Tibetans Welcome Meeting Between Dalai Lama and President Obama with Calls for Bold New Approach to Help Broker Tibet Resolution

STUDENTS FOR A FREE TIBET

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18^th, 2010

Contact: Tenzin Dorjee (in Washington, D.C.), +1 646-724-0748

Kate Woznow (in New York), +1 917-601-0069

TIBETANS WELCOME MEETING BETWEEN DALAI LAMA AND PRESIDENT OBAMA WITH CALLS FOR BOLD NEW APPROACH TO HELP BROKER TIBET RESOLUTION

Washington, D.C.  – Tibetans and their supporters welcome the historic meeting between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and President Obama at the White House today with a festive gathering in Lafayette Square Park (across from the White House) from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Sources in Tibet are also reporting firework celebrations and other celebratory gestures, despite the overwhelming Chinese military presence in the region. Tibetans worldwide call on President Obama to adopt a bold new approach to help broker a just and lasting resolution for the Tibetan people who have suffered for decades under China’s brutal occupation.”

“As the leader of the free world, President Obama is uniquely positioned to help broker a negotiated resolution for Tibet that will give the Tibetan people the freedom they long for and deserve,” said Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “The global community overwhelmingly supports Tibetan freedom. Tibetans, Americans, and people worldwide who were inspired by President Obama’s message of change and hope are now looking to him to lead like a Nobel Peace laureate, an honor he shares with the Dalai Lama, by standing up for American, and indeed, universal values of human rights, freedom, and justice.”

After nine frustrating rounds of dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama’s envoys, Tibet activists are calling on President Obama to help end the stalemate by publicly offering to facilitate a meeting between the Dalai Lama and China’s leaders, a move that would signal real progress towards a negotiated resolution for Tibet. The Obama administration has come under fire for its decision to postpone a meeting with the Dalai Lama last fall and its soft approach to human rights with China.

“We hope this meeting signals a stronger stance by the Obama administration on Tibet, human rights, and China. As the past 13 months have clearly demonstrated, a soft approach with Beijing not only means compromising on core values of human rights, but is a failed strategy for achieving America’s foreign policy goals with China,” added Dorjee.

Tibetans and their supporters welcome the Dalai Lama to the White House with a festive gathering at Lafayette Square Park (across from the White House) today, February 18^th, from 10:00am to 2:00pm.

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