_________________ 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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Wednesday, April 5th 2000

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ISSUE ID: 00/04/05 Compiled by Nima Dorjee

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Contents:

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1. Give up freedom demand, Dalai Lama told

2. The reasons for China's new and hardened attitude to the issue of

Tibet (DIIR)

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1. Give up freedom demand, Dalai Lama told

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The Hindu Tuesday, April 04, 2000

BEIJING, APRIL 3. China has said it would allow the Dalai Lama,

currently living in exile in India, to return to Lhasa if the spiritual

leader ``truly'' gave up his quest for Tibetan Independence.

Expounding China's stand on Tibet, the Foreign Minister, Mr. Tang

Jiaxuan, told PTI here that Beijing was willing to negotiate with the

Dalai Lama if he agreed to China's preconditions.

``We have reiterated on many occasions that as long as the Dalai Lama

truly renounces his proposition for Tibetan independence, stops all

activities aimed at splitting the motherland and makes a public

statement recognising Tibet as an inalienable part of China, we will

welcome his return to the motherland,'' he said.

Putting further preconditions, Mr. Tang said the Tibetan leader should

recognise Taiwan as a province of China and the Government representing

the whole of China. ``We will negotiate with him... So that he can do

something useful for the people in Tibet in the rest of his life.''

China has long accused the Nobel Laureate, 64 Dalai Lama (64), of trying

to split the country. The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet after a failed

armed uprising against the Communist rule in 1959, maintains that he

sought only genuine autonomy for the Himalayan region.

Denying statements attributed to the India-based Tibetan Buddhist leader

that communication channels with Beijing were non- functional, the

Minister said ``the Central Government has channels for contacts with

the Dalai Lama side and these are unimpeded''.

Stating that the Dalai Lama had ``never given up attempts to split

China'', Mr. Tang said the Tibetan leader ``has no sincerity whatsoever

about the negotiations. The responsibility for the current absence of

dialogue between the two sides lies squarely on the Dalai Lama's side.''

He claimed the Chinese Government had always adopted a ``very liberal

policy'' towards Tibetans, and denied Beijing was suppressing them.

Asked whether China would accept over 150,000 Tibetan refugees living in

India, Mr. Tang said that under China's constitution all ethnic

communities were ``completely equal'' and hence the so-called Tibetan

refugees issue did not exist.

Human rights groups had repeatedly accused China of systematic

destruction of Tibetan Buddhist culture and persecuting monks loyal to

the Dalai Lama.

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2. The reasons for China's new and hardened attitude to the issue of

Tibet (DIIR)

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An Outline for a just and mutually beneficial solution by Kalon T. C.

Tethong

Kalon TC Tethong is the minister responsible for Information and

International Relations of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India.

China at the moment is going through an intense policy debate about its

pace of economic development and social reforms. There are indications

that the opponents of further reforms are gaining the upper hand in the

debate. Consequently and unfortunately, China's Tibet policy has now

become a hostage to the debate and a victim of the opponents of reform.

In addition to this and more other irksome problems, which have cropped

up in the past few years, the Chinese leadership appears to have no

intention of resolving the issue of Tibet at all. Instead, campaigns to

suppress what is left of the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people

have not only increased but have intensified. In spite of repeated

announcements by the President of China and his colleagues that "the

door to Sino-Tibet dialogue is open", provided His Holiness the Dalai

Lama accepted the preconditions set forth by President Jiang Zemin after

the Clinton-Jiang summit in June 1998, we have not seen any initiative

from Beijing to commence any dialogue. Furthermore, policy decisions

and other directives clearly indicate that the Chinese leadership

intends to continue its repressive rule with more intensity and more

systematically in spite of all the bilateral, unilateral or multilateral

engagements made by the western and economically developed countries.

These clearly show China is not prepared to accept its responsibility as

a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations nor is

it eager and sincere about being a respected international power. From

our estimation, we feel the United States, the members of the European

Union and other countries that have adopted the policy of political and

economic engagement with China have not been reciprocated with any

satisfactory response from Beijing for all their good intentions.

As these go a long way in explaining China's remarkable about turn on

the issue of Tibet from the time of the Clinton-Jiang summit in 1998

when President Jiang Zemin breezily told President Clinton as a joint

media appearance that China had several channels of communication opened

with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Jiang further told the visiting

American President that as long as His Holiness the Dalai Lama accepted

certain pre-conditions China would be willing to re-start negotiations.

When we interpret China's hardening attitude towards the issue of Tibet

and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we need to note these developments as

important factors in China's hardened attitude.

On the other hand, China has been encouraged in its new hard-line

attitude towards the issue of Tibet when the West several years ago

dropped the stick of human rights censure in favour of dangling the

carrot of trade benefits before China. Even those in the West who are

eternal optimists over this new policy cannot pretend that this policy

of bilateral engagement with China on human rights has not become one

huge disaster. Initially there was some cautious optimism that this

policy might just work. During the first visit to China by the UN High

Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, China went through the

motion of signing the two UN covenants, including the one on civil and

political rights.

However, once the Western leaders were back home, China, freed from any

threat of censure at the UN Commission on Human Rights and freed from

any threat to its business and trade interests, went back to doing what

it does best - putting dissidents behind bars and stepping up repression

in Tibet.

The other factor weighing on Chinese minds is the transformation of the

institution of the Dalai Lama from a purely Central Asian to a global

spiritual power. In 1979 His Holiness the Dalai Lama was a respected

figure, although little known outside Asia. That was why the Chinese

leader thought that they could manage him. In 1979 the late Deng

Xiaoping made the initial contact with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and

told his emissary that everything except the question of Tibetan

independence could be discussed. But the main Chinese agenda then was

to simply negotiate the return of the Dalai Lama.

Now China won't hear about a visit by the Tibetan leader even to China.

This new attitude and thinking on the Chinese leaders' part , we

believe, has to do with the growing prestige of the institution of the

Dalai Lama. Now His Holiness the Dalai is an international figure and

with growing spiritual followers world-wide, including Taiwan and

China. This is especially irritating for the Chinese Communist Party

whose ability to retain the loyalty of the Chinese populace is

diminishing gradually, losing followers to traditional religious

beliefs. It is in this context that some senior Chinese officials in

December 1998 commented that even a visit to China by His Holiness the

Dalai Lama would unleash great problems for China. The officials said

this would make the "Tibetans and the Mongolians go crazy". The

officials said this would also have an impact on the latent

pro-democracy activists who could be galvanised by such a visit. The

officials said that in whatever way China dealt with the potential

disturbance would have an unsettling effect.

Another case is the confidential document coming from Tibet which has

been published in several exile journals. The document identifies a

senior Chinese leader as saying that there was no need for negotiations

with the Dalai Lama. "The Dalai Lama's return to China would 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 20 years

before he dies. When he dies, the issue of Tibet will be resolved

forever. We, therefore, have to use skilful means to prevent his

return."

These are some of the reasons which have compelled the Chinese

leadership to adopt the current hardened position on the issue of Tibet

and to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Chinese leadership feels that it would bypass His Holiness the Dalai

Lama and solve the issue of Tibet on its own terms. China is trying to

solve the issue of Tibet by pumping money onto the Tibetan plateau and

by a massive capital outlay, mainly for construction. These

developments benefit only Chinese settlers and not the Tibetan people.

The artificial economic boom China has created on the "roof of the

world" is intended to attract more and more Chinese settlers on the

Tibetan plateau. China thinks that by swamping the Tibetans in a sea of

Chinese it would consolidate Beijing's rule in Tibet.

However, these are dangerous delusions to entertain. If the Chinese

authorities think that they can bypass His Holiness the Dalai Lama in

finding a solution to the Tibet problem, then they will provoke an

angrier form of Tibetan nationalism. We need only to look at history of

conflict between Tibet and China to see that with or without the Dalai

Lama the issue of Tibet will continue to haunt China with unpredictable

consequences.

On the other hand, if the Tibetans in Tibet continue to be marginalised,

dispossessed, alienated and dis-enfranchised, they will sooner or later

take matters in their own hands with unpredictable consequences for both

China and His Holiness the Dalai Lama's policy of non-violence and

forbearance.

>From our perspective these are precisely the reasons why China should

and must re-start negotiations with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is

one Tibetan who is in a position to turn around the majority of the

Tibetan people to his line of thinking. And the solution which His

Holiness the Dalai has offered to the Chinese leadership is in line with

the concept of "one country, two systems" formula that is now being

practiced in Hong Kong and Macau. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said

repeatedly that he is not seeking independence but for genuine self-rule

for Tibet within the framework of the People's Republic of China and his

words are backed by the force of the moral authority which he exercises

over the Tibetan people.

On this account we feel that China dealing with His Holiness the Dalai

Lama honourably will be beneficial for China on several accounts. First

is that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the only leader who has total

sway over the Tibetan people. After his passing away, even if China

were to solve the issue peacefully it will not find for a long time the

leader who represents the interests of all Tibetans and respected by

all. Any solution which China works out with His Holiness the Dalai Lam

that takes into account the just aspirations of the Tibetan people will

be durable and lasting.

If China works out an honourable solution to the Tibetan issue, this, as

many commentators never tire in pointing out, will boost the confidence

and faith of peoples as varied as those in Taiwan and Xinjiang and

minority regions. There are also two problems for which the Chinese

government would need to seek a solution sooner or later. A just

solution found for the issue of Tibet will pave the way for China to

find an equally creative way to solve the issue of Taiwan and that of

the Muslims in Xinjiang. These will go a long way in firming up

stability in China and facilitate the continued growth of the Chinese

economy.

And China has both the experience and skill in doing this. China has

managed with great skill to bring Hong Kong and Macau to what the

Chinese call "the fold of the motherland." China has given these former

colonies the freedom necessary to ensure their continued prosperity and

well-being.

China's ability to deal tactfully and imaginatively with these problems

will earn enormous respect from the international community and will

facilitate China's increasing integration to the global economy for the

benefit of the Chinese people and for the stability of China.

In order to accomplish these, China needs to look at His Holiness the

Dalai Lama as the best answer to its Tibet problem and not its worst

nightmare. The best solution is for China to overcome its ingrained

suspicion by creating an atmosphere that respects Tibetan differences

and promotes the separate identity and distinct culture of the Tibetan

people. If this is done China would have earned the admiration of the

rest of the world and this will enable it to establish the foundations

of a truly prosperous and stable China.

China yearns for the restoration of its former greatness. However, if

that greatness has to be realised it must be made in an environment

where the non-Chinese people find their true personality and voice in a

democratic environment governed by the rule of law.

In conclusion I would like to say that both the escape of the 17th

Karmapa and Agya Rinpoche is a clear indication of the worsening human

rights situation and violation of religious freedom in Tibet. Agya

Rinpoche escaped Tibet in 1998 and is presently in the United States.

Agya Rinpoche testified before the US Commission on International

Religious Freedom in Los Angeles on 15 March 2000. He is the abbot of

Kumbum monastery, one of the most important monasteries in Tibet.

Besides he held many important positions in the Chinese establishment,

including being a committee member of the Chinese People's Political

Consultative Committee, deputy chairman of the Qinghai People's

Political Consultative Committee, deputy chairman of the Chinese

Buddhist Association, president of the Qinghai Buddhist Association,

deputy chairman of the Chinese Youth League, and the deputy chairman of

the Qinghai Youth League.

In view of the importance attached to him by the Chinese authorities, I

would like to quote a part of the testimony he gave to explain the true

states of religious freedom and the present state of the justice system

in Tibet.

"Here I want to point out a very important element in the politics of

religious freedom in China. There is a constitution in China that states

that all people have the right to choose their religion. But unlike

other provisions of the Chinese constitution, where laws have been

enacted to guarantee rights provided by the constitution, there are no

laws at all to protect this so-called guarantee of religious freedom.

Since there is no law, the policy makers can dictate whatever they like,

and when religious freedoms are crushed there is no avenue for appeal.

The policy makers are the "foxes guarding the hen house" of religious

freedom. Sometimes, certain practices would be permitted, and then there

would be a change of policy which made the same practices prohibited and

punishable with no recourse at all. This very difficult climate of

uncertainty was one of the factors that forced me to leave my country.

It is my urgent wish that China will enact a religious law according to

the constitution."

Thank you.

* Speech given to European Parliamentarians Meeting on Tibet held at

Brussels, Belgium on 29 March, 2000.

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