BEHAVIOUR OF CHINESE FORCES IN TIBET

Early day motion 1201, tabled 17 March 2008 by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 110 members.

That this House condemns the brutal policing by the Chinese authorities in quelling spontaneous demonstrations by local Tibetans, monks, nuns and lay people in Lhasa and elsewhere in Tibet which has endured 49 years of subjugation by China; notes with deep sadness that this heavy-handed response has resulted in the slaughter of at least 100 Tibetans; calls on the Government to strongly denounce the Chinese government's overreaction in sending in troops and tanks to Lhasa, to support the Dalai Lama's calls for an independent UN delegation to visit Tibet urgently to report on conditions and verify the number of injured, deaths and arrests and to call on the Chinese authorities to start genuine negotiations without preconditions with envoys of the Dalai Lama for a settlement of the Tibet issue; and further reiterates its call for the Prime Minister to meet the Dalai Lama when he is in London in May.

Signatures by party: Labour 41, Liberal Democrat 39, Conservative 20, Scottish National Party 4, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, Independent 1, Independent Conservative 1, Plaid Cymru 1, UUP 1.