"SINO-TIBETAN DIALOGUE - TOWARD A PEACEFUL SOLUTION OF THE TIBET ISSUE"

A Conference from June 21 to 22, 1996 in

Forum in the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 4, 53113 Bonn (Subway Station: Heussallee)

Tibet remains one of the most politically contested regions of the world. Tibetans maintain the invasion of 1949-50 by the army of the People's Republic of China was an act of aggression by its powerful neighbour and a breach of national sovereignty. The Chinese claim that Tibet always has been, and always will be, part of China and that the invasion was an act of "liberating" the people of Tibet from internal and external enemies.

Undeniable is the damage caused to the culture, to the people and to the integrity of the nation of Tibet during the past four and a half decades. The Buddhist religion which forms the foundation of Tibetan culture has been ruthlessly suppressed and over 99 percent of the monasteries (over 80 percent already between 1959 and 1966) destroyed. Human rights abuses - imprisonment for political belief, torture, show trials, forced abortions and sterilisation - continue after years of systematic cruelty. No opportunity for free political expression exists in Tibet today.

The Tibetan people maintain a campaign to find diplomatic means of ending their dispute with China. The internationally respected leader of the Tibetan people, the XIV Dalai Lama, and the Government-in-Exile of Tibet have sought a chance to enter into negotiations with the Chinese Government but have been rebuffed. Several Governments around the world including those of the EU and the USA, the European Parliament and many national parliaments recognise that the logical next step would be for the Chinese Government to enter into talks without preconditions and have promised to support such an initiative.

A step toward finding a diplomatic end to the Tibetan issue is dialogue between exiled Tib etans and activists of Chinese democratic movement. The Chinese democratic movement has made a firm commitment to human rights and democratic ideals, principles shared by the Tibetans.

Dialogue' between the Tibetans and the Chinese democracy activists has been maintained in exile since the events of 1989 when the Tiananmen Square demonstrations were brutally suppressed and some activists escaped to the West. Such dialogue is the foundation of better understanding and cooperation between the Tibetans and Chinese for the future.

The closed and non-public colloquium "Sino- Tibetan Dialgue" in May 1990 in Danneberg/Germany organized by the Amnesty International (ai) and the Society for Endangered Peoples (GfbV) in cooperation with the Heinrich-Boell-Foundation brought together a group of Tibetans, Chinese and their friends from Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and France for the firsttime. This dialogue process was continued by the Tibet Support Group Germany in cooperation with the Gustav-Heinemann-Academy in Malente/Germany in two weekend-seminars "Sino- Tibetan Dialogue" in 1993 and "China and her Cultural Ideology Pertaining to Tibet, Eastern Turkestan and Inner Mongolia" in May 1995.

The time is now right for a public conference, with Tibetans and Chinese engaged in frank and open debate about the future of Tibet and the influence of the issue on the future of China and the entire region. This conference constitutes three parts:

(1) Friday, June 21, 1996, 10.30 till 13.30 Hours. Contradicting Views: I keynote-speech (60 min.) each, touching the whole spectrum of Sino-Tibetan problem from the Tibetan and Chinese point of view.

(2) Friday, June 21, 1996, 14.00 till 18.30 and Saturday, June 22, 1996, 10.30 till 12.30 Hours. Towards a Better Understanding through Dialogue. Ca. 12 talks upto 20 min., one speaker each from Tibet, China, Mongolia, East-Turkestan, India, International Law, Tibetology, Sinology), 2 each from politics and media. Experts/scholars holding no extreme views on the Sino-Tibetan relationships should be invited to speak. Since this conference is conceived as an attempt for dialogue, this constitutes the main bulk of the conference.

(3) Saturday, June 22, 1996, 13.30 till 18.30 Hours. Solutions and Future Structures: Ca. 10 short talks of upto 15 minutes each, 2 from Tibet, one each from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mongolia, East-Turkestan, India, International Law and Politics. All the different views and opinions on the prospects of resolving the Sino-Tibetan problem and possible future structure should be addresed and outlined here.

This public event is being organized by the Association of Tibetans in Germany on behalf of the Tibetan Communities in Europe (from Britain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany) in cooperation among others with the Heinrich-Boell-Foundation and the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation.

For further details contact the coordinating organizer: Tsewang Norbu, Chairperson of association of Tibetans in Germany, FritzPullig-Str. 28, D-53757 Sankt Augustin, Tel: 02241-203 610(p), or c/o Heinrich-Boell-Foundation 0221-2071134, Fax.:2071151