INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET

Washington, D.C

For Immediate Release Contact: Bhuchung Tsering

202 785-1515

Washington, D.C. February 19, 1997 -- The passing of Deng Xiaoping marks the end of that group of Chinese leaders who had personal involvement in Tibet.

"No top leader in post-revolutionary China has had a more preeminent role in Tibet policy than Deng," said Lodi Gyari, President of the International Campaign for Tibet, "Even Mao Tse Tung deferred to Deng on major Tibet decisions," he added.

The Dalai Lama, in an interview to Voice of America's Tibetan service broadcast today, expressed regret that the issue of Tibet was not resolved during Deng's lifetime. The Dalai Lama said, "Deng had been involved in the Tibetan issue from the very beginning. It seems Deng had the intention to resolve the issue himself ... for my part, I had hope and worked hard on it ... Perhaps he regretted this; for me even now I cannot find a way to resolve it."

Deng was personally involved in all of the major campaigns in Tibet

the 'liberation,' 'democratic reforms,' squashing the 1959 Uprising, 'socialist reconstruction,' purging Tibetan leaders, including the Panchen Lama, the 'opening,' and after 1987, the suppression of Tibet.

Gyari said, "To him, Tibet was not only a matter of sovereignty, principle and policy." " It was also a very personal matter, and Deng has never been willing to admit that the policies he pushed for regarding Tibet were wrong, because he knew that his reputation - his 'face' - was at stake," he added.

For Jiang Zemin and other Chinese leaders, nationalism, concern for stability and the claim of sovereignty will still be major concerns in Tibet. Unlike Deng, they do not have the personal attachment and long-term involvement in Tibetan affairs. They have less of a historical burden to carry and are more likely than Deng to find a new approach to solving the Tibet problem.

The importance of Deng's role in Tibetan affairs is little known in the West, and would be even less so were it not for a document penned by Wei Jingsheng, China's well-known dissident. In a letter written in 1992, Wei charged that 'it was your one-sided propaganda that has resulted in this national discrimination against the Tibetans' and that 'you will be laughed at and condemned by history' for your Tibet policies. Wei laid the preponderance of the blame for China's misrule of Tibet on Deng, and did not hesitate to say so: "The director of this tragedy is no other than you, Mr. Deng Xiaoping.''

"The death of Deng provides new opportunities and challenges for both the Tibetans and the Chinese," said Gyari, adding, "how each side will play their hand in the post-Deng era remains an open question."