Press Statement
Oct 16th 2010

Commemorating the 3rd anniversary of Congressional Gold Medal awarded to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.

On October 17th 2007, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was presented with the Congressional Gold Medal at the U.S. Capitol. President Bush attended the award ceremony and became the first sitting U.S. president to meet Dalai Lama in public.
With this award, the U.S. government recognized his role as one of the world’s foremost moral and religious figure, who is using his leadership role to advocate peacefully for the cultural autonomy of the Tibetan people within China. 
Today, Tibetans all over the world are celebrating this day as it is one of the highest and most significant honor since His Holiness was first awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1989 for his effort to meaningfully resolve the Tibet issue through peaceful non-violent approach.
For decades, despite the Middle-way policy of H.H. the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile, there are no sign of genuine interest from the Chinese side to resolve Tibetan issue. China instead continues to vilify H.H. the Dalai Lama and accuse him of being a splittist. 
It has now been 51 years since Tibet lost its independence and thousand s of Tibetans including H.H. the Dalai Lama had to flee into exile to preserve our rich culture and tradition, and to highlight the Tibetan issue to the world. We wouldn’t have made this journey alone if there is no one to support us. On this important day, we would like to thank all our supporters across the globe for their untiring support and encouragement.

Released by Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of New York & New Jersey.