Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you very much to the chair and the committee members for this opportunity. It's a great honour to be on your committee.

Canada-China Relations committee  The head of the Central Tibetan Administration was always His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In 2011, he separated the church and state and devolved all his political authority. In 2011, I took over as the political leader. Our administration functions like any other government. We h

Canada-China Relations committee  It's so good to see you virtually. I do come to the Halifax security forum every year, so I hope to come even this November and meet with this community as well.

Canada-China Relations committee  Sure. When we have these technological problems with muting and unmuting, we should all know it's all because of the coronavirus, which originated in China. If there is something about karma, something should happen pretty soon in a good way, that is, a resolution for the Tibet

Canada-China Relations committee  That's the Indo-Tibet border. We say Indo-Tibet border now; the Chinese government says Indo-China border. It's a border that's 3,500 kilometres long, and not even one kilometre of land border was there between India and China. Tibet acted as the buffer zone between India and Chi

Canada-China Relations committee  —on 40-some television shows in India and reminded them that it's always the Indo-Tibet border.

Canada-China Relations committee  I'm Buddhist, and as a human being one should always remain hopeful. Things change all the time. Nelson Mandela was in prison for 27 years, eight years in solitary confinement, but he was released and he has restored democracy in South Africa. In Northern Ireland, people of the s

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, if you investigate the United Nations and different agencies of the United Nations, you will see a lot of Chinese personnel in key positions. If Tibetans want to move a resolution, let's say, at the Human Rights Council, it's extremely difficult. If you want to register a Ti

Canada-China Relations committee  Okay. It's very difficult. If there's a small protest in one village or town, the whole Internet is shut down. There is very repressive technological control. Having said that, there's mouth-to-mouth. When relatives talk to each other, they have to talk in code language. That's

Canada-China Relations committee  I think the situation of Tibetans has been bad, and it could get worse, but under Xi Jinping, in the last 10 years or so, it has gone from bad to worse. The repression is so severe, with the technological control and the manual control of the Tibetan people. Movement has been res

Canada-China Relations committee  If the Chinese government is so confident in what they're saying—subsidies, economic development and benefits for the Tibetan people—then let's have a referendum. Let Tibetans and Tibet choose a Tibetan leader or a Chinese leader. Let them vote. I'm absolutely certain, hands down

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, Tibet was the first case. When Tibet was occupied and human rights violations took place, many people, many leaders, thought they could keep quiet in Tibet and make deals with the Chinese government. Later they realized that what happened in Tibet was now happening in Xinjia

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, definitely; it's a deterrence. When a Chinese official is about to violate or torture a Tibetan or a Uighur or a Hong Kongese, they will think twice and say, hey, if my son or daughter has to study in Canada or America, I had better not torture, because my visa could be deni

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, I think they are Tibetans. The traditional definition of Tibet is Ü-Tsang, Kham and Amdo. These are the three traditional provinces of Tibet. For example, Amdo is mainly the Qinghai and Gansu provinces of China. That's where His Holiness the Dalai Lama was born, which is o

Canada-China Relations committee  Definitely.