Tibetan govt-in-exile President Lobsong Sangay visits White House, creates history

According to a release from the office of Tibet in Washington, Dr Sangay became the first Sikyong (President of CTA) to be formally invited into the US State Department to meet Assistant Secretary and Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Robert Destro.

Washington: Dr Lobsang Sangay, President of Tibetan government-in-exile on Friday formally entered the United States White House, a historic feat for the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

For the last six decades, the head of CTA was denied entry to the US State Department and White House, as the US government does not recognise the Tibetan government-in-exile. The Friday's visit amounts to an acknowledgement of both the democratic system of CTA and its political head.

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Sangay was invited to the US State Department for the first time in 60 years last month.

The CTA informed that Dr Sangay met with White House officials, and before this meeting, he had met them in undisclosed meetings and locations over a dozen times in the past 10 years since he became the CTA's Sikyong in 2011.

"Though he nears the end of his term as the Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration, Dr Sangay has tirelessly advocated for the Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019," said the release.

Earlier this week, Dr Sangay held several virtual meetings, through which he discussed Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA) and other matters with the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China Chairman Jim McGovern and senior Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffers, both on the Republican and Democrat side.

Representative Ngodup Tsering and Kelsang Dolma had also accompanied Dr Sangay on these meetings.

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In October, after Sangay was invited by the State Department, the Chinese government has asked the US to stop interfering in China's internal affairs or undermining the development and stability of the country's Tibet region.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily briefing in Beijing on Tuesday that Destro "violated the commitment and the policy stance of the US side on not supporting Tibet's independence and not acknowledging this government in exile".

ANI