Press Release - 5 July 2005

6 July 2005 is the 70th birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet(1). The occasion coincides with China's President Hu Jintao's arrival in the UK for the G8 summit in Gleneagles. Free Tibet Campaign has asked Tony Blair to use every opportunity afforded by Britain's Presidency of the EU to engage in robust advocacy on behalf of the people of Tibet. Mr Blair will also attend an EU/China summit in Beijing in September and Hu Jintao is expected to pay a longer visit to the UK in November.

"The best birthday gift Tony Blair could give the Dalai Lama would be a promise to make a concerted push for progress on Tibet over the six months of the UK's Presidency of the EU, starting with his meetings with Hu Jintao during G8. The Dalai Lama's non-violent approach to resolving the occupation of Tibet deserves a far greater reward than he has so far received in terms of international support," said Alison Reynolds of Free Tibet Campaign.

With talks between the Dalai Lama's envoys and China recently concluded in Switzerland, Mr Blair should ask Hu Jintao for a detailed explanation of the substance behind this 'formal contact', and for a commitment that preconditions to full negotiations on Tibet's future should be dropped(2). No feedback on the talks has yet been provided by either side.

A series of events is planned by Tibetan Communities all over the world to mark the Dalai Lama's 70th birthday, including in the UK a photo exhibition at Hoopers Gallery in Clerkenwell, and a special cultural evening at International Students House. Click here for more information.

Contact: Alison Reynolds on 020 7324 4605 or mobile 07711 843 884, Yael Weisz-Rind 07733 391773

Notes to Editors:

1. Key Dates in the Dalai Lama's Political Career:
6 July 1935 - Born Lhamo Dhondrub, to a peasant family in Takster, Amdo. Recognised at the age of two as the 14th Dalai Lama. 
22 February 1940 - Enthroned in Lhasa.
17 November 1950 - Called upon to assume political power at the age of 15 following the invasion of Tibet by China.
1954 - Held talks with Mao Tsetung, Chou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping.
1956 - Met Prime Minister Nehru and Premier Chou in India.
10 March 1959 - Forced to escape >from Tibet to India, following uprisings in Lhasa which were brutally crushed by the Chinese military. In 1960 the Dalai Lama took up residence in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. There is no contact with Beijing until 1979.
1959, 1961, and 1965 - Appeals to United Nations resulted in adoption of three resolutions on Tibet.
1963 - Promulgated a democratic constitution, based on Buddhist principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as a model for a future free Tibet. (Today, members of the exiled Tibetan Parliament are elected directly by the people.)
1973 - First visit outside Asia.
1979/1980 - Sent three fact finding missions to Tibet.
1983 - Started to speak out internationally about Tibet, after little progress with Beijing.
21 September 1987 - Proposed a Five Point Peace Plan in Washington D.C., which calls for the designation of Tibet as a zone of peace, an end to the massive transfer of ethnic Chinese into Tibet, restoration of fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms, and the abandonment of China's nuclear weapons programme in Tibet, as well as urging "earnest negotiations" on the future of Tibet.
15 June 1988 - Proposed the creation of a self-governing democratic Tibet, "in association with the People's Republic of China" (the Strasbourg Proposal). This later became known as the 'Middle Way' approach.
10 December 1989 - Awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1993 - Formal contact between the exiled Tibetan Government and Beijing closed.
2002 - Formal contact reopened. Three delegations visit between September 2002 and September 2004. A fourth meeting is held from 30 June to 1 July 2005 in Bern, Switzerland.

2. China's Preconditions to negotiations with the Dalai Lama on the future on Tibet:
a) The Dalai Lama must abandon his claim for the independence of Tibet and stop all "splittist" activities.
b) The Dalai Lama must openly recognise Tibet as an inalienable part of China.
c) The Dalai Lama must recognise Taiwan as one of China's provinces.
d) The Dalai Lama must recognise the government of the People's Republic of China as the country's sole legitimate representative.