Dear friend,
Last week, the European Parliament adopted by overwhelming majority a resolution on Tibet calling for the re-opening of direct talks between Chinese and Tibetan authorities in order to achieve a genuine autonomy for Tibet within the People’s Republic of China. The resolution also insists on the need to ascertain what exactly happened during the negotiations between Beijing and the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After a few days, the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that China is ready to dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
On March 31st, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament will hold a hearing on the situation of talks between Chinese Authorities and the Envoys of the Dalai Lama. The two parties involved have been invited
We believe that the positive momentum should be seized. For this reason we ask you to join this appeal, calling on China to dispatch representatives for the hearing of March 31, as the Tibetans did. It is a first initiative that should be followed by more important ones, in order to give a new possibility to a nonviolent, federalist and anti-nationalist strategy for freedom and democracy in China and all over the world, starting from the question of Tibet.
Best regards,
Marco Cappato
Member of the European Parliament
We undersigned
considering
- Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's statement "China is ready to dialogue with the Dalai Lama", made during a press conference in Beijing on March 13, that hopefully opens the door to a more positive mutual relationship;
- that the European Parliament adopted by overwhelming majority a resolution calling for the re-opening of direct talks, considering the "Memorandum for Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People of November 2008 as a basis for substantive discussion leading towards positive, meaningful change in Tibet, consistent with the principles outlined in the Constitution and laws of the People’s Republic of China";
- that the Commission on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament decided to put on the agenda of the meeting of March 31 a hearing on the situation of talks between Chinese Authorities and the Envoys of the Dalai Lama;
- that both the Representatives of the People's Republic of China and of the Dalai Lama have been invited to take part in the said hearing;
- that this is a first opportunity to re-open a dialogue, firmly hoped by both the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and the Dalai Lama;
- that the People's Republic of China have not yet replied positively to the friendly and trustful invitation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament;
call on the Government of the People's Republic of China to seize the positive momentum and dispatch representatives for the hearing of March 31, as the Tibetan authorities did, as a first step to re-open a dialogue between Beijing and the Tibetan Government in-exile, regarded by the international community and the European Union with much interest and respect. This dialogue should be finalized to the affirmation of Peace as well as democratic and civil progress in the People's Republic of China and a genuine autonomy for the Tibetan populations.
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