Published by: World Tibet Network News, Monday, August 19, 1996

Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1437 gmt 16 Aug 96

(Xinhua is the official news agency of the Peoples Republic of China)

Text of report by Xinhua news agency

Lhasa, 16th August: The chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region has condemned the Dalai Lama for instigating social unrest and attempting to split the motherland.

During an interview in Lhasa on Thursday [15th August] with a reporter from the Japanese newspaper `Asahi Shimbun', Gyaincain [Gyalcan] Norbu said the Dalai Lama has been the cause of the turmoils that have taken place in Tibet over the past few years.

The Japanese reporter was accompanying a group from the Japan-China Friendship Association on a visit to Tibet.

Gyaincain Norbu said the Dalai Lama has never given up his separatist attempts since the failure of the rebellion in 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled abroad.

With the help of international anti-China forces, the Dalai Lama has used his religious influence to plot for Tibet's independence, which not only tarnished the Tibetan religion, but also brought disaster to Tibet, he added.

He held the separatists responsible for the terrorist explosion in Tibet last year.

But the separatist attempts have come to nothing, he said, adding that the "referendum" which was masterminded by the Dalai Lama and held outside China failed, and it is likely that the so-called "Peace March" is now near an end.

Gyaincain Norbu said that in 1995, the Dalai Lama tried to sabotage the search for the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama by illegally naming a "soul boy" and defying religious rituals and traditions.

He said the Tibet Autonomous Region, under the leadership of the central government, strictly abided by the religious rituals and consummated the search, verification and enthronement of the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, with the support of Tibetan monks, nuns and religious people.

"The young Panchen Lama is devoting himself on the study of Buddhism," he added.

He said the Dalai Lama's illegally appointed "soul boy" is leading a free life, just like other Tibetan children.

Gyaincain Norbu said great changes have taken place in Tibet since its peaceful liberation from the brutal feudal serf system. The Tibetans are a member of the big family of the Chinese nation, he said. "Although Tibet is comparatively backward compared with other areas, the central government supports and helps Tibet to develop its ethnic economy and culture towards the goal of common prosperity," he added.

When asked about the future relations between Japan and Tibet, Gyaincain Norbu said there is great potential for the development of relations between Tibet and Japan in various fields, especially when Japanese friends gain a better understanding of the advantages of Tibet's resources, and also the preferential policies set by the central government.

He welcomed Japanese investment in Tibet and closer cooperation in scientific surveying, mountain-climbing and exploration. "We hope exchange and cooperation between Tibet and Japan can be further strengthened," he added.