Tibet: draft letter to mayors

London, XX January 2001

Dear Mayor,

On 6 July 2000, the European Parliament voted, by a large majority, to adopt a resolution which:

" calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States (of the European Union) to do everything in their power to ensure that the government of the People's Republic of China and the Dalai Lama negotiate a new statute for Tibet which guarantees full autonomy for the Tibetan people in all the sectors of political, economic, social and cultural life, with the sole exceptions of foreign policy and defence policy ";

and in which:

" it invites the governments of the Member States to give serious consideration to the possibility of recognising the Tibetan government in exile as the legitimate representative of the Tibetan people if the Beijing authorities and the Tibetan government in exile have not, within three years, reached an agreement on a new statute for Tibet, through negotiations organised under the aegis of the Secretary General of the United Nations. ".

We think that the European Parliament has shown great courage and foresight. We believe, in fact, that the time has now come to see whether the Beijing authorities are really willing to open genuine negotiations with the Tibetan authorities on a statute of full autonomy for Tibet, or whether on the contrary they intend to continue to gain time, as they have done during the fifty years of military occupation and ferocious oppression of Tibet, in order to consolidate their policy of the "fait accompli".

These, in brief, are the reasons why we invite you, dear Mayor, to support the European campaign "A flag for a real statute of full autonomy for Tibet" by deciding to display the Tibetan flag in a specially chosen location in your Town Hall until such time as these negotiations reach a positive conclusion.

We would therefore be very glad if you could sign the present appeal and submit the text of the attached motion to the vote of your Municipal Council.

In the hope that we will be able to count on your support in this campaign for liberty and democracy, we look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,