European MPs favour raising Tibet issue with China

Fifty-two members of the European Parliament have urged European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to raise the issue of human rights violations in Tibet with Chinese leaders, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said on Wednesday.

The parliamentarians from six political groups wrote to Mogherini last week that the arbitrary detention, arrest and torture of peaceful protestors in Tibet were of great concern.

They said 204 Tibetans have been arrested or sentenced to imprisonment since the new European Parliament was convened on July 1, 2014.

Leading an EU delegation, Mogherini is currently on her maiden tour of China since becoming the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

The European parliamentarians quoted the June 2012 resolution on the human rights situation in Tibet adopted by the European Parliament.

The resolution mandated the EU High Representative to address the human rights situation in Tibet at every meeting with the representatives of the People's Republic of China.

They also favoured resumption of dialogue between China and representatives of the Dalai Lama to resolve the Tibetan issue. There has been no official contact between the two since January 2010.

The Dalai Lama has lived in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Tibetan administration-in-exile is based in this northern Indian hill town.