Experts urge G7 leaders to call on Xi Jinping to stop colonial boarding schools in Tibet: Report

Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], April 3 (ANI): Experts from different parts of the world have urged G7 leaders to ask Chinese President Xi Jinping to stop his "ongoing project of colonial boarding schools in Tibet," Central Tibetan Administration reported. Experts also raised concerns regarding the deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet.

Experts while deliberating on the subject "China's Colonial Practices and Threat to the Cultural Identity of Tibet" in an international webinar discussed various human rights issues raised recently by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).

The webinar held on March 31 was jointly organized by the Centre for Himalayan Asia Studies and Engagement (CHASE) and Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), as per the Central Tibetan Administration report.

The experts who participated in this webinar included John Jones, Policy and Research Manager of 'Free-Tibet' of the United Kingdom, Marco Respinti, a senior Italian journalist and Director-in-Charge of newspaper 'Bitter Winter' and Rinzin Choedon, National Director of 'Students for a Free Tibet India' from Dharamshala.

During the webinar, Professor Aaayushi Ketkar of the Special Centre for National Security Studies at JNU and a scholar in international relations and security handled the question-answer session. Vijay Kranti, a veteran Tibetologist and Chairman of CHASE moderated the webinar, according to the report.

During the webinar, Rinzin Choedon focused on the ongoing Chinese campaign of forcibly pushing Tibetan children into a chain of residential schools which are established and run by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Tibet. Choedon said, "These schools are being systematically run by the Chinese Communist Party to brainwash the entire new generation of Tibet with the aim of eradicating the very identity of Tibet."

She further said, "Already more than one million Tibetan Children have been forcibly taken away from their families and lodged in these schools. This is a matter of concern not only for the people of Tibet but for entire humanity because it has the potential of completely wiping out a rich culture which belongs to the whole world," as per the Central Tibetan Administration report. Rinzin Choedon said that they have been raising the issue on various forums for some time. She called it a matter of satisfaction that the human rights body related to the UN have started raising this issue.

Rinzin said that the process of wiping out Tibetan identity has gained special momentum since Chinese President Xi Jinping has come to power, as per the report. Rinzin said, "The process of destroying Tibetan culture and identity has been already going on since decades in Tibet. But unfortunately this campaign has become more tense under President Xi's rule," The Central Tibetan Administration reported.

Marco Respinti presented an analysis of the recent report of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations (CESCR) which was published during its recent 73rd session on March 6.

He said that CESCR raised many issues like forcible resettlement of Tibetan nomadic herders, closure of ongoing Tibetan language schools run by the Tibetan society, large-scale campaign to eradicate Tibetan culture and language, sinicization of Tibetan society, especially by enforcing the coerced boarding school system on Tibetan children; and suppression of other human rights of Tibetan people.

Speaking on China's denial of the charges made by CESCR, Marco Respinti said, "Over the last few years, the CCP's position has in fact become quite indefensible even for the most pro-PRC partisan. It is in fact impossible to hide the CCP's misdeeds."

He said that CCP changed its own narrative on its own crimes a number of times. However, the impossibility of hiding facts influenced China's reactions. He further said that Beijing has been responding to accusations by saying 'so what' and called it "called alarming."

During the webinar, Marco Respinti said that CCP will "continue with its threat to and persecution of Tibet's cultural identity" until the world does not take measures to stop it.

John Jones informed the participants about how his group 'Free-Tibet' in the UK and many other Tibet support groups in Europe and US are running a campaign to stop the American company Thermo Fisher Scientific from supplying DNA testing kits to the Chinese police department. (ANI)