By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 6 Nov: As Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) President (Sikyong) Penpa Tsering carried out high-level engagements during his official visit to the Netherlands, the Chinese Embassy in The Hague launched a diplomatic effort to prevent Dutch parliamentarians from meeting with him.

In a letter dated 4 November, a day after Sikyong arrived in the Netherlands, the Chinese Embassy wrote directly to members of the Dutch Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, expressing concern over his scheduled meeting with the committee.

The Embassy urged committee members not to provide Penpa Tsering with a platform, labelling the CTA an unconstitutional “separatist political organisation” pursuing “Tibet independence”. The letter maintained that Tibet is strictly an “internal matter” of China, citing Beijing’s infrastructure investments and economic growt...