Chinese Tibetologist delegation ends visit to Switzerland

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-19 15:43

GENEVA -- A group of Chinese Tibetologists concluded a two-day visit to Switzerland late Friday, after a series of endeavors to introduce Tibet's history, culture, religion and development to Swiss officials, scholars and media representatives.

Bi Hua, head of the five-member delegation, highly appraised the visit, the first by a Chinese Tibetologist delegation to Switzerland in nearly a decade.

"We think this visit is quite fruitful...through this kind of face-to-face exchanges, many questions and misunderstandings could be resolved," she said.

Bi, a senior researcher with China's Tibetology Research Center, told the media following a meeting with Swiss Foreign Ministry officials in Bern, during which the two sides had frank exchanges about the issues relating to Tibet.

Bi also briefed her hosts about the measures the Chinese government has taken to preserve the Tibetan religion and culture as well as to improve the livelihood of Tibetan residents.

During the visit, the delegation also attended a small seminar on Tibetology in Lausanne, which focused on the religious and cultural evolution in Tibet, an autonomous region in China's southwest.

"The exchanges are good...and what Bi said is very illuminating, " said Amy Heller, a Swiss scholar.

"The visit of the Chinese Tibetologists can help the Swiss people have a better understanding of the Tibet issue...we hope this kind of exchanges will be enhanced in the future, said Dong Jinyi, Chinese ambassador to Switzerland.

He also hoped that more and more Swiss people would visit Tibet and see the real situation in Tibet with their own eyes.