Published by: World Tibet Network News Saturday, December 13, 1997

BEIJING, Dec 3 (AFP) - One of Beijing's top officials in Tibet has said the fight against the territory's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, is a matter of "life or death" for Tibetans, according to a report received here Wednesday.

"The fight against revisionist forces wanting to re-establish the feudal system of serfdom is a matter of life or death for the Tibetan people," said Raidi (eds: one name), the Chinese Communist Party's number two in Tibet, during a speech to local party members on November 17 published Wednesday in the Tibetan Daily.

"We must realize that the fight against separatists is difficult, complicated and long-term," he added.

Recognising the "still vibrant spiritual influence" of the Dalai Lama, Raidi said the "the main battlefield against the Dalai Lama must be religion."

The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who lives in self-imposed exile in northern India, fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

"The ideological penetration of the Dalai Lama in Tibet is still serious ... and we must not underestimate his influence in the spiritual domain," said Raidi, the assistant secretary of the Communist Party committee in Tibet.

"(He) represents the main source for instability in Tibet and the greatest obstacle to the normal running of Tibetan Buddhist activities," he added.

"We have already punished severely the separatists hidden amongst the monks," the communist official said.

"We have eliminated photographs of the Dalai Lama and reactionary propaganda in temples, and are leading a campaign of patriotic education among the monks and nuns. But we must stay alert."

Referring to campaigns in the West supporting Tibetan independence, Raidi accused the Dalai Lama of being "the faithful tool of international forces hostile to China."

Beijing has regularly expressed anger at the international pro-Tibet movement, currently being highlighted by two films, "Seven Years in Tibet" and "Kundun."

Chinese President Jiang Zemin's recent tour of the United States was dogged by vocal protests supporting Tibetan independence and culture.