_________________ 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

Issue ID: 00/05/18 Compiled by Tseten Samdup

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Thursday, May 18, 2000

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Contents:

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1. Politics aside as Swedish PM talks spirituality with Dalai Lama (AFP)

2. Dalai Lama breakfasts with Swedish PM (MC)

3. Taiwan-Tibet relations areat a crucial turning point (TT)

4. Not quite made in Tibet (Himal)

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1. Politics aside as Swedish PM talks spirituality with Dalai Lama (AFP)

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STOCKHOLM, May 17 (AFP) - Reincarnation and not politics dominated talks

here Wednesday when Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson met Tibet's

spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, for the first time.

"We had about an hour-long talk about reincarnation and the differences

between various religions, especially the monotheistical religions and the

traditions of Buddhism," Persson said after the breakfast meeting.

The Dalai Lama, meanwhile, said he was delighted and surprised that

politics gave way to spiritual issues.

"The main topic of discussion included the concept of ... whether there is

a Creator," he said. It was "a great honour to discuss the big subject of

spirituality with a politician."

The Dalai Lama had already discussed Tibet's drive for greater autonomy

from Beijing with Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh on Tuesday, leaving

the door open for more ethereal talks with Persson.

China has protested sharply against the Swedish government's decision to

receive the Dalai Lama and asked that the talks be cancelled.

However, Persson said Wednesday he did not think Stockholm's relations with

Beijing would suffer.

"No, I don't think so. The Dalai Lama has been clear in stating that he

stands for a middle way," Persson said, referring to the Tibetan's call not

for full independence but "genuine autonomy" within the framework of the

People's Republic of China.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet with his supporters in 1959 after a failed

Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. He heads a government in exile in

Dharamsala, India, where about 100,000 Tibetans live as refugees.

Later Wednesday, the spiritual leader was to give a speech in Lund in

southern Sweden before traveling to Denmark, where he will hold a brief

meeting with Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen at Copenhagen Airport on

May 21.

From there he will travel on to Norway for talks with Prime Minister Jens

Stoltenberg and King Harald V.

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2. Dalai Lama breakfasts with Swedish PM (MC)

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MAY 18, 2000, M2 Communications - During the Dalai Lama's second day in

Sweden, the Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson has stated that his

country would perform a mediating role between China and Tibet if this was

ever requested.

Persson met the Tibetan spiritual leader over breakfast on 17 May at the

government's official reception building in Stockholm and afterwards stated

on local radio that 'Sweden is not seeking such a role (as a mediator), but

should such a situation arise where we could have a role, then we could

consider it' according to Reuters.

This most recent visit by the Dalai Lama to Sweden has been markedly

different to six previous ones according to Svenska Dagbladet, a Swedish

daily, which said that top officials had avoided contact with the Dalai

Lama, probably due to protests from China.

The protests from China have continued this trip, however an editorial in

the newspaper stated 'That Sweden is now giving official recognition to the

Dalai Lama - and ignoring protests from China - gives legitimacy to demands

for independence or at least autonomy for Tibet, which is the Dalai Lama's

more modest demand.' The Dalai Lama is expected to meet with the Norwegian

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg when he visits Norway next week.

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3. Taiwan-Tibet relations areat a crucial turning point (TT)

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Taipei Times, May 15, 2000

While the Dalai Lama is personally popular in Taiwan, the relations

between his government-in-exile and the KMT have never been good. Time

for the new government to open a new chapter in relations

By Tsering Namgyal

Perhaps one of the most interesting of the Dalai Lama's post-Nobel events

was a tea party held by the Taiwanese government in honor of his being

"the first in Chinese history" to win the prestigious peace prize. The

modest gathering, in no small way, epitomized the baffling complexity of

Sino-Tibetan relations.

This curious relationship has taken on a new dimension as the political

grapevine is ripe with speculation on President-elect Chen Shui-bian's

(??????) policy towards the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan

government-in-exile. Chen has reportedly invited the Tibetan spiritual

leader to attend his inaugural celebrations on May 20. Although the Dalai

Lama has yet to accept the invitation, Chen should be lauded for his

refreshingly far-sighted proposition.

Chen's victory in Taiwan's presidential election offers cause for

celebration not only for the Taiwanese, but for all the other victims of

Chinese repression for the simple reason that it will strengthen

solidarity among the millions of those who have suffered from China's

aggression. In fact, one of the most ironic developments in the Asia

Pacific region -- the world's fastest growing region -- is the undeterred

expansion of China's sphere of influence. Encouraged by the return of

Hong Kong and Macau to Chinese rule, Beijing's leaders now cannot wait

for Taiwan to unify as well. China's constant intimidation of Taiwan and

its relentless crackdown on Tibetans and other minorities in an attempt to

heal centuries of what it calls "historical humiliation," coupled with its

rising economic clout, has begun casting a pall over its future.

It is little wonder then that the Tibetan government-in-exile was

unabashedly pleased at the outcome of Taiwan's presidential election.

Chen's triumph, the de facto prime minister of the Tibetan exile

government, Sonam Tobgyal, told the Liberty Times, has dealt a "blow" to

the Beijing regime. The Tibetan government, he said, will be willing to

send representatives to attend the inaugural celebrations.

While the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan would very likely incur China's

wrath, the Taiwanese public has enough reasons to encourage the meeting

between these two extraordinary personalities. The Dalai Lama is the most

powerful voice of compassion in the violence-torn world and Chen is the

newly elected president of the one of the world's most flourishing

democracies. Although the Taiwanese are much more fortunate than their

Tibetan emigre counterparts, the island is no less isolated

internationally.

On a more practical level, Taiwan is still recovering from the shock of

last year's devastating earthquake -- which killed more than 2000 people

and destroyed nearly 100,000 homes. The Dalai Lama's visit would be a

healing relief for the earthquake victims in this predominantly Buddhist

country.

The reason his first trip to Taiwan in March of 1997 was such a success

and has remained so deeply imprinted in the minds of Taiwanese is because

it so effectively reinforced the importance of "compassion" -- the Tibetan

leader's single most important message. During his week-long stay, the

entire island was filled with the message of "love and compassion," thanks

to local media's blanket coverage of his whirlwind trip around Taiwan.

Only a person of the Dalai Lama's caliber and charisma would have helped

inspire such a sea change. With warm-heartedness fast losing the battle

against the desire for economic gain, the Dalai Lama has brilliantly

succeeded in redefining the basic idea of goodness.

More perceptive observers would also notice that the Dalai Lama's message

has entered the island's political vocabulary. Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou

(???^?E) has made it a rallying cry of his administration. "My whole

policy is to make Taipei City a more compassionate place to live," he has

said. It is a sentiment shared by several legislators and members of the

city council. The president-elect also tinkered with the idea of a

"compassionate society" on more than one occasion during his presidential

campaign. Credit must also go to the tireless efforts of local Buddhist

leaders such as Master Sheng Yen (?te) of the Dharma Drum Foundation

(?k???s) and Master Cheng Yen ( Oe) of the Tzu Chi Foundation (?O ), both

of whom have met with President-elect Chen.

Indeed, Taiwanese society is undergoing a massive spiritual and cultural

transformation -- with an increasingly large number of people now turning

to traditional Chinese-Buddhist value systems to help them find peace amid

its fast-track high-tech economy. Not surprisingly, translations of the

Dalai Lama's books have become bestsellers in Taiwan.

Such Taiwanese interest in Tibetan religion and culture also sends a

strong message to China that Tibetan and Chinese traditions cannot only

co-exist peacefully, but have much to learn from each other. Another

Tibet-related book, Sogyal Rinpoche's The Tibetan Book of Living and

Dying, has literally become a household name in Taiwan, selling more than

400,000 copies. Moreover, a leading Taipei publishing house has recently

asked for translations of another book by the Dalai Lama, Imagine All the

People: A Conversation with the Dalai Lama on Money, Politics, and Life as

it Could Be. It is indeed ironic that this Taiwanese enthusiasm for all

things Tibetan is, in no small measure, helping revive Tibetan culture and

tradition just when the Beijing government seems so adamant on

obliterating it. Reliable sources estimate that nearly one third of

financial aid to Tibetan monasteries in India come from Taiwanese donors.

At this juncture, Tibetans and Taiwanese should build upon this growing

cultural and religious nexus to improve the relations between their two

governments. The main reason for the distance between the two has until

now been the tension between the Tibetan government-in-exile's promotion

of its culture and independence and the KMT's policy of considering Tibet

as a part of the Republic of China. Supporters of Taiwanese independence

have often sought inspiration from the highly successful pro-Tibet

campaign in the West.

During his last visit, the Dalai Lama met with the leaders of the

opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Enraptured by his glowing

personality, DPP members afterward made made no secret of their admiration

for the Tibetan leader. In the past, the DPP has proposed abolishing the

Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, a ministry-level body entrusted

with forging policy for the republic's provinces of Tibet and Mongolia.

Clearly, Chen's challenge at this stage must be to normalize relations

with the Tibetan government-in-exile and help them on humanitarian

grounds.

Although China is surely seeing red over a possible "summit of the

splitists," Chen should nonetheless exercise his statesmanship and boldly

welcome the Dalai Lama to this wonderful island and turn his inaugural

ceremony into a celebration of humanity.

Tsering Namgyal is a Tibetan writer living in Taipei.

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4. Not quite made in Tibet (Himal)

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by Daniel B Haber

Himal South Asian

April 2000 issue

It is a Lhasa shop-front, with bins full of t-shirts meant for tourists.

Many of these are embroidered with the likeness of the Potala, the

traditional palace of the Dalai Lama. A man is untying a sack containing a

new consignment of t-shirts, these bear the message "Yak, Yak, Yak, Yak,

Tibet" over four embroidered yaks.

The name of the Nepali-speaking merchant is Amar Bajracharya, also known by

his Tibetan name, Tsering. He starts untying the bundle. The labels all

read "Made in Tibet", but the shipment has just arrived by truck on a

three-day overland journey across the Himalaya from Kathmandu. There, the

cotton t-shirts were embroidered by Indian hands from Bihar, who have

never seen a yak in their life.

Outside Amar's shop, directly facing the Jokhang, Tibet's holiest shrine,

are stalls selling souvenirs, knick-knacks, clothing and other items. Two

Chinese couples from Shanghai, on holiday in exotic Tibet, examine the

t-shirts, Tibetan prayer-wheels, yak-bone jewellery, and end up buying one

of the shirts for 30 RMB, bargained down from 35 (a bit over USD$4.00).

The camera-toting Chinese tourists, like the hundreds of others who join

the colourful Tibetan pilgrims circumambulating the Jokhang route known as

the Barkhor Circuit, are blissfully unaware that most of the so-called

Tibetan trinkets are not made in the high plateau, which has little

manufacturing and few cottage industries. Most come from Nepal or India.

The prayer-wheels are crafted in Kathmandu, and the yak-bone jewelry

actually originates in the lowland water buffalo.

Some savvy Japanese backpackers pass by the t-shirts which they know can

be bought in Kathmandu's touristy Thamel for only 150 Nepali rupees

(USD$2.00). However, one of them pauses to consider buying a set of wooden

prayer beads (made in India), while the lady behind the stall barks "20

yuan no bargaining!" The same beads, of course, can be bought in

Kathmandu for about NRs 50 (about 70 cents).

"Most tourists just want it cheap," grumbles Ratna Tuladhar, proprietor of

Syamakapu, a Nepali family-run business that has been importing statuettes

from workshops in Kathmandu Valley's Patan. This, at least, is a

traditional enterprise, for Patans Newar-Buddhists have been casting the

bronze statues for generations and exporting them to Lhasa--just as

Buddhism itself travelled up here from Nepal.

"Most of our old customers are Tibetans," says Tuladhar, "and they don't

mind paying seven to eight thousand yuan for something that they know has

been made in Nepal by master craftsmen. But the new tourists are mostly

newly-rich Chinese and foreign-package tourists. They snap up the cheap

imitations." Although tourism is said to have increased in Lhasa, vendors

and merchants like Tuladhar complain that business is slow. Tourist season

in Tibet runs from April through November, peaking in July-September.

Tourists looking for real Tibetan t-shirts--decorated with designs of the

Potala Palace or a pair of dancing yaks, or the Tibetan greeting "Tashi

Delek"--usually have to wait till after dusk when the regular stalls close

and street vendors lay out their goods on the footpath. The locally made

polyester t-shirts that sell for 5-8 RMB (less than a dollar) are of

inferior quality and are picked up mostly by poor locals. "They fall apart

after only one washing," warns Amar. But how to tell the local t-shirts

from the embroidered ones from Nepal? "That's easy," says Amar with a

knowing smile. The Tibetan ones (actually embroidered in Chengdu, in

neighboring Sichuan Province), carry labels that say "Made in Panama".

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