President of the Central Tibetan Administration, Dr Sangay, has returned from a tour of North America from November 14 – 26 which put him in the company of a number of significant political figures including members of the United States Senate, the Canadian and Dutch Government and future leaders from Toronto University Hart House debating club. Dr Sangay also used this trip as an opportunity to meet Tibetan communities from as far as Calgary to New York and delivered a number of talks attracting hundreds of Tibetans on each occasion.
The tour began in Washington DC where Dr Sangay met Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to discuss Tibetan issues. Dr Sangay then took part in a round-table meeting with 11 Senate and House staffers exploring topics including United States policies towards China and opportunities to advance the Tibetan issue through law making.
Sikyong with young Tibetans during his meeting with Calgary Tibetans.
Arriving in Toronto on November 18, the Tibetan entourage met a group of Canadian Government officials, including MPs and house representatives, in order to receive a Canadian $5.4 million (£3.2million/US$4million) grant to provide funding for education for young Tibetans in India and Nepal. Sikyong engaged with Tibetan students at Toronto University who gave him a traditional Tibetan welcome and he later delivered a talk at Hart House – one of the earliest North American student centres and a venue which has hosted talks by John F Kennedy and Noam Chomsky. Dr Sangay’s final port of call in Canada was Calgary where he was welcomed་by the Tibetan Association of Alberta and then spoke to་over 500 members of the Tibetan community at Marlborough Community Centre.
Sikyong arrived in New York in the USA on November 24 where he was presented with the Award of Gratitude by the Tibetan Community New York and New Jersey for his unwavering leadership and strong character over the last seven years of his leadership of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. Dr Sangay then delivered a speech, expressing his appreciation of the award and urging members of the Tibetan community there to read a new report from the CTA entitled Tibet was never a part of China but Middle way approach is a viable solution.
Dr Sangay completed his 12 cities tour, with a visit to Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, where he was welcomed by the staff of the Office of Tibet, Brussels,་Tsering་Jampa, Director of the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), Europe and members of་the Tibetan community of the Netherlands. He later met Dutch government officials་and delivered the keynote address at the “Thank You Netherlands” event – part of the “Thank you” year to show appreciation to the countries who have given Tibetans sanctuary over the last 60 years. The event was organised ICT, Europe and the Netherlands Tibetan Community.
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