Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa (born 1966) is a Tibetan politician. He is the representative of the Tibet Office in Taiwan.

Early life

Gyaltsen was born on 1966 in

Batang County Batang County (; ) is a County (People's Republic of China), county located in western Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China. Government address: Xiaqiong Town, Batang County, Ganzi, Sichuan 6 ...

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, often shortened to Ganzi Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture in the western arm of Sichuan province, China, bordering Yunnan to the south, the Tibet Autonomous Region to the west, and Gansu to the nor ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

Political career

After learning

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and

Tibetan language Tibetan language may refer to: * Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard * Lhasa Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dialect * Any of the other Tibetic languages See also *Old Tibetan, the language ...

s, he worked in the Political Consultative Committee and the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party in Garzê for more than twelve years, accumulating unique political experiences during his tenure. During this time, he also undertook written and oral translations in all the meetings held by the Political Consultative Committee and the Buddhist Affairs United Committee. He fled China for India in June 1999 and joined the

Tibetan government in exile The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ), often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, is a non-profit political organization based in Dharamshala, India. Its organization is modeled after an elective parliamentary government, compo ...

. On September 1, 1999, he joined the Tibetan Research and Analysis Center of the

Central Tibetan Administration The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ), often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, is a non-profit political organization based in Dharamshala, India. Its organization is modeled after an elective parliamentary government, compo ...

Dharamsala Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855. The ...

. There, he undertook research on the Tibetan province of

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The original residents of Kham are called Khampas (), and were governed locally by chieftains and monasteries. Kham ...

, China and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. He has written or translated from Chinese into Tibetan and vice versa of a number of important articles and books related to the Tibetan issue, the

history of Tibet While the Tibetan plateau has been inhabited since pre-historic times, most of Tibet's history went unrecorded until the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism around the 6th century. Tibetan texts refer to the kingdom of Zhangzhung (c. 500 BCE – 625 ...

and other related subjects. He is a co-founder of the

Khawa Karpo-Tibet Culture Centre Khawa Karpo Tibet Culture Centre Charitable Trust is a non-profit organization that was founded on 16 April 2009. The organization is based in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, India. Mr. Serta Tsultrim who is the Executive Director of the orga ...

in Dharamshala, and was actively involved in publishing the Bod-kyi Bang-chen newspaper and other publications. At the 2006 and 2011 Tibetan legislative elections, Bawa was elected a deputy in the

Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration The Tibetan Parliament in Exile (TPiE), officially the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration, is the unicameral and highest Legislature, legislative organ of the Central Tibetan Administration, the government-in-exile of the Tibet Au ...

representing Kham. In 2016, he was appointed as the Tibetan government in exile's representative to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. On January 4, 2021, he was assigned as the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

representative of the

Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama The Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is one of the offices of the official representation of the 14th Dalai Lama and of the Tibetan government in exile, and a non-profit organization, founded in March 1997 and based in Tai ...

for a four-year term, succeeding Dawa Tsering. In 2022, Bawa met with

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U. ...

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

on her visit to Taiwan.Yangchen Dolma
Tibet Representative met with Speaker Pelosi and talked about deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet

Tibet Post International The Tibet Post is an online publication founded by a group of Tibetan journalists with the primary goal of promoting democracy through freedom of expression within Tibetan communities both within and outside of Tibet. Introduction TPI's daily o ...

, 4 August 2022

References

Living people {{DEFAULTSORT:Bawa, Kelsang Gyaltsen 1966 births Representatives of Offices of Tibet Members of the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration 21st-century Chinese politicians People from Batang County Tibetan politicians Chinese defectors Political office-holders in Sichuan