Text of Hong Kong-based news agency Zhongguo Tongxun She's reporter He Shan's "Roundup"

27 Mar 97

Hong Kong, 27th March: Taking with him 500,000 dollars in "contributions" and a "positive response" on his request to set up a Tibetan office in Taiwan, the Dalai Lama left Taipei this afternoon content, following his six-day, first visit to Taiwan. Exactly as expected by the public before his trip, even though the Dalai Lama made the trip in the name of "promoting Buddhism", his true aim and primary goal was to establish political and monetary ties with Taiwan.

The Dalai Lama's brother Gyalo Dhondrub worked actively for the visit, declared time and again that the Dalai Lama made the trip not for the purpose of begging for money. As a rule, the Dalai does not solicit contributions when he presides over Buddhist ceremonies. However, at the ceremony held in Taibei, the Dalai Lama broke the rule and accepted 500,000 dollars in "contributions" donated by Taiwan's Buddhist Association of China, which sponsored the ceremony, and indicated that he would hand over the money to the "government in exile" for its disposal. The unit sponsoring the ceremony stated candidly that the Dalai Lama was in exile in India's Dharamsala and his "government in exile" did not have revenues and that the association arranged the religious ceremony to raise contributions to help the Dalai Lama. It was learned that in addition to the 500,000 dollars, the association will wire another sum in "contributions" to the Dalai Lama.

Besides breaking his interdiction of "not accepting money", the Dalai Lama also did not keep his promise not to call on political figures during the visit. Not only did he meet Hsu Hsin-liang and Shi Shi Ming-teh of the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP], he also met the Kuomintang's Sung Chu-yu, Lien Chan, and Li Teng-hui, exchanging mutual admiration and displaying similar aspirations and interests.

As soon as he arrived in Taiwan, the Dalai Lama began to call Taiwan "your country". During his stay in Taiwan, he declared on numerous occasions that Tibet has always been an independent country. Li Teng-hui pretended he did not hear the Dalai Lama's words and conversed cheerfully with him, showing no awareness of the criticisms in Taiwan political circles that the meeting was a "summit for Taiwan and Tibetan independence".

Not only this. During his visit to Taiwan, the Dalai Lama proposed on many occasions to set up an office. It was reported that the proposal received a "positive response" from the Taiwan authorities. In his news conference, the Dalai Lama explained that the office will not only handle religious affairs but will also involve itself in expanded areas, such as education, medical care, and culture, and that everything will become public and open, including Taiwan's under-the-counter economic assistance to Tibetans in exile, which can henceforth be carried out publicly.

In light of the Dalai Lama's request to set up an office in Taiwan, Taiwan's "Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission", which poses obstacles to the establishment of relations between the Dalai Lama and Taiwan, faces abolition.

It was reported that there had been quite a few "misunderstandings" between the Dalai Lama and Taiwan in the past, which had prevented them from having frequent contact. The Dalai Lama's current visit to Taiwan has opened the door for monetary exchanges and established a framework for political contact, signaling a dangerous step forward towards collusion between the "Tibetan independence" and "Taiwan independence".