Tibet Issue Raised in Canadian & Australian Parliaments

MP David Sweet addresses the House of Commons. March 25: A Canadian parliamentarian, David Sweet, raised the issue of Tibet in the House of Commons on Thursday and called upon Xi Jinping to meet with the leaders of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. “I would like to note that the world is now watching how President Jinping's government lives by those words and lives up to those expectations with regard to the situation in Tibet,” said Sweet. He also termed the situation in Tibet as “increasingly violent and desperate”. “Given this urgency, we sincerely encourage President Jinping to meet with the leaders of the Tibetan government in exile to discuss the Dalai Lama's middle-way approach for peace, human rights, stability and a reasonable coexistence between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples,” he added. Sweet is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale and the Chair of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. On same day, Senator Sarah Hanson Young of the Greens Party moved a motion on Tibet in the Upper House of Australian Parliament. In a motion passed in the Senate notes that the Australian Government must urge Chinese authorities to address the underlying causes of tension in Tibetan regions; end the use of harsh policies such as increased surveillance and violent crackdowns; lift restrictions on access to Tibetan regions, including for international media and diplomats; and resume substantive talks with the Dalai Lama’s representatives. The continuing crisis in Tibet has a series of self-immolations that has now seen 111 Tibetans set themselves on fire since 2009.