MP Juris is very active around Tibet. He is a member of the WPCT, the 'World Parliamentarians' Convention on Tibet'. This is an entity organised by the Tibetan Parliament in Exile that brings together parliamentarians from all over the world. The convention has been in existence since 1994 and met for the ninth time in Tokyo this year.
Juris is also 'co-chair' of IPAC, the 'Interparliamentary Alliance on China' (
https://www.ipac.global/). That unites parliamentarians from democratic countries to take joint action against Xi Jinping's increasingly authoritarian and repressive actions in China and his international expansionism. They see this evolution as a threat to the survival of our democratic constitutional states.
For the Belgian Parliament seats
So our topics of conversation were not just about the situation in Tibet - which, incidentally, is very similar to what the Baltic states experienced during the Soviet occupation - but also about China's geopolitical and economic expansionism and its threat to our democracies.
Coincidentally, just this morning a telling picture appeared in the media showing Xi flanked by Putin and North Korean despot Kim Jong-un, smiling broadly. No comment needed.
As we took a photo in front of the entrance to the Saeima (parliament), MP Leila Rasima still rushed over. She is also in the parliamentary Tibet Support group, but could not participate in our meeting due to other commitments.
In the afternoon, Jānis trotted me along to Riga City Hall, where we had a conversation with Councillor Ģirts Lapiņš. He supports the Tibetan cause based on his nationalist belief that all peoples have a right to self-determination.
Further, Ģirts explained the workings of the city government. Riga has 600,000 inhabitants, i.e. one-third of the 1.8 million Latvians live in the capital. Thirty-five per cent of the population, however, is of Russian origin and still harbours sympathies for Russia and its ally China. They support Xi's Tibet policy. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to find a majority for pro-Tibet actions with the remaining 65 per cent Latvians. After all, the priorities of all political parties are different.
I asked if, following the example of the Lithuanian cities of Vilnius and Kaunas, Riga could establish a 'Tibet Square' in the city. Ģirts said this was difficult for now because many Latvian personalities were still on the waiting list for a street name, but he took the suggestion on board for the future.
Regarding hanging out the Tibetan flag on politically important dates for Tibet, it was the city's general policy to hang out as few flags as possible, except, of course, the flags of Latvia, Riga and the EU. So it was in front of those three flags that the photo was taken, holding the small Tibet flag.
