May 1, 1997

By Fei Wang

Voice of America, Washington

intro: the dalai lama, tibet's exiled spiritual leader and the 1989 nobel peace prize laurel, recently visited taiwan, where he met with president lee teng-hui, and the u-s, where he met with president clinton at the white house. in beijing, chinese leaders reacted angrily to the dalai lama's recent meetings, apparently fearing that support is growing for the exiled tibetan leader. why did the chinese in taiwan and in the mainland react differently to the dalai lama, after being in agreement on tibet for years? voa's fei wang talked to james seymour, a professor at the columbia university and has this report.

text: taiwan has always agreed with china that tibet should remain part of china. that's why the dalai lama had never visited taiwan until last month, when he reportedly received a warm welcome by taiwan's president lee teng-hui, and was cheered by thousands of taiwanese on the streets. however, james seymour, a professor at columbia university, says the dalai lama's visit to taiwan should not be interpreted as taiwanese support for tibetan independence.

tape cut one seymour :55"

"this is of course the issue that was debated and argued about for years. this is why it took so long to get the dalai lama to taiwan. finally they reached some accommodation, so that everybody could put their own spin on it. the government could say that we did not treat him as a foreign head of state, and the tibetans could refer to how the taiwanese government welcomed him to taiwan. beijing could have chosen either interpretation, and they choose to interpret what is from their point of view the worst interpretation, that is, taiwan is moving toward accepting the idea of tibetan independence. and therefore they reacted very strongly, very negatively against the dalai lama's visit to taiwan."

text: the dalai lama was forced into exile in a small town in northern india after chinese troops crushed a revolt in the tibetan capital of lhasa in 1959. since then, chinese propaganda has labeled him "a counterrevolutionary bandit" and "an incestuous murderer". however, the dalai lama says he does not seek tibetan independence. he said last week that he just wants the tibetan people to be allowed to keep their self-governance and their own religion and culture without interference from china.

tape cut two dalai lama :37"

"this is my basis of approaches: not complete separation, not complete independence. of course, historically, we were an independent nation, and many tibetans also, you see, want (independence). however, my basic belief is that things (in china) are much changed and also are changing. so the world is heavily interdependent. so therefore, even for our own interest, in many economic field, if we joined with another big nation, that might be a good benefit for us. therefore i am seeking genuine self-rule, so that i feel mutually agreeable."

text: president clinton expressed his concern for the preservation of tibetan religion and culture during his meeting with the dalai lama. analysts say that by meeting the dalai lama informally at the white house, president clinton showed his concern for tibet without offending beijing. professor seymour says the tibetan issue is a very subtle one in sino-u.s. bilateral relations.

tape: cut three seymour :52"

"the united states government does not support (tibetan) independence, it does support human rights for the people of tibet. it is not clear whether the united states even supports the self-determination, the right of the tibetans for self determination. here statements by the u-s government have been somewhat ambiguous. but partly because of the history of u-s involvement in the tibetan opposition military campaigns twenty or thirty years ago, right now, the united states is very careful not to identify with any separatist movement in the prc (the people's republic of china). but of course there is a lot of support for the tibetans among public opinion and in congress."

text: although beijing reacted strongly to dalai lama's meetings with taiwan's president lee teng-hui and u-s president clinton, chinese officials still say that china is ready to talk to the dalai lama. But professor seymour doesn't think talks will be held any time soon.

tape cut four seymour :40"

"because they are constantly condemning the dalai lama, bad-mouthing him, and using extreme language against him. and it's pretty clear that they want him to come to beijing for the same reason they wanted the banchan lama in beijing, so that they can control him. it's not that they would let him to come to china as a guest or as a religious leader, or anything like that. they want him in china so they can control him, and of course, he would not accept that. he wants to go to tibet, he doesn't want to go to china proper."

text: professor seymour at columbia university believes that the chinese government will continue to take a hard line on tibet to maintain domestic stability after the death of deng xiaoping, china's ultimate leader. however, he expects the tibet issue will continue to receive international attention because of the dalai lama's ever active role on the international stage.