Chinese Liaison Officer Sangay Kyab Participates in a Conference Discussing Democratisation of China in Berlin

The Chinese Liaison Officer from the Tibet Bureau in Geneva, Sangay Kyab, attended the “Joint conference of the people of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Uyghur, Mongolia and Inner Mongolia against the atrocity in China” held by Sino Euro Voice in Berlin, Germany.

It was co-organised by the UK Headquarters of China Democracy Party, the Federation for a Democratic China, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, and the Democracy Party of China.

The conference’s inaugural featured Dr Jhy-Wey Shieh, the Taiwanese Representative to Germany, who delivered the opening remarks and emphasised the importance of unity and cooperation among the communities represented for fostering positive change in China. The Representative further expressed his gratitude to the Tibetan, Mongolian, and Uyghur communities for their solidarity and support for Taiwan in light of the increased aggression from the PRC in the Taiwan Strait.

In his address during the opening ceremony, Chinese Liaison Officer Sangay Kyab recounted His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s immense contributions and shrewd guidance in promoting collaborations among the victims of the CPC’s political repression while expressing his disappointment for the oversight in including a representative of White Paper Movement in this conference.

As the conference reflected on the Communist Party of China’s 75 years of rule, Sangay Kyab provided a detailed account of the 75 years of repression in Tibet, dividing the period into four distinct phases. He noted that the Chinese government initiated major political campaigns in Tibet from 1949 to 1965, following a violent incursion. This was succeeded by the infamous Cultural Revolution, which lasted from 1966 to 1976. Kyab highlighted the CPC’s promotion of mass immigration into Tibet from 1980 to 2012, alongside various sinicisation programs, marking the third phase of repression that led to numerous self-immolations, particularly after the 2008 pan-Tibet protests. He categorised the current period under Xi Jinping as the fourth phase, characterised by state policies aimed at erasing Tibetan identity, notably through the forced admission of over 1 million Tibetan children into colonial-style boarding schools.

In the virtual talk section of the conference, Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen of the Office of Tibet in Taiwan delivered a talk, stressing that international discussion and attention over the Tibet cause has not yet diminished as many misperceive. In light of that, he elaborated on the recent enactment of the Resolve Tibet Act in the US.

Representatives from Tibet, Southern Mongolia, East Turkistan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Chinese pro-democracy activist groups participated in the conference.

A day later, at 10:30 in the morning on 25 October, participants of the conference held a protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in Berlin.