Tokyo — The political leader of Tibetan people, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay has warned Japan and China's other neighbours, saying what happened to Tibet could happen to them.
Sikyong also reportedly said that he has high expectations for President Donald Trump to maintain friendly relations with Tibet, as Trump's predecessors have.
Responding from question from Kyodo news agency, Sikyong said, “We also hope President Trump will continue the past tradition of US presidents meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, support the Middle Way Approach and human rights of the Tibetan people,” said Sikyong.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he will continue to encourage dialogue between Beijing and representatives of the Dalai Lama or Tibetan “government in exile”. I will also encourage Beijing and the governments of all nations to respect and preserve the distinct religious, linguistic, and cultural identity of the Tibetan people worldwide.
Dr Lobsang Sangay, in Tokyo for meetings with Japanese officials, also urged Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to share his insights about how to establish good relations with President Trump, according to media reports. Abe was in the U.S. in last week holding talks and playing golf with Trump.
Dr Sangay said Japan and China's other neighbors should be wary of Beijing's assertiveness in the regional seas, saying what happened to Tibet could happen to them. In a stern warning to China, the new US administration has said it will protect its interests in the disputed South China Sea and defend international territories from being taken over by “one country”.
During addressing the welcome reception organised by the office of Tibet in Tokyo, Sikyong also said: To understand China, one must understand Tibet. "China's scheme to expansion through building infrastructure, entertainment hubs and coopting with leaders of other countries in the recent days were used prior and during their invasion of Tibet.
China signed the treaty in 1996, but Beijing’s response to the international tribunal’s ruling, and its military exercises in the area, suggest it has no intention of complying with it. Beijing announced several new plans in 2016, for breaking international law in the South China Sea, that includes military activities such as the dates of the drill, the geographic coordinates of the area, and the terse warning: “Entering prohibited.”
Chinese government says Tibet has been part of its territory since the mid-13th century, but Tibetans say Tibet was independent nation with a written history of more than 2000 years, remained an independent, sovereign State. "China is rewriting its own history, by branding Tibet as a its new product, makes a silly childish joke," said TJ. Nyima, a Tibetan living in exile.
"To claim that Tibet became a part of China because both countries were subjected to varying degrees of Mongol or Yuan Dynasty control, as the PRC does," Nyima says is "indeed totally absurd. Because, the Mongol Empire was a world empire; no evidence exists to indicate that the Mongols integrated the administration of China and Tibet or appended Tibet to China in any manner."
He said Tibet side also responded, to the Chinese communist regime, saying "It is like unprofessional claiming that Spain should part of France because both came under Roman domination, or that Burma became a part of India when the British Empire extended its authority over both territories."
Tibet was invaded by Communist China in 1949. Since that time, over 1.2 million out of 6 million Tibetans have been killed, over 6000 monasteries have been destroyed and acts of murder, rape, arbitrary imprisonment, torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment were inflicted on the Tibetans inside Tibet. Beijing continues to call this a "peaceful liberation".
