(Reuters)
WASHINGTON, Nov 12- The leader of Tibet’s government-in-exile expressed disappointment that human rights appeared absent from US President Donald Trump’s dealings with China, telling Reuters that a focus solely on trade and business risked emboldening Beijing.
Penpa Tsering said in an interview on Wednesday night that US support for Tibet remained broadly stable under the Trump administration, but Tibet was not on the agenda at the presidential level as Washington focuses on trade, security and other priorities with China.
“(Trump) has never mentioned Tibet, he has never mentioned human rights,” he said during a visit to Washington.
China seized control of Tibet in 1950 in what it describes as a “peaceful liberation” from feudalistic serfdom.
International human rights groups and exiles have routinely condemned what they call China’s oppressive rule in Tibetan areas, assessments Beijing rejects.
Tsering said the US remained the Tibetan exile movement’s most important international partner and Tibet enjoyed strong bipartisan backing in Congress.
He said his Central Tibetan Administration continued to engage with the State Department, and noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was a longtime champion of Tibet-related legislation when he was a senator.
While State Department foreign assistance cuts halved money for Tibet last year, Tsering expressed optimism that full funding would be restored later this year and noted that the current Trump administration appointed a special coordinator for Tibetan issues in its second year, compared with the fourth year of Trump’s first term.
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