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Chinese Premier Denounces Dalai Lama
March 18, 2008 05:33 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Premier Wen Jiabao stated that the Dalai Lama and his “clique” are behind the violence seen in recent Tibetan protests.
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In his first comments since the violence in Tibet began last week, Wen said, “There is ample fact and plenty of evidence proving this incident was organized, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique,” reports the BBC.
Although the exiled Dalai Lama has supported “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet instead of independence, Wen said in his speech that this push for “peaceful dialogue” had been “nothing but lies.”
The Dalai Lama has stressed his dedication to nonviolence and peace, and has even said he would resign as head of the government-in-exile if the violence intensified.
Tibetan exiles have placed the death toll at about 100 so far, although China claims the number is much lower.
On Monday, the governor of Tibet said there would be “harsh” consequences if the protesters did not desist. His deadline has passed, and the extent of China’s response remains to be seen.
There are many opinions about the causes of the conflict and how China should proceed. A number of op-ed pieces cite the economic disparity between eastern and western China, and the anger Tibetans feel about the influx of Han Chinese immigrants into their country. There are currently more Chinese than native Tibetans living in Lhasa.
China’s suppression of the Tibetan Buddhist religion has also been blamed for the current crisis. Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal and H.D.S. Greenway of The Boston Globe both assert that the problem is not restricted to Tibet, and that religious and ethnic minorities throughout China are being smothered by the country’s Communist and atheistic hold.
Although the exiled Dalai Lama has supported “meaningful autonomy” for Tibet instead of independence, Wen said in his speech that this push for “peaceful dialogue” had been “nothing but lies.”
The Dalai Lama has stressed his dedication to nonviolence and peace, and has even said he would resign as head of the government-in-exile if the violence intensified.
Tibetan exiles have placed the death toll at about 100 so far, although China claims the number is much lower.
On Monday, the governor of Tibet said there would be “harsh” consequences if the protesters did not desist. His deadline has passed, and the extent of China’s response remains to be seen.
There are many opinions about the causes of the conflict and how China should proceed. A number of op-ed pieces cite the economic disparity between eastern and western China, and the anger Tibetans feel about the influx of Han Chinese immigrants into their country. There are currently more Chinese than native Tibetans living in Lhasa.
China’s suppression of the Tibetan Buddhist religion has also been blamed for the current crisis. Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal and H.D.S. Greenway of The Boston Globe both assert that the problem is not restricted to Tibet, and that religious and ethnic minorities throughout China are being smothered by the country’s Communist and atheistic hold.
Headline Links: Chinese premier lambastes Dalai Lama
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has spoken out for the first time since the riots in Lhasa began, accusing the Dalai Lama of fomenting the protests, according to the BBC.
Source: The BBC
A lot of young Tibetans do not agree with the Dalai Lama’s opinions on the future of Tibet. While many activists favor an independent Tibet, the Dalai Lama seeks a "middle way" of "meaningful autonomy," according to CNN. The Dalai Lama does not ask for an international boycott of the Beijing Olympics as the youth activists do. Youth activists also do not support the Dalai Lama’s insistence on peaceful protests, one activist told CNN.
Source: CNN
Background: The troubles associated with China’s ethnic diversity
Tension not limited to Tibet
In 2000, China’s "Develop the West" program attempted to lessen the economic gap between its affluent east and its “poor western hinterlands,” in an effort to “ease ethnic tensions that have for centuries inflamed the loosely controlled western reaches of China,” Business Week writes. However, the more than $40 billion that China has funneled into the 12 western provinces does not appear to have been enough, as western incomes still fall behind the rest of China. In addition, “millions of Han Chinese … have migrated into the region and have taken skilled, higher-paying jobs building the new roads, airports, and power stations” at the expense of the ethnic populations.
Source: Business Week
‘Simmering Resentments Led to Tibetan Backlash’
The current explosion of violence in Tibet is the result of decades of tension, according to The New York Times. To many Tibetans, the conflict reflects “Beijing’s interference in Buddhist religious rites, its tightened political control and the destruction of the environment across the Himalayan territory the Tibetans consider sacred.” Several analysts argue that “China cannot win the hearts of Tibetans if it continues to demonize the Dalai Lama. But China’s rhetoric about a sinister ‘Dalai clique’ orchestrating the protests from behind the scenes suggests that its attitude is hardening.”
Source: The New York Times
'Tibet's Governor Warns Demonstrators of "Harsh" Consequences'
The governor of Tibet called on the protesters to desist on Monday or face “harsh” consequences. By Monday, the violence had already resulted in over 80 deaths by some accounts, findingDulcinea reported.
Source: findingDulcinea
Opinion & Analysis: China's dealings with Tibet, minorities
The importance of religion
Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal sees religion at the center of the current Tibetan crisis. Stephens first cites China’s 1995 kidnapping of the Panchen Lama, a figure second to the Dalai Lama in terms of Tibetan Buddhist significance. Currently, “Of the roughly 100 Tibetan political prisoners, fully three-quarters are monks or nuns,” Stephens writes. He also asserts that China has to a large degree inserted its Communist values into Christian thinking in the country. However, according to Stephens, religion is gaining more and more adherents in China, because it provides the people with support that the Chinese government is not providing. As a result, Beijing is is beginning to lose its hold over the people.
Source: The Wall Street Journal (free registration may be required)
According to H.D.S. Greenway of The Boston Globe, despite China’s attempts to suppress religion, “Buddhism remains undaunted in Tibet, and with it, as the Chinese always feared, the seeds of a resistance.” Greenway regrets the fact that “the most pacific of religions is beset by violence in so many lands,” and he blames China for its inability to face the realities of the situation and consider the “notion of losing its occupied lands.”
Source: The Boston Globe (free registration may be required)
China’s handling of minority groups
The International Herald Tribune’s Philip Bowring criticizes China’s treatment of minority groups: “China is incapable of offering minorities either cultural equality or autonomy. Officialdom and much of the population treats minorities either with suspicion or as colorful tourist attractions. This leads to an informal apartheid—evident in the housing, schools and social organization in Tibet and Xinjiang—reinforced by official arrogance.”
Source: International Herald Tribune
Anne Applebaum of The Washington Post compares China’s relationship with Tibet to many of the relationships empires have had in the past with their intransigent populations, and suggests that if the past is any indicator, China has a lot to worry about. Applebaum says that the protest was not the work of a small minority, but rather “a significant political event, proof that the Tibetans still identify themselves as Tibetan, not Chinese.”
Source: The Washington Post
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