AN exiled monk and member of Tibet’s parliament who represents Tibetans in Europe has visited Scotland as part a three-month road trip to mark 60 years of the occupation of his country.

Travelling in a branded “Dialogue for Peace” car, the Venerable Lama Thupten Wangchen is touring 30 European nations to appeal to the EU, politicians, support groups and other friends of Tibet to raise their voice and call for urgent dialogue between the Dalai Lama and China’s President Xi Jinping.

Tibet’s administration and the Dalai Lama have been pursuing autonomy from China since 1978 and want face-to-face talks to The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan administration-in-exile have been seeking genuine autonomy from China since 1978 and again urge for face-to-face talks between the two leaders to settle their differences over the China-Tibet issue. They want the dialogue to be conducted under the scrutiny of international community leaders.

Speaking in Edinburgh, Wangchen said Tibet had never been part of China: “In 1959 Chinese troops brutally and illegally invaded Tibet with the resulting in 1.2 million Tibetan deaths.

“The Dalai Lama together with 80,000 Tibetans fled their home country to exile in India – 2019 marks 60 years of the loss of our independence and still the UN and international community remain silent while Tibetans in their own country are suffering human rights violations, torture, repression, the destruction of their environment, a great lack of freedom of religion, movement and language.

“Tibet is dying, Tibet is burning. There have been 153 self-immolations in Tibet in recent years.

“The Dialogue for Peace tour seeks support for a 12-point manifesto for peace, happiness and prosperity for our Chinese brothers and sisters and for the Tibetans.” They want to see an urgent and peaceful dialogue on the future of Tibet and China relations and the release of the Panchen Lama Gendun Chokyi Nyima, who was kidnapped more than 20 years ago.

Victor Spence, who co-ordinated the Scottish visit, said: “The Tibet-China issue is not just an appalling human rights issue where you can even be arrested and tortured for having a photo of His Holiness the Dalai Lama; among other things, it is also an environmental emergency for the world to wake up to. “There is huge environmental destruction across the giant Himalayan plateau.

“This is not just a disaster for the continent of Asia, it is a very serious matter for the whole world. Tibet should be known as the ‘Third Pole’.

“It was greatly encouraging for the Dialogue for Peace team to hear the sounds of support from passing car horns and the shouts of ‘Free Tibet’.

“It was also noticeable how many Chinese visitors were taking photos of the ‘Dialogue for Peace’ tour car.”