Visiting Tibetan deputies of China's National People's Congress (NPC), the parliament, on Tuesday voiced their concern over a recent resolution adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives on Tibet.
"As a native Tibetan, I was upset with the move of the U.S. House of Representatives," said Shingtsa Tenzinchodrak, head of a five-member Chinese delegation, in a meeting with Mark Kirk and Rick Larsen, cochairmen of the U.S.-China Working Group under the House of Representative.
He said the resolution distorted the facts in Tibet. "I think members of the U.S. Congress should respect facts, discard prejudice and show respect for the feelings of the majority of the Tibetan people," said Shingtsa Tenzinchodrak, also a living Buddha of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism.
Passed by the House of Representatives on March 11, the resolution urges the Chinese government to "cease its repression of the Tibetan people, and to lift immediately the harsh policies imposed on Tibetans."
The resolution has aroused strong reaction from China.
The NPC strongly condemned the resolution in a statement on March 12, saying it "distorts the facts of Tibet's democratic reform and glorifies the Dalai Lama, slandering the religious policy of the Chinese government."
The resolution also severely runs counter to the norms of international relations and grossly intervenes in China's internal affairs, according to the NPC statement.
Also on March 12, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Zhaoxu urged the resolution's backers to correct their mistakes immediately, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, and stop harming Sino-U.S. relations.
Larsen, who has been to China several times, said he was aware of the Chinese government's dissatisfaction with the resolution.
He said the U.S.-China Working Group aimed to improve mutual understanding between the two countries. Despite differences, efforts should be made to achieve a better understanding between the United States and China.
The Tibetan NPC deputies arrived in the United States on Saturday on a trip aimed at increasing the overseas understanding of the Chinese autonomous region.
On Tuesday, the delegation met with Congressman John Conyers, chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and also held talks with senior researchers of the Brookings Institute, a Washington-based think tank.
(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2009)