UK MEP Edward McMillan Scott
UK Parliament’s vice-president for democracy and human rights, Edward McMillan-Scott, has challenged China’s ambassador to the EU, Wu Hailong, demanding that he “allow us to organise our own fact-finding meetings without being shadowed by the same security forces that have been instrumental in the brutal crackdown on the freedoms of Tibetans.”
In an interview with theparliament. com, Wu Hailong blamed “foreign forces” for being involved in the “secret planning, provocation, organisation and implementation” of the self-immolation protests. “I sincerely encourage more people from Europe to visit Tibet and to experience in person its beauty and the life of its people”, he said.
The main focus of the interview was Wu Hailong’s defence of China’s policies in Tibet which have led nearly 100 Tibetans to commit self-immolation. “Ambassador Wu Hailong’s comments serve to show why the levels of frustration felt by the Tibetan community are as high as they are. China’s totalitarian regime unashamedly denies any responsibility for the tragic self-immolations of nearly 100 Tibetans in protest at China’s heavy-handed policies in Tibet and the forced exile of the Tibetan spiritual leader, H.H. the Dalai Lama”, Mr Scott was quoted as saying.
Wu Hailong sought to refute the issues raised by self-immolators, namely the absence of religious freedom and the denial of language and cultural rights, especially with regard to education, by claiming they are legally protected. But Mr Scott has rejected this, saying he “continues to receive credible evidence that Tibetan culture, including the language, is being systematically wiped out by the Chinese regime”.
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