Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Members of the Congressional Delegation who traveled to Tibet and China held a press conference today following their historic visit last week. Below is a transcript of the press conference:
Leader Pelosi: Good afternoon, everyone. It is really a very special privilege to be here with my colleagues upon our return [from] a very special visit to China – China, including Hong Kong, Tibet and Beijing. I’m honored to be here with the Chair of our Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts.
Congressman McGovern stated: “Thank you. I want to thank Leader Pelosi for organizing this trip, and for allowing me to be part of it. Everywhere that Leader Pelosi or the delegation and I went in Tibet and Beijing, we talked about Tibet; we talked about His Holiness the Dalai Lama; we talked about human rights and the importance of respect for people’s culture and religion.
We had a very good exchange with Chinese officials and, especially, with university students, both in Tibet and Beijing. I saw this trip, and especially the delegation’s visit to Tibet, as an important gesture by the Chinese government. I think we were the first Members of Congress to be granted a visa to travel to Tibet in many years. So this is an important gesture.
But more needs to be done. And we must find ways to build on this visit, and make the reforms needed for meaningful change, such as: one, allowing the United States to open a consulate in Lhasa, Tibet; two, allowing more Members of Congress, more journalists, more members of parliament from other nations, and more people in general – including Members of the Tibetan community here in the United States – to travel freely to Tibet; and three, renewing the dialogue with the Dalai Lama to resolve longstanding issues of Tibetan autonomy, religious practice, culture and heritage.
I believe that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is part of the solution, not the problem, to resolving the issues confronting Tibetan autonomy. You know, one of the things that concerned me – we heard too often from some, not all, but some Chinese officials, we heard language and characterizations of Tibet and the Dalai Lama showing that people’s minds and imaginations are stuck in the past, in old prejudices. The issue is not the past. The issue is the future of Tibet and its people”
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