_________________WTN-L World Tibet Network News _________________

Published by: The Canada Tibet Committee

Editorial Board: Brian Given, Conrad Richter, Nima Dorjee,

Tseten Samdup, Thubten (Sam) Samdup

WTN Editors: wtn-editors@tibet.ca

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ISSUE ID: 00/01/21 Compiled by Tseten Samdup

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Friday, January 21, 2000

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Contents:

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1. Dalai Lama's proposed Seoul visit poses headache over China

2. Tibetans arrested during escape (KP)

3. China says US human rights resolution 'doomed to failure' (AFP)

4. Best-selling Buddhist closes book on fame (TA)

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1. Dalai Lama's proposed Seoul visit poses headache over China

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South Korean news agency Yonhap

Seoul, 21st January: China has dominated the nation's foreign policy issues

thus far this year in heralding the diplomatic direction towards a new

millennium.

The thorny issue of the proposed visit of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai

Lama to Korea comes right after the resignation of Foreign Affairs and

Trade Minister Hong Sun-yong immediately after China deported seven North

Korean defectors to the North.

Chinese Defence Minister Chi Haotian arrived in Seoul this week for a

historic visit to former wartime enemy South Korea. The Seoul government

has long been reluctant to the idea of the Dalai Lama's visit in order not

to strain ties with Beijing, with which Seoul normalized relations in 1992.

"We may have to request to the Seoul National University (SNU) Student

Council and its Buddhist student organization that they refrain from

inviting the Dalai Lama," an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and Trade said.

The government cannot disregard the position of China, which regards the

Dalai Lama as the political leader of Tibet separatists, he said. Another

official said the ministry is closely discussing with officials of the

presidential office of Chongwadae and other related agencies on whether to

allow the visit.

Buddhists here, however, are urging for measures to facilitate his visit,

saying it should be seen from religious, humanitarian and academic points

of view rather than political under the principle of separating politics

from religion.

It will be rather unusual for the Dalai Lama not to visit Seoul just after

his ninth visit to Japan in April, they say, adding he should meet his

counterparts in South Korea from the perspective of "enhancing exchanges

and activating Buddhism."

Sok Min-chol, president of the Buddhist students' association of SNU, said

he believes the Seoul government will permit the visit as it has nothing to

do with political issues.

Yi Chong-pin was named foreign affairs and trade minister after predecessor

Hong Sun-yong was criticized for failing to properly deal with China's

repatriation of seven North Korean defectors despite heavy opposition. The

new minister faces another thorny issue involving China that may have much

larger-than-expected repercussions from the political circle and the

nation, which has about 15 million Buddhists, especially with the general

elections just months away.

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2. Tibetans arrested during escape (KP)

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The Kathmandu Post

January 20,2000

The Nepali border police have arrested four Tibetans who were trying to

enter Nepal, said police here today.

According to Inspector Arvind Dhital at the Border Police Office, Kodari,

the intruders who managed to slip into Nepal through Tatopani police post

at the Sino-Nepalese border were nabbed at Liping of Sindhupalchok on Jan

17.

According to the police, the Tibetans intended to stay at a local monastery

for few days and then enter Kathmandu as refugees.

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3. China says US human rights resolution 'doomed to failure' (AFP)

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BEIJING, Jan 20 (AFP) - Beijing called on the United States Thursday to

withdraw a resolution condemning China at the upcoming UN Human Rights

Commission, saying the motion was "doomed to failure."

"The Chinese side urges the US side to stop at once this erroneous act of

using the question of human rights to table anti-China resolutions before

the UN Human Rights Commission," foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao

said.

"If the US persists on doing such things it will only doom them in

failure," he told a routine briefing.

The United States last week said it would table the resolution in March,

citing a deterioration in China's human rights record last year with a

crackdown on political dissent, the suppression of the spiritual Falungong

group and intensified controls on political and religious expression.

"We have long been deeply disturbed about the human rights situation in

Tibet, and particularly the tight restriction on Tibetan Buddhism," US

State Department spokesman James Rubin said.

Zhu reiterated China's stance that different countries had a right to deal

differently with human rights in accordance with different cultural, social

and economic conditions.

"The US's wanton remarks on the human rights situations in other countries

cannot be accepted and I think this practice is doomed to failure," he

said, accusing the United States of a litany of human rights abuses.

"Why does the United States not table a resolution criticising the human

rights situation in the United States," he asked.

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4. Best-selling Buddhist closes book on fame (TA)

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The Australian, 17 January, 2000

In 1992, a book stamped with a ponderous don't-read-me title appeared under

the name of Sogyal Rinpoche, Buddhist master. The Tibetan Book of Living

and Dying sold more than 200,000 copies in its first year, climbing to more

than 1 million. But Sogyal Rinpoche, who is in Australia for a series of

public talks and retreats, decided against using fame as a springboard to

guru status.

"There were so many things that one could pursue and follow - make tape,

make many kinds of things, do more television and interviews," he says.

"All the doors were open."

He choose to concentrate on his own spiritual practice, and to spend more

time with his own ageing teachers. And while he doesn't pursue the subject,

the tacit point is nevertheless clear: many a Western spiritual "sage"

espousing the wisdom of the East would have climbed aboard the celebrity

train, stoked the engine and waved: "All aboard!"

Sogyal Rinpoche heads a spiritual group called Rigpa - in Tibet, literally

"the knowledge of knowledge" - and spends his time mostly in France, the US

and India. He wrote his bestseller, a distillation of Tibetan Ideas about

death and dying, in the face of widespread Western denial of mortality.

Dressed in a traditional Tibetan robe on the day we met, he's a portly,

cheery presence - no wan ascetic. He may have peered into the valley of

death. But he seems quite untouched by it.

Sogyal Rinpoche was born in Tibet and went into exile with the Chinese

invasion, joining his master, Jamyang Khyentse, who died in the Himalayas.

The year was 1959 and Sogyal Rinpoche was just 7. That death and the death

of his homeland, took the ground from beneath his feet. But just as the

Buddhist belief In reincarnation provides solace from grief, Sogyal

Rinpoche believes that Tibet, too, will be reborn.

"I do believe it will be returned. In the early days, in the 60s and the

early 70s, it seemed like it was impossible because we had very little

support from governments. And Tibetans have a saying, 'When the sky eats

the Earth, what can the poor little Earth do?'," he smiles. And the eyes

smile too. "But the Dalai Lama has remained steadfast, and kept up our

hope. I really very much believe in him and his vision. He thinks globally,

not just of the Tibetan people. He thinks we have to live with China, China

Is a great country. His Holiness, I think, really feels that Tibet or

himself may be able to contribute towards China and its international

relationships."

He says the recent escape of the young 14-year-old Karmapa lama - his

predecessor was Sogyal Rinpoche's uncle - from Lhasa to India took the

Dalai Lama and his exiled Government by surprise. "He (Karmapa lama) took

the journey primarily so he could meet with his own teachers and continue

his education."

But isn't the exile of Tibet's third-ranking lama a loss to the Tibetan

people at a crucial time? If Sogyal Rinpoche sees the point, his deep

grained levity will not allow him to dwell on it. "In some ways I think by

coming here, If you get a good education and training, it will be even a

greater asset," he says.

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