_________________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: 00/01/22 Compiled by Tseten Samdup

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Saturday, January 22, 2000

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Contents:

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1. Don't Shut Out the Dalai Lama (FEER)

2. Seoul to oppose Dalai Lama visit to South Korea (AFP)

3. The Goal of Freedom (FPT)

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1. Don't Shut Out the Dalai Lama (FEER)

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By Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari

Far Eastern Economic Review

The writer, based in Washington, is the Dalai Lama's special envoy.

The 1998 summit meeting between Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and United

States President Bill Clinton had evoked hopes that progress on the Tibet

issue would soon be at hand. However, this hope was short-lived, as the

summit didn't lead to any talk between China's leaders and His Holiness the

Dalai Lama.

Indications from Beijing are that there is an intense debate within the

leadership on its approach to the Tibet issue. Pragmatists are still not in

the majority and new information reveals that Beijing may have a more

hardline position on Tibet than its public position may depict. In late

1999, a Tibetan-language newspaper in India, the Tibet Times, published a

confidential document in which a senior Chinese official was quoted saying

the following: "We have no need to engage in dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama's return to China will bring a great risk of instability. We

will then not be able to control Tibet. The Dalai Lama is now fairly old.

At the most, it will be 10 years before he dies. When he dies, the issue of

Tibet is resolved for ever. We, therefore, have to use skillful means to

prevent his return."

If that is indeed Beijing's conclusion, its approach to the Tibet issue

couldn't be more simplistic or misguided. While China is an important

global power with the potential to become a leader among nations, it is

also its own worst enemy. Ignoring the value of working with the Dalai Lama

must rank at the top of its self-destructive tendencies.

Still, the quote from the senior Chinese official does answer one question

that has puzzled governments and China-watchers. Why has China continued to

erect roadblocks to negotiations? This despite the Dalai Lama's firm

commitment to negotiate a solution within the framework of the People's

Republic of China. The answer would appear to be that it's hoping to not

have to deal with the Dalai Lama. Yet it is foolhardy for Beijing to think

that it can wait for the Dalai Lama to be out of the picture. He is only in

his mid-60s, far younger than many of today's world leaders. And, unlike

other leaders who hold their positions for a limited time, the Dalai Lama

faces no term limit. Furthermore, his moral authority transcends his

political position, and the Tibetan people's devotion to him remains strong

and will grow even stronger over time.

Of course, without the Dalai Lama the Tibet movement would be devastated.

But the longer the Chinese government waits in trying to resolve the Tibet

issue, the greater it will be that resentment and defiance will grow and

the more difficult it will be to convince Tibetans to accept a solution

short of independence. The danger exists of a more extreme leadership then

emerging. Most importantly, the death of the present Dalai Lama in exile

would immortalize the Tibetan resistance against Chinese rule in such a way

that would be extremely hard for a future Tibetan or Chinese leader to

overturn.

If China's leaders desire peace in Tibet and stability throughout the

People's Republic, they need the Dalai Lama's help. Once they respond

positively to his overtures, the Dalai Lama could use his moral authority

to ensure the successful implementation of a negotiated settlement.

A peaceful resolution in Tibet could then help assure more restive regions,

such as Eastern Turkestan, also known as Xinjiang, that dialogue is more

effective in solving problems than taking up arms, and that China is

capable of respecting diversity. Similarly, with Central Asia reasserting

its historical role, a stable Tibet would contribute greatly to peace in

this sensitive region. Further, friendly relations between India and China

are possible only in the absence of the current instability on the Tibetan

plateau.

Some say the reason China isn't moving on the Tibet issue is because it has

placed Taiwan much higher on its agenda. This may be true, but it's

short-sighted to believe that these two issues exist in isolation from each

other. On the contrary, an acceptable resolution in Tibet could help win

the confidence of the leaders and people of Taiwan, as well as individuals

and governments around the world.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the solution to the situation in Tibet. If

the political will exists, there will be no major hurdles to negotiations,

at least on the fundamental issues. The paramount concern of China is the

unity of the PRC, and the Dalai Lama is committed to not seeking

independence. Similarly, China's leaders should revisit assurances about

Tibet's status made by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Hu Yaobang, Deng Xiaoping

and others. The Dalai Lama also is one of the strongest advocates for

change and has no wish to return Tibet to the system that existed before

1959. But it must be said that China's leftist policies, in place in Tibet

for decades, are the root of problems there and must be reversed.

The Chinese leadership should work with the Dalai Lama, whose commitment to

nonviolence and negotiation remains steadfast. To do so would have positive

reverberations throughout Asia, and indeed would provide China with the

legitimacy it needs to be fully accepted by the international community.

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2. Seoul to oppose Dalai Lama visit to South Korea (AFP)

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SEOUL, Jan 21 (AFP) - South Korea's government will oppose a planned visit

to Seoul by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, a government official

said Friday.

The stance, which reflects fears the trip could damage Seoul's fledgling

ties with China, emerged in the wake of reports that the Dalai Lama intends

to apply for a visa to attend lectures and humanitarian gatherings here.

"The government is negative toward his visit here as it has been in the

past," the foreign ministry official in charge of Tibetan affairs told AFP

"It would cause a serious problem to us," he said. The Dalai Lama's

reported desire to visit South Korea -- where Buddhism claims the largest

religious following -- presents President Kim Dae-Jung with a serious

dilemma.

Kim has been building up his image as a champion of human rights. But his

government has also been treading carefully to strengthen diplomatic ties

with China.

South Korea only established diplomatic relations with China in 1992,

having previously recognised Taiwan. Ties between the two countries have

taken a major step forward here this week with the first ever visit by a

Chinese defence minister.

Yonhap News Agency reported Friday that the student council of Seoul

National University and the school's association of Buddhists last month

sent an invitation to Dalai Lama, who in turn accepted it.

Karma Gelek, head of the Office of Tibet in Tokyo, said in an interview

with Yonhap Friday that the Dalai Lama will apply for an entry visa in a

couple of weeks for his first visit to Seoul in April.

If the visit went ahead he would give lectures and attend academic and

humanitarian functions.

Buddhists here on Friday urged the government to allow the visit. The

foreign ministry official noted that some Buddhist groups had attempted to

invite the Dalai Lama in the past but had given up in the face of

opposition from the government.

"We will try hard to persuade the students to rescind the invitation," the

official said.

"His visit would not be beneficial to the country's national interest." The

present Dalai Lama has lived in exile in northern India since he fled Tibet

in 1959 after China brutally suppressed an uprising against Chinese rule.

Since then the Dalai Lama has been an outspoken critic of China's human

rights record in Tibet and has sought automomy for the region.

In response, Beijing has sought to isolate him and often reacts angrily

when other countries welcome him.

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3. The Goal of Freedom (FPT)

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Fort Pierce Tribune

Date: 17 january 2000

Priyanka Sheth

Student activists learn nonviolent ways to protest the treatment of

Tibetans by China

TREASURE COAST At age 17, the decision to leave his small village in the

Himalayan Mountains and move to a refugee camp in India was very painful

for Lobsang Wangdu.

The Tibetan endured relentless cold and hid with two other friends in a

truck headed for Nepal. If the Chinese had captured the escapees, it would

have meant imprisonment without a trial, torture at the hands of the

police, and may be even execution. After spending two days evading Chinese

and Nepalese officials, the teens sneaked into India.

"My parents didn't want me to go away," Wangdu said, shaking his head.

"They were afraid for me."

The wiry Tibetan, now 30, hasn't seen his parents or his siblings in 13

years. The family still lives in Phenpo Village, which is two hours drive

from Lhasa, Tibet's capital.

"Inside of the Tibet, the situation is very bad," he said. "All the jobs

and opportunities are taken by the Chinese.

"Young Tibetans are not getting education, and everybody is become

depression-prone," Wangdu said. There is alcoholism, and Tibetan culture is

dying inside Tibet . . . we are all worried."

So is the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans. Earlier this

year in an Associated Press interview, the former Nobel Prize winner

accused China of committing cultural genocide against people of Tibet.

Wangdu is among 130,000 Tibetans living in exile in India, the United

States, and Europe.

Since his escape, the Buddhist philosophy scholar has tried to help his

parents leave Tibet, but the Chinese government has refused to give them

passports.

About six years ago, Wangdu moved to the United States on a visiting

scholar's program, and applied for political asylum. He vows to pursue the

exile community's overriding cause: freeing Tibet from China's oppressive

occupation by seeking U.S. political and financial support. Wangdu

currently is the membership coordinator of the Milarepa Fund, based in San

Francisco. The nonprofit agency actively supports the nonviolent social

change. He is among 175 students from across the country and the world who

attended a six-day training camp at Kashi Ashram in Roseland.

Hosted by the Students for a Free Tibet, the camp taught students mostly in

their 20s and 30s on how to use civil disobedience tactics to free Tibet.

"The action camp offered training in the strategic use of nonviolent direct

action and campaign tactics to fight for justice in Tibet," said John

Hocevar, SFT president.

The Council for World Tibet Day provided the site for the training camp.

The Council is associated with the Kashi Foundation. Ma Jaya Bhagavati,

director of the organization, founded World Tibet Day. Her student, Brahma

Das, founded the Interfaith Call for Freedom of Worship in Tibet last year.

World Tibet Day was observed simultaneously in 51 cities in 10 countries.

During the six-week camp, Berkeley-based Ruckus Society taught students how

to scale buildings, hang huge banners, and form human chains. It also

staged role-playing skits and interactive exercises to teach students

maneuvers on how to outsmart and elude authorities. John Sellers, Ruckus'

33-year-old director, took part in the World Trade Organization protests in

Seattle. His group engaged in nonviolent demonstrations, highlighting

human-rights abuses in countries like China and child labor in Third World

countries.

"We were against undemocratic, unaccountable, untransparent corporate

power, which is embodied in the WTO," Sellers said. "They have a secret

corporate agenda that wouldn't stand the scrutiny of any kind of public,

and they keep it behind close doors and that is immoral and unacceptable."

At the WTO protests, Tibet activists also were successful in raising

concerns about China's entry into the organization. "I was happy to

collaborate with Students for Free Tibet," Sellers said, who organized

three intensive workshops.

At Kashi Ashram, the trainers also organized seminars on the WTO

demonstrations, and the World Bank protests in New York. In the evenings,

students also took part in Tibetan cultural events, including music and

dance performances. They listened to leaders from the Tibetan exile groups,

including Nawang Rabgyal, an emissary representing the Dalai Lama.

Subhadra Mitchell, 14, ninth-grade student at The River School in Vero

Beach, was among nine students who took part in the training camp. Mitchell

was the second youngest student at the camp. "I have been doing a lot of

climbing ropes," said Mitchell, who lives in the ashram with her parents,

Durgamayee and Baba Ram. "I have met so many people and I have learned

about issues in Burma, Tibet and taking part in the political theatre."

Brahma Das, who is Mitchell's faculty advisor, said he was very impressed.

"She was glowing," he said. "I saw her mother today, and her mother's says,

"it's fabulous, and she is going to be the backbone of the local chapter."

While the problems of Tibet may appear miles away, they are not for more

than 5,000 Tibetans who live in the U.S. Though their numbers are small,

they are not squeamish about voicing their discontent. "The international

(community) doesn't want to support Tibet because the Chinese are very

strong," said Lhakpa Tsering, 37, executive director of Tibetan Alliance of

Chicago, a support group that promotes Tibetan issues. "The international

community is not having any benefits from freeing Tibetans . . . that's why

may be they don't want to help us."

Tsering, who also attended the camp, also called the Clinton

Administration's China policy "wishy-washy."

"The government has its own agenda because there is a huge business

interest in China, with its billion people," he said. "Even the United

Nations, which is more of a 'united government' has its own agenda."

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