Vol. 462 No. 7
20 Miss Harney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the diplomatic steps, if any, the Government is taking in relation to the continued illegal occupation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China and the continuing ill-treatment of Tibetan citizens. [5306/96]
When Ireland established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1979, the Government recognised the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China. The Chinese position at that time was and still is that China included Tibet.
The Government have taken up the issue of the ill-treatment of Tibetan citizens bilaterally with the Chinese authorities and at the United Nations. I raised the serious concern of the Government at the Tibetan situations with the Chinese Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister, Qian Qichen, during our discussions on 6 October 1995, on the occasion of his visit to Ireland. I emphasised to him the strength of the concern of the people of Ireland and other EU countries about the situation there. I also referred to the cases of 50 prisoners which were raised with the Chinese authorities by the EU heads of mission in Beijing during their visit to Tibet in 1993.
During the visit to China of the EU Troika delegation on human rights from 22 to 24 January 1996, the dispute between the Dalaí Lama and the Central Government over the selection of the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama was raised with a view to seeing if the wishes of the Tibetan people might be respected. The delegation also separately voiced concerns on other issues relating to Tibet in the course of several meetings with the Chinese authorities, including the population transfer of Han Chinese to Tibet, the issue of religious tolerance, the treatment of dissidents, the status of the Tibetan language and the issue of education.
