Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-11-18-Speech-4-124"
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"en.20041118.11.4-124"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the situation being what it is, it is difficult to discuss the fate of Tibet and the fate of the Tibetan people without emotion and without personal involvement. The Tibetan people live in unique circumstances imposed by nature and have always been somewhat isolated from the surrounding world. They have developed a unique culture and a unique approach to international affairs. Yet for several decades, the Tibetan people have been subjected to fierce persecution by China, an imperialist and Communist country that took advantage of the fact that Tibet has never aspired to any kind of special international standing. Given the unique circumstances imposed by nature I mentioned earlier, Tibet has never seen any reason to send ambassadors to other countries or to aspire to any kind of international standing. In consequence of this, China declared it to be a state and a nation without sovereignty and without any right to sovereignty. The Tibetan nation and state did indeed have a right to sovereignty, but not in the sense in which this is generally understood in Europe. We are in the habit of recognising states if they have their own ambassadors and diplomatic representations and take part in international conferences.
We cannot condone the unlawful actions of the Chinese authorities, as a result of which this peaceful nation has become a victim of Chinese imperialism. What we are now witnessing is the infliction of violence on this peaceful nation, a violence that is escalating and causing the mass exodus of Tibetans to Europe and to other countries round the world. We cannot condone the wholesale persecution of a peaceful society and the destruction of this society’s culture, language and religion. Nowadays, the world today is prepared to turn a blind eye to a great many wicked acts, provided these acts are committed by those who provide economic contracts and who offer the chance of some kind of material benefit. The House should not accept moral principles of this kind, principles held by people who would agree to a nation being eradicated from the international arena provided they gained some small material benefit. It might not even be that small a benefit; it might actually be quite considerable. We have tabled a joint motion for a resolution intended as an appeal to all the EU governments and those who will participate in the EU-China summit to ensure that China puts a stop to such persecution. In particular, we appeal for action to be taken on a very topical case involving a prisoner of conscience. We call for the release of the monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche."@en1
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