United Kingdom
All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet
The group was founded in 1990 with the late Lord Ennals and late Lord Braine as founding presidents. The stated purpose of the group is "to put pressure on Her Majesty's Government to encourage negotiations between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama and the government of Tibet in exile, whilst recognizing that Tibet is an occupied country which had independent links with Britain."
Members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet belong to all the political parties and have tabled Early Day Motion or EDM in the parliament on Tibet and current events affecting the Tibetan nation. The Early Day Motion tabled during the parliamentary session 2003-2004 voicing concern for the fate of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche facing death sentence at the hands of the Chinese authorities in Tibet was supported and signed by 127 MPs. The tabling of an Early Day Motion is a device to draw attention to an issue and to elicit support for it by means of inviting other members to add their signatures to the motion. EDMs often attract good publicity for a cause.
Mr. John Wilkinson, MP, is the current chairman of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet. On 28 May 2004 the group under his chairmanship organized His Holiness the Dalai Lama's meeting with parliamentarians and invited guests, including journalists, at the Westminster.
After an eight-year gap, the 4th WPCT was co-hosted by the Scottish Cross Party Parliamentary Group on Tibet and the UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet, in Edinburgh on 18 and 19 November. Attended by 96 parliamentarians and other delegates (total 133) from about 30 countries, the convention urged the Chinese government "to indicate commitment to the negotiation process by making visible improvements in its policies in Tibet, in particular."
The convention also decided to hold the next WPCT prior to the 2008 Olympic Games and review the progress.
Read report of the 4th WPCT [PDF 927K ]
Contact address
HARRY COHEN, MP
Chairman All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet
House of Commons
London SW1 0AA
United Kingdom
