Dharamshala — The 5th annual meeting of Chinese liaison officers of the Central Tibetan Administration began at the Tibetan Reception Center in Dharamshala on October 13th.
The inaugural session of the meeting was attended by President Dr Lobsang Sangay and the two secretaries – Sonam Norbu Dagpo and Tenzin Dhardon Sharling – of Department of Information and International Relations. Others at the inaugural session include Kalon Phagpa Tsering and Prof Ming Xia from the University of New York.
Calling on a collaboration of the Tibetan leadership with individuals and organizations that serve as liaison between Chinese and Tibetan people, President of Central Tibetan Administration Dr Lobsang Sangay in his inaugural remarks, said that the five-day meeting will strengthen the outreach efforts and bolster communication between Chinese people and the Tibetan Diaspora.
President Dr Sangay said that the Chinese-outreach program has been one of the high priority agendas of the Central Tibetan Administration.
“To propagate the Tibet narrative to the Chinese, the need for Tibetans to know the Chinese language is important. The Chinese language plays an important role in communicating with the Chinese (mainly students and teachers) on the Tibet narrative and in dispelling any misinterpretations brought forward by the Chinese Communist Party. ”
“Through this collaboration, we must look forward to encourage more and more participants to attend such meetings and at the same time be wary of the care that must be taken in such engagements with the Chinese Diaspora.”
Secretary of Department of Information and International relations (DIIR) Sonam N Dagpo, in his introductory remarks, welcomed the participants and gave an overview of inception and implementations of Chinese-outreach programs.
The five-day meeting includes three days of discussions and two days of workshop from 13-18 October.
It is being attended by 47 participants which include Chinese liaison officers from four different Offices of Tibet (OOT), the staff of DIIR’s China Desk and a number of Tibetans acquainted with the Chinese language.
