London — During a debate on the UK Government policy towards China, Lord Callanan of UK Parliament said, "the Chinese Communist Party’s decades-long campaign to erase Tibetan culture, religion and identity is a stain on the conscience of the international community. Let us not forget that, not that long ago, Tibet was an independent country."
Members of the House of Lords debated the UK government's policy towards China, including human rights and security issues arising from Chinese actions in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, the South China Sea and against the Uyghurs of East Turkestan, on December 19, 2024, in London, UK.
During the debate, Lord David Patrick Paul Alton of Liverpool, current member of the House of Lords and chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hong Kong said, "In Tibet, the CCP continues its campaign of cultural erasure. There are systematic efforts to suppress the Tibetan language, dismantle monasteries and impose sinicisation policies. The Dalai Lama remains exiled and religious freedoms are virtually non-existent."
"Freedom House has ranked Tibet among the least free regions in the world, highlighting the CCP’s use of surveillance, mass arrests and propaganda to suppress Tibetan identity. Tibet’s plight and world silence are mirrored by the persecution of China’s religious believers, such as the young woman Zhang Zhan, a journalist jailed in Wuhan for seeking the truth about the origins of Covid," Lord Alton added.
Lord Martin John Callanan, current member of the House of Lords and Shadow Minister for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said, " the Chinese Communist Party’s decades-long campaign to erase Tibetan culture, religion and identity is a stain on the conscience of the international community. Let us not forget that, not that long ago, Tibet was an independent country, but nobody now refers to it as that; it has in effect been absorbed into China, and the Tibetan people have been slowly eradicated."
"I had the honour a few years ago of meeting the Dalai Lama in his exile home in Dharamsala. I do not share his religion, but he is an inspirational character, continuing to preach non-violence in the face of all the threats and indeed genocides that the Tibetan people have faced," lord Callanan added.
Baroness D'Souza, member of the House of Lords said, "this House is becoming louder in its warnings about the threat that the People’s Republic of China poses to the UK’s security and economy. The actual and perceived threats help to shape UK foreign policy with regard to China."
Baroness Smith of Newnham, member of the House of Lords said, " In China, very little has changed. If you have a president for life, long-term policy-making can be very different, so Chinese planning for security and Chinese actions against Tibetans and Uyghurs persist."
