Copenhagen [Denmark], October 9 (ANI): Tibetan representative Tsering Yangkey has urged Danish lawmakers to address the threat posed by China’s so-called Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress to Tibet’s language, religion and cultural identity during a two-day visit to Denmark on October 7 and 8, as reported by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
According to the CTA, Yangkey met three parliamentarians from different political parties at Denmark’s Folketing, highlighting concerns over the compulsory use of Mandarin in education, state-imposed national identity and the placement of young Tibetan children in boarding schools, where they risk losing their linguistic and cultural roots.
Yangkey stated that Article 63 of the legislation could enable China to target individuals abroad for supporting Tibetan culture, potentially extending Beijing’s repression beyond its borders and threatening Denmark’s sovereignty. During a meeting with Foreign Policy Committee Chair Karsten Hønge of the Socialist People’s Party, Yangkey called for greater awareness of the law’s implications for Tibetans and other non-Han communities.
Hønge supported broader political cooperation to address the issue and accepted in principle an invitation to visit Dharamshala. Yangkey also met Red-Green Alliance foreign affairs spokesperson Trine Pertou Mach, who expressed interest in raising concerns through appropriate government channels and suggested pursuing the issue through European Union mechanisms. Conservative People’s Party MP Anders Storgaard also voiced concern and sought information about reports of forced labour and labour camps in Tibet.
During the discussions, Secretary Tenzin Kunga questioned Denmark’s green partnership with China, citing concerns about large-scale hydropower projects on the Tibetan Plateau, their ecological consequences and their potential effects on downstream countries dependent on these rivers, as highlighted by CTA.
The delegation called for greater scrutiny of China’s environmental record and discussed Gross Domestic Regeneration, an alternative economic concept proposed by Tibetan entrepreneur Tenzin Seldon, as a challenge to the conventional Gross Domestic Product model, as reported by CTA. (ANI)
China’s ethnic unity law sparks fear of forced assimilation in Tibet
