Mr. Speaker, the Canadian-Tibetan community celebrated the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of Tibetan independence yesterday. This recognized a key moment in Tibetan history. In 1913, the 13th Dalai Lama re-declared Tibet's sovereignty after the fall of the Manchu empire. He successfully maintained the sovereignty of the nation until the Chinese invasion of 1949-1950.
Notwithstanding this centennial anniversary, Tibetans today live under such oppressive conditions that so threaten their culture, environment, religious freedom and human rights that we have seen, shockingly, over 100 Tibetans lighting themselves on fire in protest. We call on the leaders of China to meet in earnest with the leaders of the Tibetan government in exile to discuss the Dalai Lama's third way for human rights and democratic, regional, cultural and environmental autonomy for Tibetans within China.