US Ambassador to China, Gary Locke
The U.S. Ambassador to China, Gary Locke, made a recent visit to Aba (Ngaba, in Tibetan) in North-Eastern Tibet during a broader visit to Sichuan and Chongqing. The visit, which took place on September 26, follows a wave of self-immolations, the majority of which have taken place within the Aba prefecture.
Victoria Nuland, the U.S. State Department spokesperson, announced the visit last week during a daily press briefing in Washington D.C., explaining that Ambassador Locke wanted to visit villages and monasteries to learn more about how ethnic Tibetan people live and work and to have a chance to talk to them.
This being his first visit to Tibet since becoming Ambassador to China, Locke said in a statement to The New York Times that he wanted to visit Ngaba in order “ to see it for myself.”
Locke was reported as visiting two Tibetan monasteries in the Zungchu region of Ngaba which is 160 kms east of Ngaba town, the centre beleaguered by the self-immolations. When commenting on the visit he told reporters, “I was struck by the unique Tibetan culture and met many ethnic Tibetans to learn more about how they live and work, such as an 88 year-old monk at one of the monasteries I visited. Ethnic diversity adds richness to a society. I hope others will make the same visit.”
Phayul Tashi, the Information Secretary of the Dharamsala based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) welcomed the visit and expressed hope that Ambassador Locke will speak out on his experiences of the recent visit.
“The CTA has been consistent in calling upon the Chinese government to allow fact-finding delegations and international media to visit Tibet,” Tashi said. “We welcome Ambassador Gary Locke’s last month visit to Ngaba and hope that the honourable Ambassador will speak to the international community about his experiences and the prevalent situation in the region.”
When asked if Ambassador Locke had plans to share his experiences during his visit with the congressional leaders or the Tibetan communities in the United States, Ms. Nuland was reported as saying, “Well, whenever we have members of Congress visiting China, they are always briefed by Ambassador Locke. The various human rights issues in Tibet always come up, and he shares his impression and they talk together about how to raise these issues with the Chinese government. He’s not shy about that. If the Congress is interested in his trip, I’m sure that he will address any questions that they have.”
She went on add, “We have grave concerns about the self-immolations in Tibet and about the underlying grievances that the Tibetan people have. We have consistently urged dialogue between the Chinese government and the Tibetan people with regard to those grievances.”
Although Ambassador Locke’s visit was no secret to Chinese officials, according to an embassy spokesman, the Chinese Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment to make on the trip.
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