Tempa risang (; born on 15 May 1950 in Gyangtse,

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

). He previously served as a Kalon (minister) at the

Central Tibetan Administration The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ) is the government-in-exile of Tibet, based in Dharamshala, India. It comprises a judiciary branch, a legislative branch, and an executive branch, and offers support and services to the Tibetan exile c ...

, Dharamshala, India and was a representative of the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, as well as a member of the

Tibetan Government in Exile The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ) is the government-in-exile of Tibet, based in Dharamshala, India. It comprises a judiciary branch, a legislative branch, and an executive branch, and offers support and services to the Tibetan exile ...

. Currently, he serves as Director for India and East Asia at the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, based in New Delhi, India.

Early life and background

Tempa Tsering was born on May 15, 1959 in Drumpa, Gyantse, Tibet. Following the

Chinese invasion of Tibet Tibet came under the control of People's Republic of China (PRC) after the Government of Tibet signed the Seventeen Point Agreement which the 14th Dalai Lama ratified on 24 October 1951, but later repudiated on the grounds that he had rendere ...

in 1950, he and his family fled to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

seeking exile. He received his secondary education at

Dr. Graham's Homes Dr. Graham's Homes (formerly St. Andrew's Colonial Homes) was founded in 1900 by John Anderson Graham, a missionary of the Church of Scotland, who settled in Kalimpong and worked with the local community for several years during the turn of the ...

Kalimpong Kalimpong is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The region comes under Gorkhaland Territo ...

, and later earned a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree from

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institut ...

in Madras (Chennai), India.

Governmental career

He was elected as the member of the Central Executive Committee of the

Tibetan Youth Congress The Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) is an international non-governmental organization that advocates the independence of Tibet from China. With around 30,000 members in the Tibetan diaspora, it is the largest of the pro-independence organizations of ...

and its advisor. In 1973, he joined the Tibetan civil service as interpreter and office secretary at the

Bylakuppe Bylakuppe (བྷ་ཡ་ལ་ཀུཔེ།) is a region in Karnataka which is home to the Indian town Bylakuppe and several Tibetan settlements, established by Lugsum Samdupling (in 1961) and Dickyi Larsoe (in 1969). Bylakuppe is the l ...

Tibetan Settlement; from 1973 to 1974 as lower division clerk; between 1974 and 1980 as deputy secretary at the Department of Information and International Relations of the

Government of Tibet in Exile The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ) is the government-in-exile of Tibet, based in Dharamshala, India. It comprises a judiciary branch, a legislative branch, and an executive branch, and offers support and services to the Tibetan exile co ...

; between 1981 and 1985 as deputy secretary (and later as additional secretary) at the Office of the

; from 1988 to 1990 as additional secretary at the Department of Home; as chief coordinator at the Chief Representative’s Office for the five settlements in the state of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

; from 1991 to 1999 as the secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations.

Political career

In 2000, the

Tibetan Parliament in Exile 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 Independe ...

, from a list of nominees proposed by the Dalai Lama, elected him as minister (). He held the portfolio of Kalon for the Department of Home, until the term of the 11th Cabinet (Tibetan: Kashag) expired in 2001. In 2006, he was nominated as Kalon by

Samdhong Rinpoche () is a Tibetan religious title. ''Rinpoche'' means "precious one". The current Samdhong Rinpoche is Lobsang Tenzin,

and later approved by the Members of Assembly and taken the portfolio of Kalon for the Department of Information and International Relations along with the representative of the Dalai Lama in

. In 2016 he retired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsering, Tempa 1950 births Foreign ministers of Tibet Living people Tibetan diaspora Central Tibetan Administration Tibetan people Madras Christian College alumni Representatives of Offices of Tibet