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El Gobierno de China ha pedido la comparecencia del embajador estadounidense en el país asiático, Jon Huntsman, para transmitirle una protesta solemne por la reunión entre el presidente de EEUU, Barack Obama, y el Dalai Lama. El encuentro, pese a haberse celebrado con relativa discreción en la Casa Blanca, ha sido recibido con furia por las autoridades chinas que han mostrado repetidamente su oposición por considerar que perjudicaría las relaciones bilaterales entre ambos países.
Obama, con el Dalai Lama en la Casa Blanca pese a las protestas chinas.
La llamada al embajador ha sido convocada por el viceministro de Asuntos Exteriores chino, Cui Tiankai, quien será el encargado de presentar a Huntsman su protesta por un encuentro celebrado en momentos de tensión en la relación entre China y Estados Unidos.
Huntsman, de 50 años y ex gobernador del estado de Utah, fue nombrado hace menos de un año embajador de EEUU en China pese a pertenecer al opositor Partido Republicano, por sus lazos con Oriente.
Antes de la presentar oficialmente la protesta a la Administración estadounidense, el Gobierno chino ha asegurado en un comunicado que Washington ha "violado gravemente" los principios que rigen las relaciones internacionales y ha actuado contra los comunicados conjuntos firmados por China y EEUU para establecer los lazos bilaterales.
China exige a EEUU que reconozca a zonas como Tíbet o la isla de Taiwán como parte inalienable del país asiático y no apoye en ningún caso a las fuerzas "separatistas".
"EEUU debe dejar de interferir en los asuntos internos de China y adoptar medidas concretas para mantener el crecimiento sano y continuado de las relaciones" entre Washington y Pekín, ha destacado en el comunicado el portavoz del ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores chino, Ma Zhaoxu.
La recepción del Dalai Lama por parte de Obama añade más tensión en un difícil momento de relaciones entre las dos potencias, después de que en enero una de las principales empresas estadounidenses (Google) amenazara con retirarse del mercado chino, y Washington aprobara una polémica venta de armamento a Taiwán.
El líder espiritual del Tíbet, el Dalai Lama, llegó hoy a Washington para sostener una reunión con el presidente Barack Obama y la secretaria de Estado Hillary Clinton, a pesar de las objeciones de China.
Obama sostendrá mañana jueves un encuentro privado con el líder exiliado de 74 años de edad, luego que el presidente estadounidense canceló el año pasado una reunión con el líder tibetano en vísperas de un viaje presidencial a China.
A diferencia del encuentro entre el Dalai Lama y el presidente George W. Bush en 2007, que fue de carácter público, el encuentro con Obama será en el recinto privado del Salón de Mapas de la Casa Blanca.
El desencuentro entre Obama y el Dalai Lama el año pasado fue la primera vez desde 1991 que el líder espiritual no fue recibido en la Casa Blanca por el mandatario estadounidense en turno.
Durante su reunión con el entonces presidente Bush en 2007, el Dalai Lama recibió incluso la Medalla Congresional de Oro, la más alta distinción civil de Estados Unidos.
Pero en esta ocasión el portavoz presidencial Robert Gibbs defendió la semana pasada el encuentro y desestimó las críticas de quienes lo consideran inapropiado, debido a que no se trata de un jefe de Estado.
“El presidente se reúne todo el tiempo con personas que no son líderes de gobierno”, dijo.
El líder tibetano se reunirá por separado con Clinton mañana jueves en el Departamento de Estado.
“Ella se ha reunido antes con el Dalai Lama. El Dalai Lama es un ganador del premio Nobel, un líder religioso y cultural internacional y la secretaria se reunirá con él como lo han hecho otro secretarios de Estado”, señaló el portavoz Mark Toner.
El Dalai Lama huyó de China en 1959 y se estableció en la India después del frustrado levantamiento tibetano en contra del gobierno chino, que invadió esa región en 1950.
President Obama: You Can Help Broker a Resolution for Tibet
Dear sÖpa,
His Holiness the Dalai Lama will meet with U.S. President Obama this Thursday, February 18th, at the White House – their first meeting since President Obama took office.
President Obama reads 10 messages from the public each day and we want to make sure this week, he reads about Tibet. If we send 3,000 faxes by Thursday we will more than double the number of faxes he would normally receive (an average 1,000 per day) demonstrating that Tibet is a priority for the American public, and indeed for the world.
TAKE ACTION: Please personalize and fax a letter to President Obama now.
The historic meeting comes just days after the start of Losar, the Tibetan lunar new year, and amidst reports of fresh protests in Tibet. Sources in Ngaba, in eastern Tibet, report that on Sunday, February 14th, the first day of Losar, more than 400 Tibetan monks and laypeople sat down in the main town square and chanted prayers of mourning for the Tibetans killed in the 2008 Uprising. Chinese security forces surrounded them and cut off their communications. Read more.
As Tibetans in Ngaba and all over Tibet continue their courageous resistance to Chinese rule, now is the time for our leaders to take bold and new approaches to securing a negotiated resolution for Tibet.
Please take the following actions:
1) Personalize and fax the letter below to President Obama asking him to do everything in his power to facilitate a meeting between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Chinese President Hu Jintao this year.
If there was ever a time to personalize your message, this is it. Especially if you are Tibetan, now is an incredible opportunity to write a heartfelt message that expresses why a resolution for Tibet is so important to you and/or for the world.
2) If you have a Facebook account, please post a comment on the White House fan page urging President Obama to help broker a just and lasting resolution for Tibet.
3) Click here to post the action alert to your Facebook wall and help spread the word.
4) Post a message for President Obama on this new campaign website developed by ITSN in conjunction with SFT: www.ihearttibet.org. These messages will also be faxed to the White House before Thursday.
Tibet will be Free!
Tendor, Kate, Schuyler, TenDolkar, Lhadon and all of us at SFT HQ
Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
President Barack Obama
Below is the sample letter:
Subject: You can help broker a negotiated resolution for Tibet.
Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],
This message comes to you during Losar, the Tibetan New Year, with my sincere hope that your meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be a historic milestone in the peaceful struggle for human rights and freedom in Tibet.
Specifically, I urge you to offer to facilitate a meeting between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and China's President, Hu Jintao. A face-to-face meeting will signal the beginning of real progress towards a just and lasting resolution for Tibet.
After nine frustrating rounds of talks between the Dalai Lama's envoys and China, a breakthrough is needed for progress to be made towards a negotiated resolution to China's occupation of Tibet. Your desire to pursue fresh approaches to long-standing conflicts makes you uniquely positioned to facilitate a meeting between Hu Jintao and the Dalai Lama, your fellow Nobel peace laureate and one of the most respected global leaders of all time.
If there was ever an opportunity to inspire cha nge for Tibet, this is it. Please do everything in your power to seize this opportunity.
Sincerely,
sÖpa Nyima
The Tibet Update enewsletter is a bimonthly summary of news and governmental actions related to Tibet. Past issues in PDF format are located at http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/tibet-weekly-updates.
U.S. GOVERNMENT:
ICT Report: Obama-Dalai Lama meeting an opportunity for "an engaging and constructive dialogue"
ICT welcomes the meeting announced on February 11 between President Obama and His Holiness the Dalai Lama as an opportunity both to deepen their relationship and discuss forward steps in U.S. support for the Dalai Lama's leadership and his approach of seeking a solution for Tibet through dialogue with the People's Republic of China. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has said that the White House meeting is set for February 18 and "The Dalai Lama is an internationally respected religious leader and spokesman for Tibetan rights, and the President looks forward to an engaging and constructive dialogue." Read the full ICT report >>
INSIDE TIBET:
ICT Report: Tension in Tibet as Tibetans mark New Year with prayers for the dead
On February 14, several hundred Tibetan monks and laypeople were surrounded by armed troops yesterday on the first day of Tibetan New Year (Losar) as they gathered together and prayed for those killed in the Ngaba area of Sichuan and other Tibetan areas after the crackdown following protests began in March, 2008. According to reports from inside Tibet, Tibetans in Lhasa too, held somber and devotional commemorations of Losar (Tibetan New Year) amid tension as security was stepped up. Read the full ICT report >>
TIBETAN-CHINESE DIALOGUE:
ICT Report: 9th round of Sino-Tibetan dialogue identifies elements to build on
The International Campaign for Tibet welcomed the strong and detailed statement issued today by Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, the Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and chief interlocutor with Chinese officials during nine rounds of dialogue since 2002. The statement which concluded that "we do not see any reason why we cannot find common ground on these issues," included a proposal for "a common effort to study the actual reality on the ground, in the spirit of seeking truth from facts [to] help both the sides to move beyond each others' contentions" and an appeal to Beijing to stop mislabeling the Dalai Lama as a "separatist." Read the full ICT report >>
Statement by the Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lodi G. Gyari
On February 2, 2009, Special Envoy Lodi G. Gyari said that he and Envoy Kalsang Gyaltsen, accompanied by two members of the Tibetan Task Force and one member of the Task Force Secretariat visited China from January 26 to 31, for the ninth round of discussions with representatives of the Chinese leadership. In Beijing, they had a session with Mr. Du Qinglin, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as well as Minister of the Central United Front Work Department on January 30. On January 31, they had a day-long discussion with Executive Vice Minister Zhu Weiqun and Vice Minister Sithar. Mr. Nyima Tsering, a Vice Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Congress, also participated in these meetings. Read the full statement >>
Chinese State Media report on dialogue
Chinese State Media Xinhua, on February 2, reported that the the Chinese central government and representatives of the Dalai Lama had "sharply divided" views in the latest talks "as usual." Xinhua quoted Zhu Weiqun, executive vice minister of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, who told a press conference, "We have been accustomed to such a confrontation of viewpoints as views had been divided in previous talks." But added that he said the talks "had some upside" as they let both sides know exactly their differences and how wide the differences were. Read the full news item >>
FROM THE ICT BLOG:
Legitimacy and otherwise - February 3, 2009
