China tries to exclude pro-Tibetan group

China tries to exclude pro-Tibetan group

The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

The People's Republic of China (PRC) has again expressed its
strong objection that the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and
Democracy (TCHRD) be allowed to attend the upcoming World Summit
on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The decision of whether the TCHRD will be allowed to attend
the meeting will be decided on Friday during the United Nations
(UN)'s plenary meeting here, confirmed Pragati J. Pascale, a
senior media officer at the UN.

Norzin Dolma, one of TCHRD's activists, said on Wednesday that
the Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN had requested the
world organization exclude his group from participating at the
World Summit slated to be held from August to September this
year.

The organization has already registered with the UN on its
participation at the upcoming summit.

In a letter sent to the UN Headquarters two weeks ago, the
Chinese representative accused members of the TCHRD group of
being separatists who support the independence of Tibet, said
Dolma.

The PRC representative has also said that the presence of the
group was not relevant to the issue of sustainable development,
and they merely wanted to slander the PRC government at the
event.

It was the third attempt by the Chinese government, after two
previous successful moves to kick out two other pro-Tibet
organizations, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) and the
Tibet Justice Center (TJC), from participating in the next World
Summit.

In the UN's General Assembly meeting last April, the majority
of UN member countries, including Indonesia, rejected the
presence of the two pro-Tibetan organizations in the World
Summit.

"Their allegations that we would raise political issues is
groundless. We are committed to focusing on various environmental
problems in Tibet," explained Norzin at the sidelines of the
PrepCom meeting.