Foreign Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into the UK government's weakening Tibet policy |
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Call for a formal review into the effectiveness of Britain's China-Tibet policy Follow up on Free Tibet's parliamentary brief sent to you on 20 July 2009 and mass lobby action on 10 March 2009 More than 1,000 Tibetans remain unaccounted for after being detained during last year's protests in Tibet, which is now under de facto martial law; freedom of movement and communications are severely restricted; independent media and observers are denied access to sensitive areas of Tibet; this April five Tibetans were sentenced to death. On 10 March over 300 supporters attended a mass lobby of Parliament, demonstrating popular support for Tibet. JOIN US IN ACTION! We are requesting your support for an inquiry by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee into the UK’s weakening position on Tibet. To the right is a sample letter we would like to ask you to send to Mike Gapes MP, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Free Tibet
Photo: Free Tibet Reigate group with MP Peter Ainsworth for East Surrey | Sample letter to Mike Gapes: Please send copies of any responses to Free Tibet; this is very important for us to monitor the campaign. Dear Mr Gapes MP, Chairman of Foreign Affairs Select Committee Foreign Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into the effectiveness of the UK’s China policy in addressing human rights in China and Tibet I am writing in support of Free Tibet’s request to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee for an inquiry into the UK’s foreign policy strategy towards China and its impact on human rights in China and Tibet. Such an inquiry would be timely in view of: • On 29 October 2008 the Foreign Secretary, without parliamentary oversight, issued a written Ministerial Statement saying that Tibet is "a part of the People's Republic of China." This abruptly ended the British position of almost 100 years that China merely enjoyed a "special position" in Tibet; • The Foreign Secretary argued that this change in stance would strengthen Britain's ability to advocate for the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people; days later the Sino-Tibetan talks collapsed and the Chinese government announced that it would "never" accept calls for Tibetan autonomy. • In the 12 years since the inception of the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, few positive results in securing the fundamental human rights of Tibetans were achieved and it did not include any benchmarks to monitor the process. It is unclear what have been the gains of these dialogues. • The British government has, for many years, cited the dialogue and bi-lateral meetings as successes of its foreign policy, ignoring the fact that such meetings have failed to deliver on outcomes. • Unlike other UK bi- or multilateral human rights processes, the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue lacks benchmarks to measure progress on human rights, casting doubt upon the government's claim that human rights are integral to its overall China policy. • In January 2009 the British government published the new strategy ‘The UK and China: A Framework for Engagement’ for engagement with China. This strategy, which is separate from the Human Rights Dialogue, incorporates weak benchmarks to determine progress in the field of human rights: for example, the new framework calls merely for the "reduction" of detention without trial in China, weakening the UN's call for its outright abolition. [Your name]
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