Brussels, 15 October 2025: During the 42nd EU-China Inter-parliamentary Meeting (IPM), the European Parliament raised several critical human rights concerns in its exchanges with representatives from the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China. Among these, the situation in Tibet featured prominently as part of a broader critique of China’s worsening human rights record.
The European Parliament reiterated its long-standing concern regarding the fate of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima who was abducted by Chinese authorities in 1995 at the age of six. The MEPs reiterated their call for his unconditional release, alongside other individual cases including those of Ilam Tohti, Jimmy Lai and Gui Minhai.
The 42nd IPM marked the first such meeting since 2018 following a seven year hiatus. China had initially sanctioned five Members of the European Parliament and the Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights in 2021, prompting a diplomatic freeze. The revival of the exchange comes at the Chinese government unilaterally lifted the sanctions in March this year. The full statement of the Delegation for Relations with China (D-CN) of the European Parliament can be read here.
Ahead of the IPM, the Office of Tibet, Brussels, and the International Campaign for Tibet actively reached out to the MEPs urging them to raise the human rights situation in Tibet with their Chinese counterparts during the IPM.
On the day of the IPM, the International Campaign for Tibet and local Tibetan Associations jointly staged a protest in the vicinity of the European Parliament demanding freedom in Tibet.
