Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India] September 24 (ANI): Tibet may not be visibly featured on the agenda of the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, but it remains an underlying issue in the broader US-China engagement, Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Sikyong Penpa Tsering told ANI in Dharamshala on Thursday.
Commenting on the summit and the expectations surrounding it, Tsering said extensive preparations and consultations had been underway ahead of the meeting, with analysts closely watching the possible agenda and outcomes.
“Right now, under the very dynamic global situation, it doesn’t look like Tibet will appear there, but it’s very much there in the undercurrents,” Tsering said.
“We are watching the observations that have come out of it, and the real summit will happen. Whether there will be a press conference or not, joint communiqué or not, that we’ll have to watch as to how the developments take place,” he said.
Referring to the reported extension of the US-China trade truce until January 10 next year, Tsering said continued engagement between Washington and Beijing would be necessary.
On the Tibet issue, Tsering said the United States already had legislation concerning Tibet and should implement its provisions, including raising the issue with the Chinese leadership.
“The US also has a law on this, so we don’t have to remind the US government that they should be raising this with the Chinese leadership, because this is a law in the United States which they need to implement,” he said.
Tsering reiterated that dialogue with Beijing remained the CTA’s longstanding position on resolving the Tibet issue.
“For dialogue, of course it has always been there in all our statements during the major events in a year,” he said, adding that the call for dialogue had consistently remained an open question for the Tibetan side.
The CTA has maintained that engagement and dialogue are the preferred means of addressing the Tibet issue, and Tsering said this position continued to be reflected in statements issued by the Tibetan leadership during major events. (ANI)
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