Brussels: Dr Michael van Walt, who is currently embarking on his Europe tour particularly a three-city visit to Brussels, The Hague and Paris kicked off his 5-day program in Brussels on Monday, 27 September.

In the morning, Dr van Walt met with diplomats of the EU Member States. He briefed them on China’s illegal invasion and occupation of Tibet from a legal and historical perspective and put forward a set of policy recommendations to course-correct China’s misleading narrative that the world has bought into it.

Later in the afternoon, Dr van Walt met with representatives of Belgium based Tibet Support Groups and International NGOs at the Office of Tibet, Brussels. During the informal meeting, Dr van Walt presented his recently published book called “The Tibet Brief 20/20”. He said that the human rights issue of Tibet is a byproduct of the Sino-Tibetan conflict. The international community must therefore address the root cause and support the Tibetan people’s aspiration for freedom.

He cautioned the attendees from using Chinese terminologies such as “ethnic minority” when referring to Tibetans because they are a people and not a minority. He asserted that language is exceedingly important.

In the coming days, Dr van Walt will continue his meetings with EU lawmakers, diplomats and EU officials.

The Office of Tibet, Brussels, is coordinating the meetings.