Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Again, I think you say it is for the Canadians to uphold your principles. Absolutely. Certainly democracy and freedom are your principles, so it is for Canada to uplift that. We do believe that, yes, democracy in the end is going to be the most important vehicle of change in Chin

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes. I'm not surprised that you heard such comments. First of all, as a Tibetan, I can tell you that your gesture has sent a very strong message of hope. Again, I think each time that you make such a gesture, you are actually contributing to the stability and the peace on the pli

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much. Again, we would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to India. You mentioned that. I think quite often people don't understand, but the fact today is that the Tibetan identity is alive and thriving because we have been able to take refuge

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  With regard to the sixth round of talks, I think what I said is that it is crucial, because in the last five rounds, somehow we have been able to identify our differences. As far as we're concerned, we are now committed from the sixth round to start making efforts to overcome tho

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much. First of all, I wanted to mention that specifically here in Canada, as elsewhere, it was always the parliamentarians who actually took the first step in understanding our plight. The governments sometimes came a little reluctantly on board and sometimes not

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm sure my colleague will also add to that. First of all, using the word “genocide” with regard to Tibet was not something we coined ourselves. In the early 1960s the prestigious Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists conducted a very thorough investigation with many

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm very glad you asked that question, because this is a question my Chinese counterparts also ask us. The five-point peace proposal, and most importantly, also His Holiness's speech to the European Parliament, certainly does form the basis of his philosophy of a middle-way app

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Of course, the UN is a very respectable organ. In the early 1960s, we ourselves went to the UN for refuge and we have three resolutions from that august body. Unfortunately, in the last couple of decades, such important institutions as the United Nations have been too dominated b

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, my colleague and I feel greatly honoured to be invited to testify at your committee. Certainly we come here not to badmouth the Chinese government, not to do China-bashing, because in my case particularly, the responsibility that was give