Exiled Tibetans hope Trump will help in resolving Tibet issue

The Tibetan Parliament-in-exile on Tuesday expressed the hope that new US President Donald Trump would encourage the Chinese government to resume the Sino-Tibetan dialogue for an amicable resolution of the Tibet issue.

Congratulating Trump at being sworn in as the 45th President, Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel said previous US Presidents have met Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and encouraged the Chinese government to resume the Sino-Tibetan dialogue.

"We are confident that under your presidency as well, the US will continue this longstanding tradition and will re-energise the international effort to resolve the issue of Tibet amicably with China based on the middle-way approach," he wrote to Trump.

Tenphel said the situation inside Tibet under the Chinese government's intensive political repression continued to remain grim and alarming despite China's lofty claims of having liberated and developed Tibet for the past 66 years.

"Since 2009 over 145 Tibetans in Tibet have resorted to self-immolation in protest against China's rule in Tibet, calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet," he added.

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

--IANS

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