Dharamshala: Deputy Speaker Dolma Tsering Teykhang convened a meeting with, Anna-Elisabeth von Treuenfels-Frowein (Member of Hamburg Parliament, Germany), accompanied by her husband and two staff members from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation based in Delhi, on March 23, 2024. The visiting guests were briefed on the evolution, functioning, and composition of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile.
During their meeting with the Deputy Speaker, they were briefed on the critical situation inside Tibet under Chinese occupation. The briefing highlighted the mass arrest of over 1000 people in Kham Dege for peacefully protesting against the dam construction over the Drichu River, which would relocate villages and monasteries. Additionally, concerns were raised regarding forced DNA collection of Tibetans, colonial boarding schools infringing upon the psychological space of young Tibetan children and erasing their memories of Tibetan identity, and numerous other human rights violations.
The Deputy Speaker emphasized that countries in the West, including Germany, should prioritize their economic gains while holding China accountable for its wrongdoing in Tibet. She underscored the Tibetan culture of compassion, non-violence, and co-existence, stressing the need for its protection and support by the international community.
Discrediting China’s claim of recognizing Tibetans as an ethnic minority, she clarified that Tibetans are not an ethnic minority of China but are a distinct Tibetan nationality. She urged parliament members to be the voice for voiceless Tibetans inside Tibet under Chinese occupation.
The visiting guests observed the proceedings of the ongoing session where they were accorded a warm welcome by the house.
Ms Anna-Elisabeth von Treuenfels-Frowein was born in 1962 in Freiburg (Elbe). She is married and has three children. After completing high school, she studied law in Hamburg and Munich, completing her first state law examination in 1991 and the second state law examination in 1995. From 1996 to 2008 vonTreuenfels-Frowein spent several years abroad in Brazil. Her 2008 support to the referendum “We want to learn!” in Hamburg marked her entry into politics and in 2009 she joined the FDP. She has been a member of the Hamburg state parliament (Bürgerschaft) since 2017 and a member of the Federal Executive Board of the FDP since 2018.
