UNPO conference indignant over Chinese occupation of Tibet

TALLINN (BNS) - A conference of the Unrepresented Nations and People's Organization (UNPO) which began in Tallinn on Sept. 9 adopted a resolution in which participants express their indignation over China's continued occupation of Tibet.

In the resolution, representatives of 15 nations accuse China of continued ethnic cleansing in Tibet.

The resolution also slams China for failure to respond to the Dalai Lama's five-point peace plan for Tibet.

The UNPO is calling on the Chinese authorities to meet Tibet's exiled leader Dalai Lama or his representatives in order to seek a mutually acceptable solution to the problems in Tibet.

Andres Herkel, head of the Chechnya support group in the Estonian parliament, said in remarks published in the Postimees daily on Sept. 8 that the UNPO conference is expected to recall events such as the bloodshed on Beijing's Tiananmen square 11 years ago when Li Peng, who ended his visit to Estonia Sept. 9, was China's prime minister, along with the topics of Tibet and Taiwan.

On Sept. 9, the Estonian parliament's Tibet support group announced that Tibetan religious leader Dalai Lama will visit the Baltic states next June.

The announcement of the Dalai Lama's visit came on the last day of Chinese parliamentary speaker Li Peng's visit to Estonia. China has refused any ties with the Dalai Lama whom it accuses of separatism.

The Dalai Lama has been in Estonia earlier, in October 1991.