{"id":12407,"date":"2020-03-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/"},"modified":"2020-03-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T23:00:00","slug":"german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"German and EU leaders back Tibet access, religious freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Momentum is continuing to build in Europe in support of Tibetans\u2019 \nright to select their own religious leaders\u2014and against China\u2019s efforts \nto cut Tibet off from the outside world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-ranking officials in the German federal government and the \nEuropean Commission, which is EU\u2019s politically-independent executive \narm, recently put out statements backing Tibetans on both of those \ncrucial issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their statements, which follow major legislative victories in the \nUnited States, show that China\u2019s policies in Tibet are attracting \ngreater international rebuke\u2014and that foreign governments are \nincreasingly willing to speak up for basic freedoms and justice for \nTibetans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dalai Lama\u2019s succession<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In response to a question from German Member of Parliament Margarete \nBause about the Dalai Lama\u2019s succession, Niels Annen, minister of state \nat the Federal Foreign Office, released a statement<\/a>\n (p. 25) saying, \u201cThe Federal Government is of the opinion that \nreligious communities may regulate their affairs autonomously.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annen added: \u201cThis includes the right to determine their religious leaders themselves\u201d. Annen also said the German government recognizes the Dalai Lama as the head of Tibetan Buddhism. The Chinese government, however, has been trying to undermine the Dalai Lama\u2019s role within the religion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2014which annexed Tibet in 1959 and continues to rule over it with \nan iron fist\u2014has already said that when the Dalai Lama, now 84, \neventually passes away, it will appoint its own Dalai Lama to replace \nhim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tibetan Policy and Support Act<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In response to this flagrant assault on Tibetans\u2019 religious freedom, \nthe US House of Representatives in January passed the Tibetan Policy and\n Support Act, which will make it official US policy that only the Dalai \nLama and the Tibetan Buddhist community can decide how to handle his \nsuccession.
\nThe bill will also sanction any Chinese officials who name their own Dalai Lama in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Campaign for Tibet is now working to get the bill passed in the Senate and signed into law by the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More European support<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The statement from Annen adds to the growing chorus in Europe saying \nthat Tibetan Buddhists alone have the right to decide the Dalai Lama\u2019s \nsuccession plans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, Belgian Foreign Affairs and Defense Minister Philippe \nGoffin said, \u201cit is logically up to the Tibetan religious community to \ndesignate [the Dalai Lama\u2019s] successor without interference from the \ntemporal authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And late last year, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Stef Blok said, \n\u201cThe government is concerned about interference by the Chinese \ngovernment in religious matters. According to the Chinese authorities, \nthe reincarnation process is subject to Chinese legislation. The \nposition of this cabinet is that it is up to the Tibetan religious \ncommunity itself to appoint a future successor to the Dalai Lama.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, five members of the European Parliament (from four \ndifferent political groups) Petras Au\u0161trevi\u010dius, Au\u0161ra Maldeikien\u0117, \nHannes Heide, Francisco Guerreiro and Petra De Sutter submitted a written question to High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell<\/a>\n asking about the position of the EU on the succession of the Dalai Lama\n and concrete measures the EU intended to take in order to address this \nissue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the EU guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief<\/a>,\n adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council on June 24, 2013 (in particular \nits paragraph 19), the communities have the right to perform \u201cacts \nintegral to the conduct by religious groups of their basic affairs. \nThese rights include but are not limited to, legal personality and \nnon-interference in internal affairs, including the right (\u2026) to select \nand train leaders (\u2026)\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Access to Tibet<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Responding to a question from Member of the European Parliament \nIsabel Santos about access to Tibet, Josep Borrell, vice president of \nthe European Commission, said \u201cThe Commission will continue to call on \nthe Chinese authorities to allow reciprocal access to Tibet\u201d as part of \nthe European Union\u2019s human rights dialogue with China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Borrell, who is also high representative of the Union for foreign \naffairs and security policy, noted that his predecessor, Federica \nMogherini, previously called on Chinese authorities to grant reciprocal \naccess to Tibet last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Borrell also said the European Union has raised concerns about \nChina\u2019s violations of Tibetans\u2019 religious freedom and human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Tibet is one of the most isolated areas in the world, with China \npreventing foreign journalists, diplomats and ordinary citizens from \nentering Tibet, even though Chinese citizens travel freely throughout \nthe United States and European countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late 2018, the US Congress passed\u2014and President Trump signed into \nlaw\u2014the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which denies entry to the US for\n the Chinese officials directly responsible for keeping Americans out of\n Tibet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICT is now working to make sure the State Department fully implements RATA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RATA has also had international success. In 2019, a British lawmaker introduced a bill mirroring RATA in the UK Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And a Canadian senator introduced a motion last year calling for \nCanada to receive reciprocal diplomatic access to Tibet without \nlimitation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Momentum is continuing to build in Europe in support of Tibetans\u2019 right to select their own religious leaders\u2014and against China\u2019s efforts to cut Tibet off from the outside world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12408,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[664],"news_tag":[713],"class_list":["post-12407","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-newstibet-europe-news","news_tag-access-to-tibetculture-and-religion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGerman and EU leaders back Tibet access, religious freedom - Campaign for Tibet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"German and EU leaders back Tibet access, religious freedom - Campaign for Tibet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Momentum is continuing to build in Europe in support of Tibetans\u2019 right to select their own religious leaders\u2014and against China\u2019s efforts to cut Tibet off from the outside world.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Campaign for Tibet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/internationalcampaignfortibetnederland\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/German-Foreign-Ministry.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@savetibetorg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\\\/\",\"name\":\"German and EU leaders back Tibet access, religious freedom - Campaign for Tibet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/German-Foreign-Ministry.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-12T23:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/German-Foreign-Ministry.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/German-Foreign-Ministry.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"German and EU leaders back Tibet access, religious freedom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Campaign for Tibet\",\"description\":\"LET OP: Plaats je bestelling v\u00f3\u00f3r 16 december om zeker te zijn dat je cadeau op tijd voor Kerst aankomt.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Campaign for Tibet\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/logo-round.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/logo-round.png\",\"width\":150,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Campaign for Tibet\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/savetibet.nl\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/internationalcampaignfortibetnederland\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/savetibetorg\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/savetibeteurope\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/ICTEurope\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"German and EU leaders back Tibet access, religious freedom - Campaign for Tibet","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"German and EU leaders back Tibet access, religious freedom - Campaign for Tibet","og_description":"Momentum is continuing to build in Europe in support of Tibetans\u2019 right to select their own religious leaders\u2014and against China\u2019s efforts to cut Tibet off from the outside world.","og_url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/","og_site_name":"Campaign for Tibet","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/internationalcampaignfortibetnederland\/","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/German-Foreign-Ministry.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@savetibetorg","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/","url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/","name":"German and EU leaders back Tibet access, religious freedom - Campaign for Tibet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/German-Foreign-Ministry.png","datePublished":"2020-03-12T23:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/German-Foreign-Ministry.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/German-Foreign-Ministry.png","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/german-and-eu-leaders-back-tibet-access-religious-freedom\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"German and EU leaders back Tibet access, religious freedom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/","name":"Campaign for Tibet","description":"LET OP: Plaats je bestelling v\u00f3\u00f3r 16 december om zeker te zijn dat je cadeau op tijd voor Kerst aankomt.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#organization","name":"Campaign for Tibet","url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/logo-round.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/logo-round.png","width":150,"height":150,"caption":"Campaign for Tibet"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/internationalcampaignfortibetnederland\/","https:\/\/x.com\/savetibetorg","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/savetibeteurope\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/ICTEurope"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nieuws\/12407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nieuws"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/nieuws"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"categorie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categorie?post=12407"},{"taxonomy":"news_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_tag?post=12407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}