London: Sikyong Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration reached London on 1 February 2024 to a warm reception from the Tibetan community members living around the London City Airport area following his successful maiden visit to Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
On 2 February, Sikyong had two closed-door meetings with supporters and experts about pushing the agenda of Tibet-China conflict resolution in the UK and internationally. In the evening, Sikyong Penpa Tsering met with Tibet-related advocacy organisations in the UK, who work with Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) agencies to promote the Tibetan cause, including council members of the Tibetan Community in Britain and the UK V-TAG.
Sikyong Penpa Tsering attended the Warwick Economics Summit at the University of Warwick as a guest on 3 February. The first engagement was a meeting with Tibetans, most of whom live in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Wirral, and some who have travelled from London. Copies of the 16th Kashag’s Vision Paper were distributed to the Tibetans, and they had opportunities to ask questions directly to their elected political leader. Representative Sonam Frasi from the Office of Tibet, London chaired the meeting.
During lunch, Sikyong had the opportunity to meet and interact with other imminent speakers of the Warwick Economics Summit (WES) 2024. After lunch, there was a short meeting with a small select group of Warwick University students, chaired by Joseph Brennan of WES, who seems to have followed information about Sikyong’s trip to the Baltics last week and CTA in general from the questions they raised. The last of the multiple engagements of the day was to deliver a keynote speech at WES, attended by 400+ people in the auditorium. Under the theme of “Tibet: Challenges of a Values-based Freedom Movement”, Sikyong highlighted the human values of peace, respect and compassion inherently upheld in the Tibetan approach to resisting the Communist Government of China’s violations of international law and order. Several Chinese students were in the audience, a fact much welcomed by the Tibetan leadership as an opportunity for getting the Tibetan message of peace and reconciliation (Middle-Way Approach) to reach the Chinese people. Sikyong Penpa Tsering was the first Tibetan leader to speak at the Warwick Economics Summit, and his visit and speech were received warmly by the Warwick University community, with large audience members wanting to speak and take pictures with Sikyong after the talk.
Sikyong’s trip to Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the United Kingdom was organised by the Office of Tibet, London. Throughout this official trip, the elected leader of the Central Tibetan Administration was accompanied by Representative Sonam Frasi from the Office of Tibet, London, along with Secretary Lochoe Samten.
-Report filed by Office of Tibet, London
Participants of the Warwick Economics Summit 2024 receiving Sikyong Penpa Tsering at the venue.
Sikyong Penpa Tsering speaking at the Warwick Economics Summit 2024.
Sikyong Penpa Tsering during a meeting with members of the Tibetan community.
