A person named Penpa Tsering is reported to have been denied entry to Nepal despite holding a valid visa. Mr. Tsering who has the same same as Former representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to North America has been deported back to the United States after being quizzed for many hours at the Tribhuvan International Airport.
Penpa Tsering, although not have been explicitly identified as the Former speaker of Tibetan Parliament in Exile, Penpa Tsering, is reported to have traveled from New York to Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport via New Delhi on a US passport, holding a tourist visa to visit his friends and relatives in Nepal. However, at the directives of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, he was denied to enter the country.
The name ‘Penpa Tsering’ was among most wanted people by China and Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu had directed the Foreign Ministry of Nepal to restrict such a person from entering the country. He was deported back to the US via Doha on Saturday evening.
“Chinese Embassy had written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to restrict a person named ‘Penpa Tsering’ from entering Nepal labelling him a campaigner of the free Tibet movement ,as well as a strong advocate of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader. China also feared that a person with the name of ‘Penpa Tsering’ could accelerate Tibetans’ movement against China in Nepal.” said a Nepalese official according to the report in The Himalayan Times.
The authorities at the Nepalese airport is reported to have mistreated for his Tibetan origin according to witnesses recount. He was questioned very harshly for many hours before they decided to deport him. Although the authorities have revealed that they are not sure of if he was the very ‘Penpa Tsering’ labelled by China, they have decided to be on the safe side and deport him.
The Nepalese authorities have according to our findings have actually mistaken the person for former representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to North America, former speaker of Tibetan Parliament of Exile, Mr. Penpa Tsering. As a matter of fact, to consider is that although they share same name, former speaker of TPiE does not hold a US passport as he is still travelling on Identity Certificate, the travel document issued by government of India.
However, what is clear from this incident is that China actually have a lot of say in Nepal and it is really sad to see. Nepal would say it is a part of their stand on One China Policy, what is actually happening is the fact that Nepal is actually falling under China.