Dharamshala: A Taiwanese scholar led by Prof. Hung-Duen Yang, former minister of Science and Technology and distinguished professor of department of physics in Chung-Sheng University, paid a visit to the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile and met with Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel on 5th September 2023.

Upon their arrival, the scholars were taken on a tour of the parliament hall and was briefed on the functioning, composition, and evolution of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile by Secretary-General Sonam Dorjee of the Tibetan parliamentary secretariat.

Welcoming the guests, the Speaker shared his brief life’s journey after coming into exile including his monastic education, his shouldering of political responsibility, and so forth.

Explaining the official position of the Tibetan people on resolving the Sino-Tibetan conflict with peaceful and sustainable means, the Speaker said that the Central Tibetan Administration has been seeking genuine autonomy for all the Tibetans of the three provinces of Tibet through the Middle Way Approach (MWA) – a win-win preposition proposed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and adopted by the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile.

“In 2022, we had an opportunity to interact with some Taiwanese after the conclusion of the 8th world parliamentarian’s convention on Tibet (wpct) in Washington DC. I remember one of them saying that unlike others Tibet has the good fortune of having the magnanimous leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama,” recalled the Speaker while expressing his gratitude to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for building the community strong and His lifelong advocacy for the just cause of Tibet.

Prof. Yang shared their brief program for the past few days in Dharamshala which included a private audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, attending His Holiness’s teaching this morning, and others. Introducing the members of his team, the Prof. proclaimed to learn a lot about the overall functioning of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile from the Secretary-General Sonam Dorjee while taking a tour of the parliament hall. He also invited the Speaker to visit Taiwan in the near future.

Thereafter, they engaged in a Q&A session with the Speaker by asking questions on the Sino-Tibetan dialogue, political status of Tibet after Xi Jinping’s assumption of China’s leadership, and others.

The other members included Mr. Cheng-Yu Kuo, Associate Professor of Department of Physics in Chung-Sheng University; Mr. Su-Jei Own, Former Deputy Secretary General of Taiwan-Tibet Exchange Foundation; Mr. Jia-Yin Wang, Assistant Professor of the Department of Electronic Engineering; and Mr. Chao-Yong Lin, CEO of Technology company.

The five-member Taiwanese scholars were accompanied by Mr. Passang, a staff of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR) of the CTA.