His Holiness the Dalai Lama Discusses Tibet with Chinese Students
Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)
October 15, 2010
His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Thursday interacted with a group of Chinese students from different academic institutions in the US, taking up wide-range of issues ranging from why the People’s Republic of China should become a responsible nation and ways to find a solution to the issue of Tibet.
Palo Alto, California — The discussion was attended by over 130 students, professors and scholars, of which majority were Chinese. They were all from Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and San Francisco Academy of Arts.
In his address His Holiness talked about the importance of individual creativity for the development of a society and that individual freedom was needed for this. He said the People’s Republic of China as the most populated nation should take a more constructive and effective path saying that the 1.3 billion people there had every right to know reality.
His Holiness said even before the Tiananmen crisis he had been trying to reach out to Chinese people but was faced with difficulty. Following the Tiananmen development, it was much easier to get responses from the Chinese.
He added that after the 2008 crisis in Tibet more and more Chinese have started paying attention to the Tibetan issue. His Holiness said that during the past two years he had been having regular discussions with Chinese people.
Talking about the Tibetan issue, His Holiness said that it was common knowledge that he was not seeking independence (and many Tibetans were critical of this position) but the Chinese Government continued to label him as a splittist. He said that the problems in Tibet were manmade problems and so logically they can be resolved.
His Holiness then explained the development of the dialogue process with the Chinese leadership. He said in 1974 a decision had been taken not to seek
Tibetan independence. Then in early 1979 his elder brother, who acted as his emissary, was informed by Deng Xiaoping that other than the issue of independence everything else can be discussed and resolved. His Holiness said that the two thinking went well together. He said in the early 1980s there was real hope of progress when Hu Yaobang was there but then he was displaced. In 2002 contact was re-established with the Chinese leadership but there has been no genuine progress now.
His Holiness then answered questions from the people. In response to what the people could do to help on the issue of Tibet he said they could spread the real picture to everyone. His Holiness said that he always admired the Chinese people as they were hard working. He also said as a Tibetan Buddhist, he always paid salutations to the Chinese Buddhists as they are senior but added that in terms of knowledge the junior was doing quite well.
He said the problem was due to misunderstanding created by the Chinese Government and that the solution that he was striving for was of mutual benefit.
In answer to another question, His Holiness said he divided China into Four Eras. Under Mao Zedong era, ideology was prominent, under Deng Xiaoping era, becoming rich was stressed, under Jiang Zemin era, the Communist Party membership was expanded to include other sectors of the Chinese society, and under Hu Jintao era, harmonious society was stressed. His Holiness said that for a harmonious society, individual freedom, free flow of information, etc. were essential. He said things may be moving judging by recent comments of Premier Wen Jiabao and the petition by Chinese elders.
When asked how religion and politics played their roles, His Holiness said that he believed that religion and politics should be separate. He talked about the changes that have taken place in Tibetan political system and that political leadership was an elected one. However, he said that political leaders need to have spiritual background.
Fang Zheng, whose legs have been amputated after he was run over by a tank during the Tiananmen demonstrations, told His Holiness of his situation. He also referred to the Nobel Peace Prize for Liu Xiaobo and said if there was an opportunity for a meeting where did His Holiness think it would be. His Holiness said he felt saddened hearing about Fang’s situation. In terms of a meeting with Liu he said that if there was a possibility then it may be in Beijing.
His Holiness then advised the young Chinese students to take more responsibility to make this century a better one for all of us. Pointing to an elderly Chinese professor, His Holiness said they were all from the previous century but that the young people had 90 years of this century to make a difference.
Earlier during the meeting, Ms. Tenzin Seldon, a Tibetan student at Stanford University and one of the organizers of the dialogue, made introductory remarks. She said, “His Holiness the Dalai Lama has worked tirelessly to promote meaningful dialogue as the key to fostering the trust and mutual respect we urgently need as we seek a unified solution in the case of Tibet.
I hope today that, with His Holiness’ encouragement, we can frankly exchange our thoughts, and seek some common ground as we explore each other’s viewpoints.”
She added, “Through understanding and meaningful dialogues can we foster trust, as well as build mutual respect, and transparency with one another. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan leadership in Exile have always believed in the importance of dialogue to reach a solution to the Tibetan issue and have encouraged that between Tibetan and Chinese youth. This historic meeting was only possible because of His Holiness’s conviction in this method.”
She said that the participants in the discussion include 28 Chinese Graduate students, 60 Chinese undergraduate students, 20 Professors and scholars, 13 writers, poets, and artists, and 14 Tibetan students.
A representative of the Chinese students thanked His Holiness for coming to speak to them.
His Holiness concluded saying that such meetings were much appreciated as he had been advising Tibetans to continue to reach out to Chinese and to form groups with the aim to bring the two communities closer.