Testimony by the International Campaign for Tibet
Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee, Parliament of Latvia
15 December 2014

by Vincent Metten, EU Policy Director ICT

Introductory statement

− Honorable Members of the Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen,
− The International Campaign for Tibet feels very honored to testify about the situation in Tibet before the Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee. Thank you very much for making this event happen.
− On 1 January 2015, Latvia will for the fist time assume the six-monthly rotat-ing Presidency of the European Council. We wish best of luck to the Latvian government and Parliament for the next challenging six months!
Latvian EU Presidency
− Our main call on the Latvian EU Presidency is to ensure that Tibet will be brought back to the forefront of the Foreign Affairs Council’s political agenda during the six months of its Presidency and to ensure that the 28 EU Member States jointly adopt a stronger and more coordinated EU approach on Tibet
− The people of the Baltic States, once under Soviet rule, know what it is to face political persecution under an occupying power and we know that there is strong popular support for the Tibetan cause in the Baltics.
− The Tibetan flag is banned by the Chinese authorities, just as owning a flag in the colors of the pre-war republics guaranteed harsh punishment in the Soviet era. The Baltic States were wiped off the map by the Soviet Union, which criminalized any expression of national sentiment. Migration and ‘russifica-tion’ countered Baltic “nationalist” tendencies. There are many similarities be-tween what Latvian citizens have experienced during Soviet occupation and what the Tibetan people experience today in China.
− However, only 30 years ago the restoration of independence of the 3 Baltic countries seemed an impossible dream.

EU-China relations
− Diplomatic relations between the EU and China started in 1975. After 40 years, China has become the EU’s largest so