Sure, I will do the introductions.
[Witness speaks in Tibetan]
I just felt that it was important that I say a few words in Tibetan, since I represent the Central Tibetan Administration and reflect the aspirations of six million Tibetans.
It's an honour and privilege to be here in front of this committee. I also think it's important and necessary to have a real voice here, following the recent hearing of the so-called delegation from the Tibet Autonomous Region in front of this committee.
Today I would like to say that this delegation truly reflects and represents the aspirations of six million Tibetans. From the right-hand side, or clockwise, as Tibetans usually go, we have Namgyal Dolkar, Migyur Dorjee, Pema Chagzoetsang, and Dhondup Tashi, and Van Tenpa Yarphel.
They represent the Tibetan Parliament in Exile; and Ngodup Tsering represents His Holiness the Dalai Lama and is the North America representative for the Central Tibetan Administration. He is based in Washington, D.C. As you can see, we have elected representatives of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, and a representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in this room.
First, with regard to the the previous delegation from the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region, it's only part of traditional Tibet. Traditional Tibet constitutes Ü-Tsang, Kham, and Amdo, three provinces, and as far as area-wise, it's about 2.5-million square kilometres of land, which, in a North American context, is as big as Texas and California combined, or as large as western European countries.
Secondly, the Tibetan delegation sent by China is nothing new, as it has always been part of the Chinese government strategy to have such delegations serve as a smokescreen to the grave human rights violations that are going on in Tibet. It is basically colonial masters forcing a few natives to parrot their propaganda.
What is new is the global community falling for China's propaganda, either to appease Beijing, or selling one's morals for short-term economic gains. Hence, it's encouraging and refreshing to see the committee so courageous and moral in inviting me to speak on what is actually happening in Tibet. I must say that you all stand up for true Canadian values, for which we are very, very appreciative.
I must put my presentation in the context of saying, if you want to understand China, you must know the Tibetan narrative. If you don't understand the Tibetan side of this story, you won't understand China fully. For example, One belt, One Road is much talked about. There are around 60-something countries that have subscribed to it. Many articles have been written about the pros and cons of One Belt, One Road, but for Tibetans, One Belt, One Road reminds us of a nightmare, in the sense that the occupation of Tibet happened with one road.
In the 1950s, the Chinese Communist government promised peace and prosperity for Tibetans, if only Tibetans would help them build one road connecting China to Tibet. Hence, Tibetans did. In fact, there was a song composed in the 1950s and 1960s saying that Communist China is like parents: they shower you with gold and silver coins, if you work for them. Tibetans were actually paid silver coins to build that road connecting China to Tibet. Once that road was completed, trucks came, guns came, and tanks came; hence, Tibet was occupied. Since then the railway line has come and airports have come, all further strengthening and affirming the occupation and colonialism of the Tibetan region.
As you might know, 36 ambassadors of European countries have objected to the one belt, one road initiative for its lack of transparency as to how contracts are given in implementing that initiative.
The delegation from China essentially said that Tibet is free and that Tibetans enjoy freedom. Here I would note that Freedom House comes out with a report every year, a freedom index. As per the report of 2016 and 2017, Tibet is the least free region after Syria. Everybody knows about Syria, and I know in Canada it's also one of the most talked about and discussed issues, but how many Canadians know that Tibet is the least free region after Syria? Also, since 2009, 152 Tibetans have committed self-immolation. They have burned themselves.
What is forcing 152 Tibetans to commit self-immolation and burn themselves? It's an act of desperation and determination calling for freedom for the Tibetan people and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet. This is their aspiration, but still, not many people know about these facts. Why? Again, Reporters Without Borders, as you know, a major international NGO based in Paris, issued a statement based on reports by journalists in Beijing. What they have concluded is that, for journalists, it's more difficult to access Tibet than North Korea. Now with the recent meeting and signing of an agreement between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, everybody knows about North Korea, but how many people know about the situation in Tibet? Not many. Why? Because journalists cannot go to Tibet.
The recent delegation also said that Tibet is free and that Canadian members of Parliament and government officials could go to Tibet to see for themselves, but I must report to you that even the diplomats, Canadian diplomats in Beijing, have great difficulties travelling to Tibet, let alone without any restrictions or without being accompanied by Chinese officials on every visit, determining who they can and cannot see.
These are the realities of the situation in Tibet. The situation is second only to Syria, and access is more difficult than in North Korea. In the larger context, politically or ideologically speaking, I think there's a choice in front of us and Canada too. The choice is, either you transform China to be more like you, a liberal democracy, or China will transform you. China is already transforming many countries around the world. I travel to various capitals around the world, and now the consensus is that either you try to change China or China will transform you.
There's a lot of self-censorship going on, including in European countries. There's a lot of interference in the domestic politics of many countries. If you look at the debate in Australia, in America, and in Germany, it's not just commercial investments that the Chinese companies and businessmen are making; they're now also in academia and in politics. For example, in an Australian university, several Australian professors mentioned Taiwan, Tibet, and Tiananmen Square. Chinese students are the largest group of foreign students in Australia, and some of them complained about those professors. What did the university do? The university fired those professors.
Now Chinese interference is very much present in academia as well, despite the fact academic freedom is what we cherish the most. But their influence and penetration in academia is also very clear. What does that say? In the larger context, as I said, either you transform China, or China will transform you. Xi Jinping at his 19th party congress made it very clear. Xi Jinping thought is socialism with Chinese characteristics, which means one-party rule, no freedom of speech, no democracy. That's what they're bringing to the table in the international forum. Either we have to accept that or we have to push back and say liberal democracy is what we cherish, and the Chinese government should also follow that direction.
The second point, environmentally also, is that Chinese president Xi Jinping and the Chinese government makes a big deal or splash in the headlines around the world that they want to lead the world on environmental matters. If you look at the track record of the Chinese government's behaviour or actions in Tibet, you see that the results are disastrous. For example, Tibet has around 123 kinds of minerals—gold, copper, uranium, you name it— and all are exploited without much concern for the local culture, local environment, and local people. For example, some estimate that 75% of the lithium in China comes from the Tibetan area. Some say 90% of the rare earth in China and around the world comes from Inner Mongolia.
Now, I think if you own a Chinese-made smart phone, you'll know they're very cheap because they use Tibetan lithium. Extraction of lithium is very complicated because you have to use a lot of heat to extract it from the rocks, but in the process you pollute the soil, you pollute water, you pollute air. The local Tibetans don't get anything paid. In the process, the land, water, and air of Tibet is polluted. When they get lithium at such a cheap rate without paying anything to Tibetans and they use it in batteries, smart phones, and other gadgets, that makes the Chinese product very cheap. Similarly, they don't pay much to Inner Mongolians when they extract rare earth. That's why the Chinese products are very cheap.
Environmentally, Tibet is the water tower of Asia. Ten major rivers of Asia flow from Tibet. You can name any of the major rivers: Indus or Sutlej for India and Pakistan, Brahmaputra for India and Bangladesh, Salween River, Irrawaddy River, and the Mekong River. The lifeline for all of the Asian countries flows from Tibet. The Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the cradle of Chinese civilization, flows from Tibet. Tibet is the water tower for 1.4 billion people—it's that important.
We've been sharing water with all of our neighbours for free. Nowadays, we have to pay to buy water in this world so we've been very generous. Unfortunately, the Chinese government sits on the water tower of Asia and controls the flow of the water tower.
Tibet also has 42,000 major glaciers at the moment, but many scientists have concluded that in the last 70 to 80 years, 50% of the glaciers have melted and disappeared. Also, NASA says that by 2100, 75% of the remaining glaciers will melt and disappear. If those glaciers were to disappear, what will happen to the water tower of Asia? What will happen to 1.4 billion people who depend on fresh water flowing from Tibet?
It's not just that. Underneath the Tibetan glaciers or the Tibetan plateau, like Canada, it's permafrost. Under the permafrost, there is carbon dioxide and methane, around 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. With global warming and the industrialization of the Tibetan plateau, with the cutting down of trees and all the Chinese population moving into Tibetan areas, the permafrost is melting. If it is to melt, which is 70% of the Tibetan plateau, and if the 10-million tonnes of carbon dioxide is released, then I think global warming as we know it will be very different. If 10-million tonnes of methane is to be released, which is 30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, then even if all the Canadians started walking instead of driving, it wouldn't help with global warming.
The consequences are disastrous for the whole world. From an environmental point of view, Tibet is a major issue not just for six million Tibetans, and not just for Asia, but also for Canada. In fact, scientists in Quebec have said that whether the winter in Canada is warm or cold is dependent on the climate changes in the Tibetan Plateau, because the jet stream over Tibet affects climates in North America, South America, and all the way to Africa. Hence, because we're short of time, I'd just like to say that ideologically or politically, and environmentally and historically, Tibet is a major issue for the rest of the world.
Let me conclude by saying that what we seek is also very reasonable. What we seek is support for the middle way approach, which is the policy envisioned by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and unanimously supported by the Tibetan parliament, that is, to seek genuine autonomy as per the Chinese constitution so that Tibet can remain within China, but that the autonomy or the rights guaranteed in the Chinese constitution be implemented. That's very reasonable, and the middle way approach does not contradict the one China policy.
Why I say this is that in 2014 and 2016 His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with U.S. President Obama. Both times, the White House issued a statement, first, supporting the middle way approach, and then in 2016, not just supporting but applauding the middle way approach, which means that the U.S. government does not see a contradiction between the one China policy and the middle way approach.
The middle way approach essentially is to seek genuine autonomy within China—not to seek to separation from China, but autonomy within China. This is a moderate, reasonable policy that is also a win-win policy for China and the Tibetan people. I hope the Canadian Parliament and government will support the middle way approach.
In a way, Canada is the ideal partner or advocate for the middle way approach or genuine autonomy, because Canada actually implements genuine autonomy in many of the provinces within Canada. Even as a friend of China, Canada can say that it implements genuine autonomy for different groups in Canada, which is the best way to maintain peace, prosperity, and stability within Canada, and in fact also strengthens the sovereignty of Canada, because many provinces of Canada enjoy autonomy as per the Canadian Constitution. On the issue of Tibet, this is a good model for China as well.
With that, I'll conclude my short remarks. I want to thank Chair Bob Nault for giving us the platform to share our thoughts on the issue of Tibet. I also want to thank the honourable members for spending their precious time on giving us a hearing on the issue of Tibet.
Thank you very much.
