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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 9 Oct 2002

Vol. 554 No. 5

Written Answers. - Position on Tibet.

Jim O'Keeffe

Ceist:

485 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he supports the appointment of a special co-ordinator for Tibet and the opening of negotiations without pre-conditions on the future of Tibet. [16171/02]

This year, in March, the Dalai Lama sent a letter to the EU Presidency, and the Foreign Ministers of the member states, including myself, to ask the EU to appoint an EU Special Representative to Tibet. The EU discussed and replied with a joint response to this proposal. It was decided not to pursue such an appointment, since it was agreed that any EU Special Representative would be unable to contribute effectively in Tibet, without Chinese support.

The EU is aware that China has refused to allow the US State Department's Tibet co-ordinator, Ms Paula Dobriansky, to visit Tibet. The EU believes that nominating an EU Special Representative would not achieve anything practical and that our concerns would be more effective when expressed to the Chinese authorities directly.

In our bilateral contacts with China, and through the European Union, Ireland has continued to raise and pursue our concerns with the Chinese Government and urge them to engage in meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama, and to respect fully the rights of the Tibetan people.

I reiterated this position during my meeting in Beijing with my Chinese counterpart, Minister Tang, on 23 January of this year. I highlighted, in particular, the level of concern in Ireland in relation to Tibet, and strongly encouraged the Chinese authorities to engage in full dialogue with the Dalai Lama on the issues of concern.
In September of this year, the Minister of State, Deputy Kitt met Mrs. Kesang Takla, the London-based Representative of the Dalai Lama, who briefed him on the current situation in Tibet.
Deputies will be aware that an EU-China dialogue on human rights was initiated in January 1996, and resumed after a temporary interruption in 1997. Since then, several rounds of the dialogue have been held in an open and constructive atmosphere. The EU-China human rights dialogue constitutes a platform to engage China on sensitive issues, including individual cases, the use of the death penalty, conditions of detention and the situation in Tibet. The dialogue allows the EU to channel our concerns directly to the Chinese authorities. The next round of the dialogue is due to take place in Beijing on 13-14 November 2002.
I am pleased that representatives of the Dalai Lama have just completed a visit recently to China. The delegation visited Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Lhasa, and other areas of Tibet, and met with Government and Chinese Communist party officials. The head of the delegation, Lodi Gyari, the Special Envoy of the Dalai Lama, said in a statement that he had been impressed by the greater flexibility in attitude displayed by the current leaders. The Dalai Lama has welcomed the positive gesture of the leadership in Beijing in receiving the delegation, and was very pleased that a renewed contact had been established. I hope that this visit will pave the way for direct dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama leading to a peaceful and lasting solution to the Tibetan question.
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