Washington, DC: The United States State Department held its annual Losar reception this Tuesday afternoon. David Stilwell, the assistant secretary of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs began the engagement by expressing US support for the Tibetan people’s religious freedom and by wishing a happy new year to the Tibetan people.
Representative Tsering thanked all those who made the event possible, such as Secretary Mike Pompeo, Noah Krystel and the other staffers of the Special Coordinator’s office, and the Capital Area Tibet Association.
“Losar is a great cultural event. Prior to 1959 when we lost our country, Losar used to be celebrated with so much fun fare and excitement in Tibet. Tibetan people celebrate it for weeks. Those were the good old days! However, now when we celebrate Losar or for that matter, any festivities, we can not help but remember, the toll and agony of our brothers and sisters, the unending sufferings and brutal repressions our people face, on a day-to-day basis in Tibet. His Holiness, a few years ago, called the situation in Tibet as a “Hell on Earth”. It hasn’t gone better and in fact, worse. Amidst those sad remembrances, it also reminds us that it is a story of supreme sacrifice, undying courage and unflinching determination shown by our Tibetan brothers and sisters inside Tibet”, stated Representative Tsering.
Representative Tsering expressed the current situation with menacing Chinese influence, events as recently as this month when the Chinese consulate exhibited an intellectually dishonest portrayal of Tibet through their “China Today” exhibit at the Elmhurst Public Library in Queens, New York. Representative Tsering decried the exhibit as shameful disinformation, and he applauded the hundreds of people, largely from the Tibetan community, who protested the Chinese Communist Party propaganda.
Representative Tsering concluded his remarks by requesting for the immediate appointment of a Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues in the State Department and by expressing gratitude to those in the State Department who advocate for Tibetan human rights, advocates such as Vice President Mike Pence, Ambassador Alice Wells, and Ambassador Sam Brownback.
Congressman Ted Yoho, a longtime Tibet supporter, and Thomas Vajda, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of South and Central Asia, Richard Albright, the deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration, and Ambassador Brownback, the Ambassador for Religious Freedom, Robert Destro, the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) attended the reception to celebrate Losar.