.

2. Public Statement by Tim Loughton MP, Co-Chair, The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet – 1^st October 2020

“On the day that the Chinese Communist Party celebrates the National Day of the People’s Republic of China with a characteristic display of military might and global arrogance we join the great majority of the free world in remembering the victims of Chinese oppression past and present. For over 60 years now the peace loving people of Tibet have seen their liberty, their culture and their heritage systematically suppressed and over a million have lost their lives upholding everyday freedoms that we take for granted in the Free World. They continue to be persecuted within Tibet and increasingly amongst the widespread communities forced to live outside of their homeland.

In the last few years the suppression of minorities within Chinese borders has taken an even more sinister turn as we see the latest assault on the liberties of the Uighur people, forced into concentration camps and subject to appalling sterilisation programmes that constitute genocide under UN definitions. In Hong Kong, which has for long been a beacon of freedom and creativity China has thought nothing of reneging on international agreements to bring that population to heal and we stand shoulder to shoulder with the brave citizens who continue to take a stand against the world’s most oppressive superpower.

Whilst the Government of China celebrate power and military force we remember and support those who have given their lives and continue to stand up for liberty and the values of peace and freedom we all represent.” 

3. Public Statement by Ms Abena Oppong-Asare MP- 1^st October 2020

“I strongly believe human rights should be at the heart of UK foreign policy. I have been absolutely horrified by reports of human rights violations in Xinjiang, China. On this Global Day of Action it is important that we speak out against actions that are so clearly wrong that no Government should be able to turn a blind eye. The mass detention of the Uyghur peoples and the efforts to restrict cultural and religious practices targeting Tibetan and Uyghur people must be condemned by all politicians.”

I have long believed the Government should impose sanctions on Chinese officials involved in the persecution of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang. Today I want to echo these calls again and ask that the Conservative Government urgently condemns all human rights violations in Xinjiang, China.”

4. Each year, on 1^st October, the People’s Republic of China celebrate its National Day. This year marks the 71^st anniversary of the China’s occupation of East Turkistan and Tibet. Whilst China celebrates its victorious day, Tibetans, Uyghurs, Taiwanese, Chinese Democracy activists, Southern Mongolians, Hong Kongers and activists from other Chinese occupied territories join hands together to call on the international community to rise and stand up against the Chinese Communist regime for its brutal crackdown on freedom, democracy and human rights violations. Human Rights activists and those seeking justice from the Communist China are observing ‘Global Action Day’ on 1^st October and organizing events worldwide to create awareness about the Chinese expansionist designs and atrocious policies implemented against the innocent peoples of Chinese-occupied countries. Public demonstrations, lobbying with the MPs and various discourses are taking place worldwide to garner political support for their causes.

5. Freedom and human rights are the fundamental birth rights of every human being but regrettably, the people living under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are stripped off these rights. The brutal illegal occupation of Tibet, arbitrary detention of millions of Uyghurs in internment camps, unreported detention, forced disappearance and silencing of countless Chinese lawyers and activists, loss of fundamental rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, erasure of Southern Mongolian’s culture & language, intimidation and bullying of Taiwan illustrates the scale of the existing concerns across the country and among the global diaspora.

6. Tibetan Buddhists and Uyghur Muslims suffer atrocities and acts tantamount to Genocide, masterminded by the Chinese Communist regime in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR and other militarily occupied countries for over the past seven decades. Uyghur Muslims are subjected to mass detention, mass surveillance, restriction of religious and cultural identities, as well as other gross human rights abuses. Over 3 million Uyghurs have been forced into world’s largest detention centres. The confirmed reports have revealed that the Uyghur detainees are forced to eat pork, drink alcohol and denounce their identity as Muslims. They are forced to take pills, injections and are subjected to sterilisation procedures, medical experiments, and organ harvesting. The atrocities and human rights abuse faced by each and every community, particularly the minorities, in China and the occupied areas, is a reflection of the CCP’s clamorous disregard for the rights of the people whom it called their own citizens. This also makes evident the evil and nefarious desire of Xi Jinping to consolidate power and forcibly stifle dissent. There is an extensive and well researched body of evidence, including first-hand testimony, eyewitness accounts, and a range of supportive information from a variety of sources, including Chinese documentation, international media reports, television documentaries and accounts from first hand witnesses testifying gross human rights abuses and forcible mind wash of the minorities in Tibet, East Turkistan etc.

7. It is painful to note the minimal, tentative and generalized response to what is a major human rights concern within Tibet and East Turkistan. This is a right time and the United Nations Organizations (UNO), which is believed to be a torch bearer for the protection of Human Rights of every individual across the globe irrespective of its origin/ethnicity, and the world leadership to address these grave issues on priority and take cognizance of all the human rights abuses in Tibet, East Turkistan and elsewhere in China and its occupied territories.

8. International leadership has just started speaking up against the Chinese brutalities and it is believed that a global initiative and international strategic coalition is much required thing to counter the Chinese government’s totalitarian regime. Last year in October, over 23 countries issued a joint statement and asked China to stop the human rights abuse against Uyghurs but nothing has been done to minimize the suffering of this minority community. China is continuously committing cultural genocide and the world’s silence is deafening. The silence of World community has emboldened the Chinese aggression and onslaught against Tibetans and Uyghurs who are being stripped of their human rights.

9. Although, much damage has already been done, it is high time that the international community should wake up and recognize the threat posed by the Chinese Communist party to peoples living under its rule, and to those countries which are under the influence of China due to the monetary benefits, huge debts etc.

10. In order to ensure that the justice is prevailed, the world leadership must hold Chinese regime accountable for genocide/ crimes against humanity in Tibet/East Turkistan and the members of UNO should slap economic and diplomatic sanctions on China. A special session of UNO should be called urgently and a formal statement issued after passing a resolution on this serious issue. There is an urgent need of an independent inquiry be initiated under the auspices of UN designated body to look into the Genocide and crimes against humanity in Tibet and in East Turkistan and those responsible for these crimes be sanctioned under the international laws. The crimes against the Uyghurs & Tibetans should be recognized as genocide according to the International Genocide Convention.

11. The Chinese companies involved in exploitation or oppression should be held publicly accountable and a boycott action should be considered to put pressure on them to stop facilitating inhumane surveillance on the Uyghur inmates, benefiting from forced labour, and profiting from a systematic abuse of human rights. It is vital that a special rapporteur should be assigned to Tibet and to China’s Xinjiang region, with the task of documenting the suffering of the Tibetans, Uyghur & other Chinese Muslim minorities and presenting a clear picture before the UNO and other international bodies. There is a need to unravel the truth and conduct an impartial assessment, with the participation of independent human rights organisations, of the impact of the Chinese population control programme on the Tibetans, Uyghurs and other subject peoples of the Chinese occupied territories.

12. As part of the ‘Global Action Day’ – #ResistChina, the Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities (GATPM) has just released an interview with Mr John Billington, the Goodwill Ambassador for London-based Tibet Foundation, an international development charity, and former Chairman of Tibet Society, the world’s oldest Tibet support group. 

The 84-year old sympathetic Briton, who is very familiar with China’s occupation of Tibet and East Turkistan, said, “I think there are legitimate grounds for criticising China, and we have reached a point where opposition to China is now very widespread. So, I think this does give an opportunity to those countries which feel that their freedom has been taken away by Chinese invasion, by Chinese occupation, as you rightly termed it. There is chance for them to form a coalition of countries which want to regain their independence from China.”

The 32-minute interview with the China analyst was conducted by Tsering Passang, Convener of the Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities.

This interview can be watched through this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ccFk3y7Fug&feature=youtu.be

This morning, my delicious lunch which I brought with me was left behind on a seat of the London Cannon Street bound (Thameslink) train. As I hurriedly got off at London Bridge station around 7.45 am to change for my next train to London St. Pancras station, I forgot to take my lunch box which was put in a white cotton bag. In it you will find some clean rubber hand gloves as well, but no dessert – sorry! The founder may enjoy my delicious lunch!

I was actually listening to one of my favourite Tibetan pop songs by Tenzin Choegyal singer/musician from Canada and I got carried away when the train pulled into the London Bridge station.

I enjoy cooking and eating plenty as well! I started cooking at the age of about 12, my mother used to tell me! Last night, I cooked a delicious meal for my wife and I – kids wanted pizza. It was one of my favourite meals – a Chinese style with Tibetan input!

The lunch box contained plain boiled basmati rice, which we bought from the Morrison store. The aubergine was slow fried. Pork chop was cut into smaller pieces and slow fried in olive oil. Oh yes, garlic was fried first until it got brownish. And there are some red chilies sauce. For my last night cooking, I only used soya and hoisin sauces which we bought from a local Vietnamese supermarket.

My name is Tsering Passang and I am a charity worker – currently the Director of Tibet Foundation. Soon this 35 year old Tibetan charity will cease to exist. Previously, I served as the Chairman of the Tibetan Community in Britain. I have nearly 20 years of experience of working in the Tibet world – in the NGO sector primarily.

I see myself as a born Tibetan activist. I was born and brought up in a refugee camp in a remote part of Nepal before I came to the UK 24 years ago. I vividly remember the older generation of our people in the Tibetan refugee camp – telling me that Britain has all the historical documents that proved Tibet was an independent country before China’s invasion of my parents’ homelands. I never forget those words particularly from an elder called – Azin, my neighbhour, who sadly passed away a year ago. He was a tall, a man of few of words who was born in the far eastern part of Tibet in Yunnan province (Jupa). He was absolutely right. The documents are well documented in the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office archives.

I passionately continue to advocate for the rights of the Tibetans as well as other persecuted minorities in China including the Ugyhur Muslims. I love the Chinese people and have many Chinese friends but I also love challenging the Chinese Communist regime openly for causing so many problems not only in Tibet but now around the world.

Whenever I get time, I also try to upload on my social media (facebook & twitter) including my personal blog: www.tsamtruk.com Just recently, I started an online platform to raise the plight of the Tibetans and other minorities in China including the Uyghur Muslims through – Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities (GATPM) – http://www.facebook.com/GATPM2020

If you like my post, please share it! Thank you for reading my post and I wish you a lovely day!

As His Holiness the Dalai Lama turned 84, over 250 former CTA staff gathered together in Dharamsala this past week to offer a long life prayer ceremony for His Holiness. The event also turned into a reunion of sorts for hundreds of former CTA staff who worked tirelessly alongside His Holiness the Dalai Lama for decades. Among these are Tenzin Namgyal Tethong, Gyari Pema Gyalpo, Phunstok Wangyal and Tsering Dorje who worked as the Representative of His Holiness in the United States, Japan, UK and Switzerland in the early 1970s and 1980s. Watch them sit together and discuss about their stint as His Holiness’ Representative, the challenges they faced and their future hopes for Tibet. PS: Don’t miss the section where they also talk about their visit to Tibet in 1980. They were all a part of the second fact finding delegation to Tibet.

ONLINE PANEL DISCUSSION APRIL 25, 2020, (Time: 7pm IST, 9:30am EST)

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic across the world, an important part of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery’s 31st birthday celebration of the 11th Panchen Lama (Gedun Choekyi Nyima) this year will be an Online Pancel Discussion and keynote Speech by CTA President Dr. Lobsang Sangay. The following experts will also speak and answers any questions from the audience.

• Dr. Lobsang Sangay, President of Central Tibetan Administration, India
• Ven. Zeekyab Rinpoche, Abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, India
• Ms Sophie Richardson, China Diretor, Human Rights Watch, USA
• Dr Tenzin Dorjee, Commissioner, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), USA
• Mr Arif Virani, Member of Parliament, Canada
• Mr Metteo Mecacci, President of International Campaign for Tibet, USA
• Moderated by Ms Pema Tulotsang, Asia Officer at National Endowment for Democracy, USA

The agenda for the online panel discussion will cover the following issues:

In view of this live discussion, we are happy to invite questions from the public based on the issues raised above. Please email your questions before the panel discussion starts to office@tashilhunpo.org

1. I. The 11th Panchen Lama’s tragic life story
2. II. The importance of Panchen Lama’s lineage to the Tibetan Buddhism
3. III. The release of the Panchen Lama from the clutches of the Chinese government

Please ensure that your questions are specific and to the point. The online panel discussion will be aired via Bluejeans and streamed live on Facebook.

This special online panel discussion is organised by Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Bylakupee, south India. https://www.facebook.com/Tashi-Lhunpo-Monastery-India-210377766072245/

We are very saddened by the passing of Jamyang Choegyal Kasho (popularly known as Jamchoe-la within the Tibetan Community in London) in the early hours of 24th March. We remember him in our prayers and send our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

Jamchoe-la is the first British Tibetan (living in the UK) known to have been infected with the Coronavirus (COVID-19). According to his close friend, Jane O’Sullivan, Jamchoe-la was admitted to King’s College Hospital in south London on 15th March after initial flu-like symptoms. Two days later, doctors diagnosed COVID-19. Jamchoe-la was already known to have serious underlying medical conditions.

Jane, who has known Jamchoe-la since 1992, said that he was always very grateful for the compassionate medical care he received from staff at King’s College Hospital. The hospital is one of London’s largest and busiest teaching hospitals, with a strong profile of local services.

Jamyang Choegyal Kasho was born in Lhasa, Tibet, in 1938. Educated in Tibet, India and Beijing, he became completely fluent in the Chinese language and ways of thinking, whilst also attaining mastery of Tibetan and English. In 1991, after a career as a middle-level official in Tibet, he became the first (and probably only) Tibetan official and Party member of that rank to defect while on an official visit abroad. He then spent some 20 years in London as a translator, advisor and analyst of exceptional ability, working alongside those studying and publishing commentaries on contemporary Tibetan affairs.

Jamchoe-la was a philanthropic person and a generous supporter of voluntary community organisations and charities including Tibet Foundation. Only a few weeks ago, Jamchoe-la donated to our “Give Elders Dignity” appeal – in aid of elderly Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal. He also often sent money to his friends, intended for poor people as well as for commissioning pujas in India.

His book, “In the Service of the 13th and the 14th Dalai Lamas: Choegyal Nyima Lhundrup Kashopa – Untold Stories of Tibet”, was published by Tibet House, Germany, in 2015. Jamchoe-la painstakingly dedicated many years to producing this book, to tell what he described as the “Untold Stories of Tibet” as seen through his own eyes and family experience.

In the Foreword, Professor Robert Barnett, former Director of the Modern Tibetan Studies Program at Columbia University, New York, and co-founder of the Tibet Information Network (TIN), wrote, “Kashopa Choegyal’s book is unique in many ways. It provides a detailed glimpse into the inner world of Tibetan elite politics in the first half of the twentieth century. Focusing on the last decade of the period between the 1910 and 1950 invasions of Lhasa by armies from China, it details the life and thinking of his father, a leading government official at that time. Several works about that epoch have appeared in English in recent years, written by other leading aristocrat-officials or their offspring, including at least five by the Dalai Lama or his immediate family. But those writers and their subjects had fled with the Dalai Lama in 1959 and had little knowledge of events in Tibet following their departure, as well as limited familiarity with Chinese language or politics. This book is thus the first of its kind, and the first to be written in English without a ghost writer or intermediary by a Tibetan brought up and educated in the Chinese system.”

Prominent Tibetan historian and Canada Research Chair in Religion and Society in Asia at the University of British Columbia, Professor Tsering Shakya also wrote, “Jamyang Choegyal has written a compelling case for his yab dampa pa, noble father’s place in the recent history of Tibet. As he writes, he is not writing what might be called an objective history, but the truth as he and his family see it. Yet it is a frank and detailed account of an important Tibetan historical period and as such it provides a window into the political life of Tibet. The publication of the book adds to our understanding and knowledge of Tibet.

“By writing this book, Jamyang Choegyal has served faithfully his noble father’s memory, but also provided a source of information on the recent history of Tibet for future generations of Tibetans, for whom the recollection of a once free and independent Tibet will surely provide inspiration.”

Jamchoe-la is survived by his daughter and a grandson in Tibet.

(This tribute piece was written for Tibet Foundation website, first published on 24th March 2020.)