LHASA: The US’ appointment of a Tibet coordinator, a position that has been vacant since the start of President Donald Trump’s term in 2017, is a vain try as China has never admitted the position nor will it have any contact with the “coordinator,” a former senior official on Tibet affairs said.
The latest US provocations against China by playing the card on Tibet may be a preparation for further involvement in issues of the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, but China will take all measures to protect its interests, Chinese officials and experts said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Wednesday that Robert Destro, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, would assume the post as Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, according to a release from the US State Department. “This is a vain try.
China has always opposed setting the so-called ‘coordinator for Tibet issues.’ It has never admitted the position nor will it have contact with the so-called coordinator. As a result, Destro, like his predecessors, would never get the chance to visit Tibet,” Zhu Weiqun, former head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, told the Global Times on Thursday.
The appointment of Destro aims to play the Tibet card to save Trump’s presidency. It is useless to change the situation in Tibet, but only exposes the US’ attempt to use Tibet separatists to split China, which will be presented by the Chinese people, Zhu said. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a press conference on Thursday that the appointment is a political manipulation, and China will take all necessary measures to protect its interests.
The position as “special coordinator for Tibet issues” was established by the US Tibetan Policy Act in 2002, and the coordinator’s work is to “promote dialogue” between the Chinese central government and the Dalai Lama. The post had been vacant since 2017. Soon after the announcement of the appointment on Wednesday, Destro tweeted that “the deteriorating human rights situation and lack of religious freedom in Tibetan areas demand our attention,” and he would work with Tibetans and “partners around the world to promote human rights and fundamental freedom for Tibet” in China and beyond. Destro, who reposted fake news accusing China’s policies in its Xinjiang region, has been criticized for his “long history of extreme opposition to women’s and LGBTQ people’s health and rights.” When he was nominated by Trump to the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, some nongovernmental organizations, including the International Women’s Health Coalition, and critics said he was “a dangerous choice.” “Since its establishment, the so-called coordinator has been working to offer convenience for the Dalai clique and Tibetan ‘government-in-exile’ either in lobbying US politicians in passing bills related to Tibet, or even offering financial support for their separatist activities,” Wu Xi, a professor with expertise on border areas from Southwest University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times.
– The Daily Mail-Global Times News exchange item
