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Representatives of Tibetan and East Turkistan advocacy groups jointly held an advocacy day at the United States Congress on Friday, May 15, 2026, calling for international support for the independence of Tibet and East Turkistan, according to a report by the East Turkistan National Movement (ETNM).
As per the ETNM report, representatives of the Tibetan Patriots for Independence joined delegates from the East Turkistan Government in Exile, the East Turkistan National Movement, and the East Turkistan National Fund to meet the offices of six U.S. senators and more than twenty members of the House of Representatives. The report stated that the day-long advocacy campaign concluded with a joint event at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, where leaders from both movements addressed members of the U.S. Congress and appealed for support toward what they termed the "recovery of East Turkistan and Tibet's independence." According to the ETNM statement, Salih Hudayar said during his address that the People's Republic of China should be viewed as "a colonial empire" rather than a nation-state. He reportedly argued that international efforts focused solely on human rights issues were insufficient without addressing what he described as the "root cause", the Chinese occupation of East Turkistan and Tibet. "You cannot stop a genocide while preserving the occupation that created it. Independence is not a radical demand; it is the only way to guarantee the human rights and survival of our people," Hudayar said, according to the ETNM report. He further called on the United States and "freedom-loving nations" to recognise East Turkistan as an occupied country and support its independence movement. The advocacy teams also submitted a series of policy recommendations to members of Congress, the ETNM report said. These reportedly included calls for Congress to pass a resolution recognising East Turkistan as an occupied country similar to Tibet, appoint a Special Coordinator for East Turkistan at the U.S. State Department, and upgrade the Uyghur Policy Act into an "East Turkistan Policy Act." The report further noted that the delegation sought US support for East Turkistan's petition before the United Nations Fourth Committee on Decolonisation and a legal complaint filed before the International Criminal Court against Chinese officials, including Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, the Tibetan Patriots for Independence submitted a formal petition urging support for Tibet's independence, official recognition of February 13 as Tibet Independence Day, opposition to China's assimilation policies, and protection of Tibetan religion, culture, language, and environment, according to the ETNM statement. "Historically, Tibet was an independent and sovereign nation with its own government, language, culture, religion, currency, and national identity," said Tenzin Wangdu, as cited in the report. He also urged members of the U.S. Congress to support "freedom, human rights, religious liberty, and the recovery of Tibet's independence." The ETNM report concluded by drawing parallels with the United States marking 250 years of independence, while claiming that East Turkistan is in its thirteenth year of "genocide" under what it described as 76 years of Chinese colonial occupation, and Tibet in its seventy-fifth year under Chinese occupation. It further referenced the Captive Nations Law, stating that the United States should support nations and peoples seeking freedom and independence. (ANI)
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