Dharamshala: On the afternoon of April 2, 2025, MP Michael Brand, a member of the Bundestag (German Parliament), along with Kai Muller, Executive Director of the International Campaign for Tibet (Germany), visited the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile. The visiting delegation were accompanied by Representative Tsering Yangkyi of the Office of Tibet, London.

The German delegation met with Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, Deputy Speaker Dolma Tsering Teykhang, and members of the Standing Committee, engaging in discussions on a variety of shared topics of mutual interest.

Welcoming the visiting guests, the Speaker expressed his gratitude to the delegation for their longstanding support of the just cause of Tibet, particularly for meeting with Tibetan parliamentary delegations during their visits to Germany.

The Speaker then provided an update on the recently concluded budget session of the Tibetan Parliament, which approved approximately Rs. 3300 million for the fiscal year 2025-2026. This figure reflects a reduction of around 300 million Indian rupees from the initially proposed amount by the executive, largely due to the suspension of USAID funding.

The Speaker also addressed the increased restrictions in Tibet during the month of March, especially surrounding Tibetan National Uprising Day on March 10th. He highlighted the White Paper released by China’s State Council Information Office on March 28th of this year, which claimed that China holds authority over the reincarnation process of Tibetan lamas, emphasized “development in Tibet,” and accused the “Dalai clique and Western countries” of conspiring to separate Tibet from China. The Speaker condemned these statements as entirely false, labelling them as a deliberate attempt to sow division.

The Deputy Speaker extended her congratulations to MP Brand on the Christian Democratic Union’s victory in the recent election and expressed her hope for a strong partnership based on shared values.

Recognizing MP Brand’s leadership roles – heading the German Parliamentary Group for Tibet, co-chairing the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), co-founding a Uyghur rights group, and serving as the conservative group’s human rights spokesperson – the Deputy Speaker encouraged the MP to rally further support for Tibet within the German Parliament.

Speaking on the recently published White Paper by China, the Deputy Speaker emphasized that Tibet is the subject of the highest number of such papers, which she described it as China’s attempt to whitewash its wrongdoings in Tibet. These include the forced placement of Tibetan children in colonial boarding schools, the assimilation of Tibetan culture, and the indoctrination of communist ideology, among other violations.

In closing, the Deputy Speaker called on the visiting delegation to raise their voices for the voiceless Tibetans suffering under China’s oppression.

The meeting then continued with an engaging discussion between the visiting delegation and the Tibetan parliamentarians.