DHARAMSHALA: The Inkatha Freedom Party led by its founder and president Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi condemned the South African Chinese embassy’s actions in response to CTA President Dr Lobsang Sangay visit to the country. It released a press release yesterday in which it expressed its outrage at the lengths the Chinese government will go to in order to silence the voice of the Tibetan people in South Africa.
“Yesterday’s staged [Chinese] Embassy protestations against the president of the Tibetan government in exile, Dr Lobsang Sangay, when he visited the law faculty at Stellenbosch University will bring nothing but further shame and disgrace to China as it continues with its policy of oppression against the people of Tibet, no matter where in the world they may be found,” IFP Chief Whip in Parliament, Mr Narend Singh MP said.
“Dr Sangay is not only an invited guest of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, but also a guest of the people of South Africa. The Chinese Embassy’s actions yesterday only serve to reinforce the negative perceptions that people around the world hold as regards China’s oppression of the people of Tibet.”
“The Chinese Embassy should receive the strongest of rebuke from the South African Government for its cheap theatrics and attempts at sowing discord in South Africa, as well as its recklessness in potentially placing the safety and lives of South African university students in harm’s way.”
“It is a shame on this government that it continues to kowtow to the Chinese government, sacrificing its own constitutional values on the altar of Chinese foreign policy appeasement.” “Imagine a democratic and free country with a constitution such as ours barring a Nobel Peace Laureate and world spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, from entering South Africa. It is a disgrace!”
“Yesterday, on lighting the Tibetan Torch of Peace with Dr Sangay, our leader Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi said that the issue of safeguarding human rights in Tibet is an issue for all humanity and that, as human beings, we are in fact duty bound and obligated to stand in solidarity with the people of Tibet.”
“The IFP will continue to support Tibetans in their call for regionalized local autonomy and freedom from Chinese oppression in Tibet. We urge dialogue between China and representatives of the Tibetan people to resolve issues. Might is not always right. We have seen this in our own South African situation,” concluded Mr Singh.
Narend Singh is the chief whip of the Inkatha Freedom Party and also a member of the South African Parliament. He has attended the Five-Fifty Forum: Shaping Tibet’s Political Future, organized by the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) of Central Tibetan Administration and held in Dharamsala in October last year.