Tibetan group asks Trump to seek release of Panchen Lama during talks with Xi

Washington, Ahead of China's President Xi Jinping's visit to the US, a Tibetan advocacy group has urged US President Donald Trump to seek the release of the Panchen Lama and press for resumption of substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

Tibetan group asks Trump to seek release of Panchen Lama during talks with XiThe International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement here that the US policy is guided by The Tibetan Policy Act of 2002 and the Resolve Tibet Act of 2024.

The two laws establish that the Tibet-China dispute should be resolved peacefully through substantive dialogue without preconditions and direct the US government to promote dialogue between Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama or his representatives, ICT President Tencho Gyatso said.

"President Trump must therefore uphold this policy and use his meeting with Xi to press for the resumption of Sino-Tibetan dialogue - especially at this critical juncture, when China's new, so-called 'Ethnic Unity and Progress Law' threatens the very foundations of Tibetan identity," Gyasto said.

The ICT also wanted Trump to seek release of the 11th Panchen Lama, who was recognised by the Dalai Lama on May 14, 1995, and went missing three days later.

The ICT also joined dozens of human rights organisations in calling on the Chinese government to take immediate, verifiable steps to address its human rights record.

"Tibetans, Uyghurs, and other communities continue to face your government's atrocity crimes designed to erase their culture, identity, and language, and their rights to free speech and fair trials," the 29 rights groups said in an open letter to President Xi.

The groups also asked Xi to resume substantive and unconditional dialogue with representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration, which is the sole legitimate democratic representative of the Tibetan people.

They also sought the release of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, and other political prisoners, or in the absence of his release, to permit US government officials to meet him independently.

The 29 groups also asked Xi to repeal the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law and end other policies that forcibly assimilate the Tibetan population and threaten the preservation of Tibet's religious, linguistic, and cultural identity.

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