Dharamsala, India: - The American Consulate announced the launch of a new website for the Virtual Presence Post (VPP) in Lhasa, Tibet, earlier this month.
The US Consular General in Chengdu said that the Lhasa VPP will focus on planning and promoting outreach events in Lhasa, providing American Citizen Services to U.S. citizens in Lhasa, and highlighting areas of cooperation between the United States and the people of Lhasa.
The website which can be viewed in Tibetan, English and Mandarin seeks to embrace a shared future and enhance cooperation between those living in Lhasa and the people of United States of America.
The US House of Representatives had passed a bill to set up a US consulate in Tibet and to create a ‘Tibet Section,' at the US embassy in Beijing in 2009 but it did not materialize any time soon.
This VPP comes as pleasant news after the US House Foreign Affairs Committee in July had taken up a stand denying permissions for additional Chinese consulates in America until China agreed to the setting up of a US consulate in Lhasa, Tibet.
WHAT ARE VPPS?
VPPs are a relatively new diplomatic approach aimed at broadening US engagement with key cities, communities, regions, and countries where there are no American embassies or consulate buildings.
VPPs provide a low but formal level of diplomatic engagement, with officials from nearby embassies or consulates regularly traveling to the place, holding public outreach programs and media events, thereby creating a virtual presence capable of directly interacting with the local population.
