U.S. official meets Tibetan delegates in Dharamshala

U.S. Special Coordinator on Tibet Uzra Zeya met with the ‘Sikyong’ or leader of the self-styled Central Tibetan Administration Penpa Tsering and other officials and representatives of the Tibetan community on a public visit to Dharamshala by an American official for the first time in three yearson Wednesday. “We believe this trip can and must translate President Joe Biden’s statements of support into the proactive initiatives needed to build on global support for Tibet, including lifting the veil that the CCP’s 70-year occupation is an ‘internal matter,’ the U.S.-based advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement, adding that its Vice President Tencho Gyatso was present in Dharamshala during Ms. Zeya’s visit, and called for talks between China and the Dalai Lama’s representatives to be restarted. According to sources, Ms. Zeya also met with civil society representatives in Delhi and discussed human rights concerns in India, especially pertaining to restrictions on NGOs and curbs on media freedoms. Ms. Zeya’s visit follows a few weeks after the European Union’s special envoy on Human Rights Eamon Gilmore, and is likely to be followed by a visit by U.K. special envoy, also to discuss human rights and religious freedom issues ahead of a planned “International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief” in London in July this year, of the 35-nation International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance headquartered at the U.S. State department.