Published by: World Tibet Network News Sunday, December 28, 1997

[CND, 12/26/97] Chinese authorities on Tuesday rejected a suggestion for a UN-supervised referendum in Tibet, as reported by the Chicago Tribune and the AFP from Beijing. In a 365-page report released on Monday, the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists accused China of intensifying repression in Tibet, and urged Beijing to allow Tibetans to decide whether they should remain under Chinese rule. The report said that a harsh political re-education drive is underway in Tibetan monasteries, asserting that Buddhist nuns and other women have been raped with cattle prods, and that prisoners have died from torture or negligence.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman TANG Guoqiang dismissed such claims about human rights abuses in Tibet as slander, and said that "The so-called self-determination is out of the question," because Tibet has always been a part of China. He further stated that "The affairs of Tibet are those of China and we oppose all foreign interference in China's internal affairs."

In its December 10 edition received in Beijing on Wednesday, the Tibet Daily said that "Disruption and sabotage by the Dalai Lama clique are the principal source of instability" in the region. The official newspaper also wrote in its December 15 edition that "old ways and customs," emphasizing his religious authority, allow the Dalai Lama to stir up separatist sentiments that damage the economic and social developments of the region.

(Fabian FANG, Guochen WAN)