US To Raise Tibet’s Human Rights Situation With Chinese Vice-President/ENG

2012. február 11./CTA/TibetPress

DHARAMSHALA: Describing the human rights situation in Tibet as their “grave concern”, US President Barack Obama’s Special Assistant has said the US government would raise this issue during Chinese Vice President visit to the country next week.

“It is an area of grave concern for us to witness the increase of tensions in Tibet and Xinjiang. We are watching this, tracking very closely, with real concern,” Mr Daniel Russel, Special Assistant to the US President, told reporters during a conference call.

“The US has spoken out about it, and we use every opportunity to urge the Chinese officials and leaders to exercise real restraint and to safeguard the human rights and the fundamental freedoms of all of Chinese citizens, including in Tibet,” he said.

“Part of our goal with respect to this visit is for Vice President Xi to understand the issues that are important to us, and that includes issues like the situation in Tibet, like freedom of speech and freedom of religion and so on,” he said in response to a question.

“This is an important part of our agenda and there’s no reason that the conversations with Vice President Xi would depart from our longstanding practices,” Mr Russel said.

“We routinely, regularly, invariably raise our concerns about the human rights situation in China and about China’s adherence to global human rights norms. This is a central part of our agenda,” he said.