May Tibet Never Be Forgotten
May 30th, 2010 | Category: Meditations
Featured Columnist – Meditations
Martin LeFerve
Costa R
The Dalai Lama has said that he may not reincarnate again, and if he does, it will not be in Tibet. He isn’t referring to illumination however. After all, bodhisattvas reincarnate; illumined beings incarnate.
The Dalai Lama is saying he’ll reincarnate in another country because the Chinese have corrupted the selection process of Lamas in Tibet. As a prominent American Buddhist put it, the Chinese government is perpetrating a slow and deliberate asphyxiation of the Buddhist faith in its own home.
I’m not a Buddhist, but I respect the Dalai Lama, and feel he’s a great human being. I don’t think he’s illumined however, and he’s said as much.
A great sage once said, ‘Reincarnation is a fact, but not the truth.’ Withholding reincarnation for the sake of all sentient beings is, to my mind, the essence of a bodhisattva. But that has its limits in lifetimes. That’s another issue however.
Beginning in the 17th century until he fled the Chinese government in 1959, the Dalai Lamas were the spiritual and political heads of Tibet.
Tibet represents one of the few places where the fusion of Church and State worked quite well in the past. But I don’t think even the Dalai Lama would recommend a return to the status quo ante if he was allowed to return to an autonomous Tibet. Of course, the Chinese government is so insecure that it won’t allow even a semblance of autonomy in Tibet.
The second highest figure in the Tibetan hierarchy is the Panchen Lama. When the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was forced to leave China as a young man in 1959, the Panchen Lama, Choekyi Gyaltsen, stayed behind and tried to work within the framework of Chinese domination.
For his efforts at peaceful coexistence with the Chinese Communists, the Panchen Lama was tortured and confined to solitary confinement for ten years. After his supposed rehabilitation, he mildly criticized the Chinese government at a meeting in 1989.
Within days of his speech, he suddenly and mysteriously died. His supporters were certain the Chinese government poisoned him. To the inwardly weak Chinese government, sovereignty requires the extinguishment of Tibetan spiritual and political authority.
After the Panchen Lama’s death, the Dalai Lama, according to tradition, directed the search for his reincarnated successor. Through the inscrutable means of Tibetan rebirth, the Dalai Lama pinpointed the place where the new Panchen Lama, a young boy named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, would be found.
The boy promptly disappeared, with Chinese authorities later saying he had been taken into ‘protective custody.’ The Chinese government then installed its own Panchen Lama, one who would follow their party line. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima remains the world’s youngest political prisoner.
Why does the most populous nation on Earth, an economic superpower, a nation with a long and venerated history, fear tiny Tibet so’
As the actions of the Chinese authoritarian government attests, its power is precarious, and its stature is small. Despite the West’s awe of China’s scale, political stability in the country is ephemeral, maintained by a shaky social compact with the people (‘you stay out of politics, and we’ll provide prosperity’).
The social compact in China is under increasing strain. Not only externally, from the economic downturn in the West, but also internally, due to enormous social and psychological pressures and conflicts, as the spate of horrendous attacks on children in schools across China attests.
Unsurprisingly, the Chinese people feel an immense spiritual emptiness in their lives. Many, ironically, are flocking to Tibet to find substance and meaning.
The Dalai Lama is no fool, but as a political strategy, his ‘Middle-Way approach’ has been a failure.
As his official website states, in the late 1950’s, ‘the Chinese army unleashed a harsh military crackdown in Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, and this convinced His Holiness the Dalai Lama that his hope for co-existence with the Chinese government was no longer possible, [and that] under the circumstances, he had no other option but to seek refuge in India and work in exile for the freedom and happiness of all the Tibetan people.’
That loss of control, and the establishment of the Tibetan Government in Exile, has infuriated the Chinese Communist government from 1959 until today.
Despite all the atrocities the Chinese government has committed, the Dalai Lama has not abandoned his ‘Middle Way Approach.’ On one hand this reflects tremendous tenacity of spirit, as well as unswerving faith in human nature and the eventual prevailing of what is right and just and good. On the other hand, it reflects a failure to understand the nature of evil, and to develop a more workable political strategy in accordance with the realities of unbridled power, ruthless oppression, and repeated betrayal.
The Chinese government, as long as it retains power, will not accept the premise that the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile seek autonomy within and not independence from China
Since the Chinese government holds all the cards, and is completely ruthless, the Dalai Lama’s ‘approach that offers mutual benefits to China as well as to Tibet’ has always been a non-starter.
There is no ‘mutual benefit’ as far as tyrants are concerned. There is only acquiescence. That does not mean they should be opposed with violence.
But it does mean that where intractable evil has been demonstrated, people around the world must stand against it. The Chinese government is a lot shakier than people think, and things can change.
There is an old Tibetan prophecy: ‘When the iron bird flies, the dharma will go to the West.’ Perhaps it will. But as Tibetans also say, ‘May Tibet never be forgotten or forsaken.’

Dharamsala  ondemns Tibet Sentences, Urges China for Magnanimity
The Central Tibetan Administration is deeply concerned that the Chinese government has once again handed down a death sentence to one Tibetan and lengthy prison terms to five other Tibetans.
According to China’s state media, the Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court has sentenced Sonam Tsering, aged 23, a native of Rachap Township, Payul County in Kardze, to a two-year suspended death sentence for his alleged role in ?rioting? during the Tibetan people’s peaceful demonstration in 2008 against five decades of Chinese repression in Tibet.  Five more Tibetans –  Tashi Choedon, Kelyon, Yeshi Tsomo, Tayang, Tsewang Gyurmey – have been given
lenthy jail terms ranging from 3 to 7 years for harbouring Sonam Tsering. We strongly condemn the harsh sentences arbitrarily meted out to Sonam Tsering without truely conducting an open and fair trial.
The recent verdict is against the spirit of China’s first national human rights action plan (2009-2010) which stipulates that ?every precaution shall be taken in meting out a death sentence and judicial procedures for death sentences will be stringently implemented?. The rights action plan also affirms that ?the state takes effective steps to guarantee the lawful, timely and impartial  rial of all cases, and ensures clear facts, sufficient evidence and legitimate trial procedures.”
Moreover, it is totally against the claims of ?China’s tremendous achievements in the promotion and protection of human rights? during the UN Human Rights Council’s periodic review of China’s  human rights record last year. The head of the Chinese delegation o the UN, Mr. Li Baodong, had also said since the founding of New China in 1949, ? a fundamental social and political system for the promotion and protection of human rights has been established.”
We are deeply concerned that despite these pledges, since March 2008 seven Tibetans were given death sentences out of which four Tibetans were executed on 20 October 2009.
The Central Tibetan Administration once again appeals to the Chinese goverment and the international community, especially the UN Human Rights Council to give due consideration on the deteriorating human rights situation in Tibet.
The Central Tibetan Administration reiterates its longstanding appeal that China should release forthwith all prisoners of conscience and accept an international body to investigate the conditions in Tibet.
Kalon Kesang Y Takla
Department of Information & International Relations
Dharamsala
28 May 2010

Talking About Tibet: An Open Dialogue Between Chinese Citizens and the Dalai Lama

Perry Link

The Dalai Lama at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York, May 23, 2010
Following is an English translation of an Internet dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Chinese citizens that took place on May 21. The exchange was organized by Wang Lixiong, a Chinese intellectual known for his writing on Tibet and for theorizing about how China might generate its own kind of democracy in the Internet age.
The idea of promoting “free dialogue” on the Web between the Dalai Lama and Chinese citizens is an extremely bold notion. To China’s rulers, nearly every word in the phrase “free dialogue with the Dalai Lama” is anathema. The Dalai Lama, in their language, is a traitor, a “splittist,” an “enemy of the people,” a “monster,” a “wolf in monk’s robes.” The word “dialogue” has not fared well in Chinese Communist history, either. It is what student protesters were asking for in spring 1989 just before tanks and machine guns settled the question by massacre.
So how did Wang Lixiong do it? First he asked representatives of the Dalai Lama, who is on a tour of the U.S., for an hour of time in which the Tibetan religious leader might answer questions from Chinese citizens. The Dalai Lama agreed to use the hour of 8 to 9 a.m. (EST) on May 21 for this purpose. Wang then arranged to open a Twitter page beginning on May 17 at 10:30 a.m. (Beijing time), onto which Chinese Web users could pose questions. In order to promote democracy in the questioning process, Wang decided to prioritize the questions using the program Google Moderator, which posts all questions on a Google Moderator page inside China. According to the program, any Web visitor can vote on which questions he or she prefers and only one vote from any one remote Web user is accepted (to prevent a cyber version of ballot-box stuffing); during the voting period, a running tally is published on which questions have received the most votes.
This process went well until 4:07 p.m. (Beijing time) on May 18. At that moment access to the Google Moderator page inside China was blocked. Apparently the authorities had discovered the project. Many questions and votes had already been collected, however, and questions continued to pour in even after the blocking because many Web users in China know how to use proxy servers to “jump the great firewall” electronically. By 10 p.m. on May 20 (EST), which was the deadline Wang set for submitting questions and voting on preferences, 282 questions had been submitted and 12,045 votes for questions had been cast. Wang said that he was “very pleased” with this response and that the questions that rose to the top of the pile were indeed, in his view, a good representation of the actual concerns on the minds of Chinese citizens.
The questions that had the most votes at the end were presented to the Dalai Lama Friday at 8:00 a.m. (EST). My English translations of the questions and answers, which follow below, are based on a Chinese-language transcript that has been approved by the Dalai Lama’s staff. More detail is available at Wang Lixiong’s Twitter account (twitter.com/wlixiong). The numbers attached to the questions refer to their rank order in number of votes received.
Question 1: Your Holiness Dalai Lama, how are you? I want to ask you about the religious leadership of Tibet in the future. Please forgive my audacity, but what is your view on the possibility of “two successors” for you, as happened in the case of the 11th Panchen Lama [when Tibetan Buddhists chose one successor and the Chinese government arrested him and named another]? And what, by the way, is your view of the Panchen Lama that the Chinese government has appointed?
Dalai Lama: In 1969 I issued a formal declaration that the question of whether the Dalai Lama system should continue is a question for the Tibetan people to decide. In 1992 I issued another declaration, making clear that as soon as Tibet might gain formal autonomy, I would hold no official position in a Tibetan government and that all Tibetan affairs would be continue to be handled by officials serving in their posts inside Tibet. Then, in 2001 the Tibetan government in exile adopted a system to elect leaders to five-year terms of office by popular vote of the Tibetan community in exile. In view of these developments, I have come to feel that the Dalai Lama system is no longer very important. I am going to continue to do my best in my role as long as my health holds up, but as for the Dalai Lama system, I have to say that the Chinese government cares more about this than I do (laughs). A problem like that of “the two Panchen Lamas” might indeed appear. But if such a thing happens, it will only cause confusion and not do any good.
[On the government-appointed Panchen Lama], I understand that he is very bright and works hard at Buddhist cultivation. Believers remain skeptical about him, waiting to see whether he can cultivate himself to a high level. In my view this will be very important, and will depend upon his own efforts.
Question 2: I would like to ask Your Holiness about the meetings between the Tibetan government in exile and the Chinese Communists. Why are these meetings always fruitless? What exactly are the questions that have been so intractable over the decades?
Dalai Lama: The main problem is that the Chinese government continually insists that there is no Tibet problem, only a Dalai Lama problem. I have made no demands of my own, but am primarily concerned with six million Tibetans and their culture, especially their religion and their natural environment. If a day comes when Chinese leaders acknowledge a “Tibet question” in the same sense in which they recognize a “Xinjiang question,” and if they are ready to face the Tibet question and work for its solution, I will lend my full support, because our goals—to build, develop and unify Tibet—will then be the same. At present the Communists are relying on forcible methods. They repeatedly stress “stability” in Tibet. My belief is that true stability comes from inner confidence and trust.
Question 3: Hello, Your Holiness. Regardless of what political path China takes in the future, the gap between ordinary Tibetans and ordinary Han Chinese is getting bigger all the time. Many Tibetan people are too simplistic when they say the problem is just that Hans rule Tibet. In fact we Han people are also victims of the same dictatorial rule. How do you view this problem? Do you have any way of maintaining good relations between Hans and Tibetans?
Dalai Lama: Relations between the Han and Tibetan people did not begin in 1949 or 1950; they arose more than a thousand years ago. There have been times of harmony and times of conflict. We are now in a time of conflict, but the cause of the conflict has been the government, not the people. This why our people-to-people relations are so important. It is why we have set up “Tibetan-Han Friendship Associations” in many of the free countries of the world. These associations have seen some success.
In my view the main difficulty [on the Chinese government’s side] has been the failure to carry out Deng Xiaoping’s “seek truth from facts.” Hu Yaobang also had the right idea when he stressed “understanding actual conditions.” Recently Wen Jiabao has praised the spirit of Hu Yaobang’s approach of relying not just on official documents but doing on-the-scene investigation.
In China generally [not just Tibet], the pattern of ignoring actual conditions and living in non-transparent social structures causes many major problems. If there could be transparency and attention to actual conditions, much progress could be made, for example, in handling and reducing corruption and graft.
As for how to maintain good relations between Hans and Tibetans, my experience, wherever I go, has been that I get a lot of respect and sympathy from people if I just approach them as one human being to another. If Hans and Tibetans approach one another in this way, on a basis of equality, many problems might be solved. When I meet people from mainland China, I always find them extremely sincere and find no barriers to communicating with them.
The problems of doubt and suspicion between people are hardly limited to Tibetans and Hans. These problems exist everywhere in the world. This is why we need contact. We need it in order to get rid of suspicion and doubt. Whenever I meet someone, no matter where in the world it is, I emphasize harmony in person-to-person relations. There are two levels in any such meeting. The first is that we are all human beings. Only when that point is clear do I address differences of religion, culture, or language.
When I was in Beijing in 1954 and 1955, I learned that Marxist theory emphasizes “internationalism,” which is a doctrine that people everywhere are the same. I entirely agree with this.
Question 4: I would like to ask your Holiness about your “Memorandum on Achieving True Autonomy for All Tibetans,” in which you do not mention how to protect the rights of Han people living in Tibet. Would you, after autonomy, recognize the right of Han people who currently reside in Tibetan areas to continue living there? Can you publish a Memorandum describing how you would guarantee equal rights of life and livelihood to Han people in Tibetan areas? Many Han people believe that your “autonomy” is another word for independence and that an autonomous government would discriminate against Hans and drive them out.
Dalai Lama: Han people were living in Tibet before [the CCP takeover in] 1950. There were Hans and Muslims living near the place where I was born. In the future, too, Hans will no doubt live in Tibet. The crucial question is whether Tibet will become like Inner Mongolia, where Mongols have now become a minority. When this happens the significance of self-rule is lost. In some Tibetan districts, where the Han population has grown large, the language and culture of Tibet are in great peril.
Question 5: I would like to ask the Great Teacher why your description of earlier Tibet—as a harmonious Buddhist society—differs so radically from the Chinese government’s description of an evil slave society. There are many drawings and other visual materials that document a cruel and dark slave society. Can you explain why this discrepancy is so big?
Dalai Lama: Tibet before 1950 was a “backward society” and its institutions were imperfect. We acknowledge this. No one ever said Tibet before 1950 was a paradise. I don’t think any Tibetan, inside Tibet or outside, even in their dreams, would want to restore the old system intact.
On the other hand, the Chinese government’s widespread claims that old Tibet was a kind of hell are also very wide of the mark. For example the film called “People Denied the Right of Birth,” which was sponsored by the Chinese government, is pure propaganda and utterly unacceptable to most Tibetans because it departs so far from the truth. This is like the propaganda of the Cultural Revolution, with all its claims about “great victories”—which, once the true situation could no longer be covered up, melted into nothing. It is also reminds us of the Tiananmen events of June Fourth [1989], which the whole world knows about, but the Communists’ propaganda pretends not to have happened.
The most important point is that every one of you [Han Chinese friends] should make fair, objective, and scientific investigation of questions. I often say the same to Tibetans. I tell them not to take what I say as automatically true and accept it uncritically; I say make your own observations and reach your own conclusions. As a Buddhist, I approach even the words of the Buddha in this spirit of analyzing thoroughly and reaching one’s own understanding.
Question 6: If the regime were to allow you to return to Tibet, and were to grant self-rule to Tibet, what kind of political system would you like to see in Tibet?
Dalai Lama: This question will be for Tibetans inside Tibet, especially intellectuals, in a spirit of “seeking truth from facts,” to decide for themselves. Our Tibetan society in exile, for the past 50 years, has already achieved democratization in its social system.
Question 7: I would like to ask the Dalai Lama a sharp question. The fiercest criticism that Chinese government officials level against you is that you demand there be no troops in Tibet. This, they say, is evidence that you are asking for independence in disguise. Do you stick with your demand of “no troops in Tibet”? The right to station troops is a fundamental part of national sovereignty, and I am afraid that most Han people will not be able to agree to a “no troops” condition. Is there any possibility you will drop this condition?
Dalai Lama: We do ask for “autonomy,” but we have repeatedly been very clear that foreign relations and military affairs would remain the responsibility of the central government. Many years ago I expressed an idea that when relations of friendship and mutual trust had grown among India, Nepal, and Tibet, we might form a sort of “peaceful region,” but this was little more than a distant ideal. The whole world, actually, holds this kind of ideal. So there truly is nothing to worry about.
Question 8: In view of how things stand at present, the chances of a peaceful resolution of the problem of Tibet seem almost zero. May I ask how Your Holiness views the current prospects for Tibet?
Dalai Lama: During 60 years of Chinese Communist rule, the eras of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao have all been different. In fact there have been some very major changes. I feel confident that changes in [China’s] nationalities policy will come, and in particular that the Tibet problem can be solved on the basis of mutual interest. Some retired officials and Party members who used to work on Tibetan affairs—as well as some Chinese intellectuals—have begun to point out irrationalities in minority policy and the need for a re-thinking of nationalities policy. This is why I feel there will be changes in the not-so-distant future, and that problems can be solved.
May 24, 2010 9:30 a.m.

China arrest six monks in early morning raids in Jomda

Four monks of Wara Monastery in Thangpu Township, Jomda County (Ch: Jiangda xian) in Chamdo Prefecture, “Tibet Autonomous Region” (‘TAR’) were arrested last Saturday (15 May) under suspicion of leading and instigating protest at the county headquarters in Spring 2008 and two other official monks of the same monastery were arrested on Sunday for their failure to ‘educate’ the monks under ‘Patriotic education’ campaign, according to confirmed information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
A total of six monks of Wara Monastery were arrested during early morning raids carried out by scores of Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials at the monks’ residence on Saturday and Sunday.
On 15 May (Saturday),Thinley, 25, and Nangsey, 27, were arrested from their room whereas Soegon, 26, was arrested for sounding alarm on the arrival of PSB into the monastery. Kelsang Gyurmey, 29, whom the PSB officials were looking for could not be traced in the monastery and was later arrested from his home. All the four monks were students of Buddhist philosophy at Wara Buddhist College that comes under Wara Monastery. The four monks are currently detained at Jomda County PSB Detention Centre.
On 16 May (Sunday) morning, the PSB officials came again to Wara Monastery and detained two senior monks: Sonam Gonpo a.k.a Soegon, 40, and Tagyal, 29. The duos were known to have been arrested for their failure to “educate” the monks of the monastery under “Patriotic education” campaign launched at the beginning of April 2008. There is no information on where the two monks are currently held.
On 3 April 2008, monks of Wara Monastery in Jomda County confronted and challenged the “work team” from carrying ‘patriotic education’ campaign by saying ‘even at the cost of our lives we will never defame and denounce our religious leader, the Dalai Lama”. According to sources, many of the Wara Monastery’s monks were in the forefront during the 2008 protests in Jomda County when they were blocked by the People’s Armed Police (PAP) from advancing towards the main county market to proceed with their protest.
At the beginning of this year, a novice monk, Jamyang Palden, 14, was detained twice and released after undergoing torture to extract confession for his role in 2008 protest at Jomda. He was detained for more than a week on both occasions at the Jomda County PSB Detention Centre. Similarly, Gyaltsen, 16, was also detained under suspicion of distributing and pasting speech by the late Panchen Lama to Tibetans during the 2008 protest. He was released after a week of interrogation at the PSB detention centre.
TCHRD condemns in strongest terms over the arbitrary detention of Wara monks. The Centre calls upon the Chinese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the detained monks and guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of detained monks. The Chinese authorities should put an end to all acts of harassment against the monks so that they are able to carry out their religious studies without hindrances.
TCHRD – Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy

Lhasa to tighten rules for copy shops
Residents in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa will soon have to register their names if they want to make photocopies, in an apparent government bid to deter separatists from printing pamphlets.
The Chinese government has carried out a sustained crackdown on alleged separatist activity in Tibet and its surrounding areas following anti-government protests in 2008 that erupted in violence. The riots sparked sympathy protests in Tibetan communities across a quarter of west China _ the widest uprising against Chinese rule in a half-century.
An official with the Lhasa Public Security Bureau said Wednesday that the local government hoped to begin enforcing the registration rule soon but he couldn’t give an exact launch date.
“Since May 1, Lhasa’s public security forces have been investigating these (photocopying) businesses and keeping track of them,” said the official, who would only give his surname as Ma. “There’s a lot of work to be done before we actually take this measure.”
He refused to specify what sort of printed material police were concerned about. The official China Daily newspaper reported Wednesday that police were worried that separatists were using pamphlets to spread illegal content.
China says Tibet has always been part of its territory, but many Tibetans say the Himalayan region was virtually independent for centuries until Chinese troops invaded in the 1950s.
Beijing blames the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, for fanning anti-government sentiment and routinely purges monasteries and nunneries, where support for the Dalai Lama and Tibetan independence run high.
Since the 2008 riots, Tibetan protests have continued to occur sporadically in heavily Tibetan regions. In China’s far western province of Gansu on Saturday, 15 Tibetans were wounded in a clash with local police after they blocked a road leading to a cement factory they blame for spewing pollution, an overseas Tibetan rights group said.
The International Campaign for Tibet quoted an exiled Tibetan in touch with locals in Gansu’s Xiahe county as saying 15 people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds or injuries from beatings by police. The Tibetans were upset because ash from the factory was polluting their grazing land and construction was encroaching on a religious site, the statement said, citing a petition prepared by the protesters.
The China Daily said the new rules for copy shops in Lhasa would require customers to submit both their names and addresses. Only permanent Lhasa residents or people with temporary Lhasa residence permits would be allowed to make copies, it said.
An employee of the Yongkang Photocopying and Printing Shop in Lhasa said by telephone that he had yet to receive any notice on registering customers. He said though that the shop already refuses service to some people based on what they are printing.
“If any material is written in characters we don’t know, like Tibetan, then we don’t print them,” said the man who would give only his surname, Luo. “There’s no official notice on that, but we just want to be safe.”
Associated Press researcher Zhao Liang contributed to this report.

Dharamsala Hands Over Donation to Charity For Quake-hit Tibet
[Thursday, 13 May 2010, 2:30 p.m.]
Dharamshala: The 4-14 Yushu Earthquake Charity Committee has received a total amount of Rs. 2.5 million donated voluntarily by Tibetans living in Dharamsala to help those affected in one of the deadliest earthquake that hit Kyegudo in Tibet, which left thousands dead and injured, and many thousands homeless.
The Kashag had appealed to the Diaspora Tibetan community in India, Nepal, Bhutan and other countries to contribute any relief, materially and monetarily, through the charity committee.
The contribution from Tibetans in Dharamsala was handed over by Kalon Tripa to the Charity at a special prayer service held for the victims of Kyegudo tragedy at the main Buddhist temple in Dharamsala on Tuesday, 11 May. The Tibetan Settlement Office assisted in coordinating the collection of donation from various offices and departments of the Central Tibetan Administration, monasteries and nunneries, non-governmental organisations, schools, Tibetan associations and individual Tibetans.
Tibetans in Dharamsala join for candle light vigil to mourn the tragedy in Kyigudo, Tibet
Addressing the solemn memorial service, Kalon Tripa said those affected by unimaginable catastrophe in Kyegudo were helped by their brethren living in Tibet and comforted with prayers from Tibetans living far away from Tibet. We commend the spirit of solidarity displayed by Tibetans during the crisis as the symbolism of the Tibetan people’s unity, he added.
Kalon Tripa spoke on series of religious services initiated by the Tibetan communities based across the world led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We hoped that the prayers would bring solace to all those affected by the calamity, he said.
In the aftermaths of the tragedy in Kyegudo, some of senior leadership of the Chinese government, including President Hu Jintao, CPPCC Chairman Jia Qinglin, Premier Wen Jiabao, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu and Executive Vice Minister of the Central United Front Work Department Zhu Weiqun, of whom some paid visits to the affected regions to express their solidarity with the victims. They had discharged their responsibilities of being political leaders, which was commended by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and we also must thank them as a gesture of our gratitude, Kalon Tripa said.
Kalon Tripa spoke about the long-term plans to help the rehabilitation of quake victims under the supervision of Vice Premier Hui Liangyu. He said Premier Wen Jiabao gave recognition and praised the rescue efforts led by Tibetan monks, he added.
We Tibetan people must express our gratitude to the exemplary rescue efforts made by Tibetans in Kyegudo and other areas of Tibet, including Tibetan monks and students, and students from China and other countries. We must also pay our gratitude and praise the Chinese people, including general public, intellectuals, writers and journalists, for showing their solidarity by giving donations, assisting those injured and highlighting the tragedy, Kalon Tripa said.
Kalon Tripa conveyed the Tibetan people’s gratitude and appreciation to the media, including BBC and CNN, for taking interest in making transparent coverage of the events to the whole world following the earthquake in Tibet.
He said the clear message conveyed by CPPCC Chairman Jia Qinglin to overseas Tibetans to make material donation or visit family members in Tibet has encouraged and showed to the Tibetans in exile a way forward. We firmly hope and belief that our wishes in accordance with the path shown by the Chinese leadership will come true, Kalon Tripa added.
Kalon Tripa reiterated the unwavering wish of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to visit the affected regions in Kyegudo to pray and comfort those affected by the earthquake. His Holiness has expressed his eagerness to visit the affected areas as Tibetans in the region yearn to seek his blessings. The Central Tibetan Administration led by His Holiness Dalai Lama does not have any desire to politicise the issue or gain any political mileage out it, he said.
(Reporter: Lobsang Choedak)
http://www.tibet.net/en/index.php#

The earthquake in Qinghai
From whence cometh my help
Co-operation between monks and the government has been curtailed
Apr 29th 2010 | BEIJING | From The Economist print edition
Time to go back to the cloister
FOR Tibet’s rebellious monastic community, the earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people in a remote county on the Tibetan plateau on April 14th became a rare opportunity to forge some trust with the government of China. In an unspoken truce, the authorities allowed monks from far and wide to to join the relief efforts. Chinese troops watched impassively as columns of red-robed Buddhists bearing the flags of their monasteries deployed near the epicentre. But mutual suspicions have been quick to resurface.
The devastation struck Yushu, a county in Qinghai province, which Tibetans view as part of their historic territory. The government has seen the recovery efforts here as a chance to show its care for an ethnic minority suffused with misgivings about Chinese rule. The prime minister, Wen Jiabao, delayed an overseas trip and the president, Hu Jintao, cut short a trip of his own to fly to the disaster area and be photographed with grieving Tibetans. Just as it did after a far more destructive earthquake in Sichuan province in 2008, the government declared a national day of mourning, which was observed on April 21st.
But official goodwill has its limits. Tibetan areas, including Qinghai, had been under a security clampdown since March 2008, when anti-Chinese protests and riots flared across the plateau. The government is still in no mood to give leeway to Tibetan dissenters who, it fears, might seize on any inadequacies in the relief mission to whip up public anger. One of China’s senior leaders, Jia Qinglin, said on April 19th that ‘hostile elements abroad”often code for the Dalai Lama and his supporters’were trying to ‘sabotage’ the relief work.
Four days later, police in Qinghai’s capital, Xining, detained a prominent Tibetan intellectual, Tagyal (he has a single name, as do many Tibetans). He had joined seven others in signing an open letter to residents of the disaster area. It referred to the earthquake as another blow to Tibetans; on top of ‘armed force and cruelty’. And it urged people to give donations only to ‘trustworthy’ agencies’implying that government bodies are too prone to corruption.
Tagyal’s letter seems to have been the last straw. The authorities were already enraged by a book he wrote under his pen name, which he had been circulating informally in the past few weeks. ‘The Line Between Sky and Earth’ praises the activism of monks during the Tibetan unrest of 2008 and calls for passive resistance as a way of pressing for more freedoms. Its message was particularly striking because Tagyal had been regarded by many Tibetans as someone who shared official China’s disdain for Tibetan religion. Police have informed Tagyal’s family that he is suspected of ‘inciting separatism’. Concerns about his book might have helped to inspire a campaign the government launched to prevent ‘illegal publications’ from disturbing the relief effort.
The authorities have reason to worry about the loyalties of this earthquake’s survivors. Some have been scrabbling in ruins to recover photographs of the Dalai Lama. The government has ignored the exiled Tibetan leader’s suggestion that he be allowed to visit Yushu. Woeser, a Tibetan writer living in Beijing, says survivors become excited whenever they spot an aeroplane overhead, hoping the Dalai Lama might be on board.
Monks, unfettered by the altitude sickness suffered by many of the emergency workers sent from other parts of China, made valiant contributions to the rescue. But the government appears to have lost patience with them. Within a week of the earthquake, officials were making it clear that those from outside the county should return to their monasteries. Woeser says that many monks have decided to play safe and withdraw.

China urged to free 11th Panchen Lama
Phayul[Monday, April 26, 2010 16:43]
By Phurbu Thinley
Gendhun Choekyi Nyima’s photo taken in 1995, when he was six years old, remains the only proving clue available of him to the outside world. (File photo)
Dharamsala, April 26: For Tibetans Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, who turned 21 Sunday, is very much their beloved and undisputed His Holiness the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet. But no one knows where he is and what has become of him since he disappeared out of public view in Tibet 15 years ago.
Chinese Communist authorities secretly abducted him along with his parents in May 1995, shortly after His Holiness the Dalai Lama declared him to be the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. Today only one photo taken when he was six years old remains the only clue available of him to the outside world.
Chinese Government claims that his whereabouts are kept undisclosed to protect him, but all requests for access to Gendhun Choekyi Nyima have been repeatedly refused so far.
The latest statement by the Chinese authorities concerning the fate of the Gendhun Choekyi Nyima came just last month from Pema Thinley, the Chinese-appointed governor of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). Thinley told reporters on the sidelines of China’s annual legislative session in Beijing earlier in March that the young boy was living with his family and having a “very good life”  somewhere in Tibet. He, however, gave no further details.
Tibetans and their supporters around the world on Sunday marked his 21st birthday by organising free Panchen Lama campaigns and holding candle light vigils in the evening to pray for his well-being.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama releases a book at a commemoration ceremony to mark 20 years since the passing away of the 10th Panchen Lama, Lhundrup Choekyi Gyaltsen, at Tsunglakhang in Dharamsala, India, December 30, 2009. (file photo/Phayul) In Dharamsala, the seat of Tibet’s government in exile in north India, official function was held yesterday during which exile Tibetan leaders, including the Speaker Penpa Tsering and Deputy Speaker Gyari Dolma of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, and Cabinet ministers of the exile Tibetan government urged the Chinese Government to show him to the international community and let it meet him.
The Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA), one of the most prominent organisations campaigning for the release of Panchen Lama, urged the international community, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other human rights bodies, to join their “15-year struggle” to save the fate of the 11th Panchen Lama.
“TWA is committed to campaigning for the safe return of the Panchen Lama to his rightful abode and to seeing the complete restoration of his political and religious rights. Until this happens, we will do everything in our power to keep the plight of the Panchen Lama at the forefront of people’s minds,” says Kirti Dolkar Lhamo, the president of TWA.
TWA also launched an artwork competition featuring more than 20 acclaimed Tibetan artists to create an imaginary portrait of the 21-year old Panchen Lama. “This new art campaign is part of our continued effort to raise awareness and one that we hope will also create a meaningful visual reference for Tibetans,” says Lhamo. “Currently, the images we use to remember him are of a young child, but he has now reached adulthood,” she says.
Lhamo says the campaign serves to emphasise the length of his captivity he has gone – from boy to manhood – hidden from the eyes of the world. “So all we can do to visualise him is to use our imaginations,” she adds.
Lhamo says her organisation will chose one of the pieces of art and will use it as a new emblem for its campaign materials calling for the Panchen Lama?s release.
Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, the traditional seat of the successive Panchen Lamas, and the Central Association of Panchen Lama also jointly issued a statement Sunday asking China to provide clear information on his safety and whereabouts.
Panchen Lama is revered as the second highest tulku lineage in the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and one of the most influential spiritual leaders of Tibet.
Traditionally, the Panchen Lama bears part of the responsibility for finding the incarnation of the Dalai Lama and vice versa, a practice many say has prompted China to install another boy, Gyaltsen Norbu, as the Panchen Lama.
Gyaltsen, who is generally not recognised by Tibetans, is being used by Beijing to supplant the Dalai Lama as the public face of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet and elsewhere in China. In recent years he has taken on an increasingly political role and was recently appointed to China’s top government advisory body.

Statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the
51st Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day
Today marks the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan people’s peaceful uprising in 1959 against Communist China’s repression in Tibet, as well as the second anniversary of the peaceful protests that erupted across Tibet in March 2008. On this occasion, I pay homage to those heroic Tibetan men and women, who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Tibet, and pray for an early end to the sufferings of those still oppressed in Tibet.
Despite the great hardships Tibetans have faced for many decades, they have been able to keep up their courage and determination, preserve their compassionate culture and maintain their unique identity. It is inspiring that today a new generation of Tibetans continues to keep Tibet’s just cause alive. I salute the courage of those Tibetans still enduring fear and oppression.
Whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, it is the responsibility of all Tibetans to maintain equality, harmony and unity among the various nationalities, while continuing to protect our unique identity and culture. Many Tibetans in Tibetan areas are working in various responsible posts in the party, government and military, helping Tibetans in whatever way they can. We recognise the positive contribution that many of them have made up to now, and obviously when Tibet achieves meaningful autonomy in the future, they will have to continue to fulfil such responsibilities.
Let me reiterate that once the issue of Tibet is resolved, I will not take any political position nor will members of the Tibetan Administration in exile hold any positions in the government in Tibet. I have repeatedly made this clear in the past. To understand the situation of the Tibetans in exile and their aspirations, I invite Tibetan officials serving in various Tibetan autonomous areas to visit Tibetan communities living in the free world, either officially or in a private capacity, to observe the situation for themselves.
Wherever Tibetans in exile have settled, we have been able to preserve and promote our distinct cultural and spiritual traditions, while generating awareness of the Tibetan cause. Unlike other refugees, we have been relatively successful because we have also been able to give our children a sound modern education, while bringing them up according to our traditional values. And because the heads of all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the Bon religion are in exile we have been able to re-establish various institutions for religious training and practice. In these institutions over ten thousand monks and nuns are free to pursue their vocations. We have been readily able to provide educational opportunities for those monks, nuns and students who continue to come from Tibet. At the same time the unprecedented spread of Tibetan Buddhism in both East and West and the prospect of continuing to flourish in the future gives us hope that it may yet survive. This is some solace to us during this most critical period in Tibet’s history.
Today, the Chinese authorities are conducting various political campaigns, including a campaign of patriotic re-education, in many monasteries in Tibet. They are putting the monks and nuns in prison- like conditions, depriving them the opportunity to study and practise in peace. These conditions make the monasteries function more like museums and are intended to deliberately annihilate Buddhism.
Tibetan culture based on Buddhist values of compassion and non- violence benefits not only Tibetans, but also people in the world at large, including the Chinese. Therefore, we Tibetans should not place our hopes in material progress alone, which is why it is essential that all Tibetans, both inside and outside Tibet, should broaden their modern education hand in hand with our traditional values. Above all, as many young Tibetans as possible should strive to become experts and skilled professionals.
It is important that Tibetans maintain friendly relations not only with people of all nationalities, but also amongst themselves. Tibetans should not engage in petty disputes with each other.  I earnestly appeal to them instead to resolve any differences with patience and understanding.
Whether the Chinese government acknowledges it or not, there is a serious problem in Tibet. As the world knows, this is evidenced by the fact that there is a huge military presence and restrictions on travel in Tibet. It is good for neither party. We have to take every opportunity to solve it. For more than 30 years, I have tried my best to enter into talks with the People’s Republic of China to resolve the issue of Tibet through the Middle-Way Approach that is of benefit to us both. Although I have clearly articulated Tibetan aspirations, which are in accordance with the constitution of the People’s Republic of China and the law on national regional autonomy, we have not obtained any concrete result. Judging by the attitude of the present Chinese leadership, there is little hope that a result will be achieved soon. Nevertheless, our stand to continue with the dialogue remains unchanged.
It is a matter of pride and satisfaction that our mutually beneficial Middle-Way Approach and the justice of the Tibetan struggle have gained growing understanding and support year by year from many political and spiritual leaders, including the President of the United States of America, reputed non-governmental organisations, the international community, and in particular from Chinese intellectuals. It is evident that the Tibetan issue is not a dispute between the Chinese and Tibetan peoples, but has come about because of the ultra-leftist policies of the Chinese Communist authorities.
Since the demonstrations in Tibet in 2008, Chinese intellectuals inside and outside China have written more than 800 unbiased articles on the Tibetan issue. During my visits abroad, wherever I go, when I meet Chinese in general, particularly the intellectuals and students, they offer their genuine sympathy and support. Since the Sino-Tibetan problem ultimately has to be resolved by the two peoples themselves, I try to reach out to the Chinese people whenever I can to create a mutual understanding between us. Therefore, it is important for Tibetans everywhere to build closer relations with the Chinese people and try to make them aware of the truth of the Tibetan cause and the present situation in Tibet.
Let us also remember the people of East Turkestan who have experienced great difficulties and increased oppression and the Chinese intellectuals campaigning for greater freedom who have received severe sentences. I would like to express my solidarity and stand firmly with them.
It is also essential that the 1.3 billion Chinese people have free access to information about their own country and elsewhere, as well as freedom of expression and the rule of law. If there were greater transparency inside China, there would be greater trust, which would be the proper basis for promoting harmony, stability and progress. This is why everyone concerned must exert their efforts in this direction.
As a free spokesperson of the Tibetan people I have repeatedly spelled out their fundamental aspirations to the leaders of the People’s Republic of China.  Their lack of a positive response is disappointing. Although the present authorities may cling to their hard-line stand, judging by the political changes taking place on the international stage as well as changes in the perspective of the Chinese people, there will be a time when truth will prevail. Therefore, it is important that everyone be patient and not give up.
We acknowledge the Central Government’s new decision taken at the Fifth Tibet Work Forum to implement their policies uniformly in all Tibetan areas to ensure future progress and development, which Premier Wen Jiabao also reiterated at the recent annual session of the National People’s Congress. This accords with our repeatedly expressed wish for a single administration for all those Tibetan areas. Similarly, we appreciate the development work that has taken place in Tibetan areas, particularly in the nomadic and farming regions. However, we must be vigilant that such progress does not damage our precious culture and language and the natural environment of the Tibetan plateau, which is linked to the well- being of the whole of Asia.
On this occasion, I wish to take the opportunity to offer my sincere thanks to the leaders of various nations, their intellectuals, the general public, Tibet Support Groups and others who cherish truth and justice for continuing to support the Tibetan cause despite the Chinese government’s pressure and harassment. Above all I wish to pay my heartfelt gratitude to the Government of India, the various State Governments, and the people of India for their continued generous support.
Finally, I offer prayers for the happiness and well-being of all sentient beings.
The Dalai Lama
10 March  2010

The Statement of the Kashag on the Fifty-First Anniversary
of the Tibetan National Uprising Day
Today — 10 March 2010 — marks the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan people’s peaceful uprising against the Chinese authorities. On this momentous day, the Kashag pays homage to the brave men and women of Tibet who have laid down their lives for our spiritual and temporal cause. The Kashag also, in solidarity with those Tibetan compatriots who are presently undergoing torture inside Tibet, extends its best greetings and commiserations to all of them.
As detailed in the Kashag’s 10 March Statement of the previous year, we have witnessed both positive and negative developments during the last over 50 years. On the one hand, all Tibetans living inside and outside Tibet have endured tremendous hardships and our spirituality, polity and race have suffered irreparable damages. However, on the other hand, Tibetans inside Tibet of all ages have, without losing heart and inner strength, kept alive our struggle for truth all these years. In exile also, we have made great spiritual and political accomplishments, particularly in the fields of the preservation and promotion of Tibetan spirituality and culture. Today, while remembering all these things, the Kashag would especially like to express our deep sense of gratitude to His Holiness the Dalai Lama because all the positive results that we have been able to accomplish during these years is due to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s leadership.
From the last 10 March anniversary until now, the Tibetans in exile and their administration have been organising numerous programmes, or commemorative events, to mark the 50 years of their life in exile and to express their heartfelt “Thank You” to their host countries. As a part of this programme, an informal meeting of the employees of Central Tibetan administration (CTA) was held recently to reflect upon the past experiences and to propose ideas regarding our future plans. A summary of what transpired in this meeting, which has already been brought to the attention of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, includes, among other things, the CTA employees re- pledging themselves to the path of peace and non-violence in
carrying forward our struggle for truth until the eventual resolution of the Tibet issue. It is our firm belief that the larger Tibetan population inside and outside Tibet will join in this solemn pledge.
Of abiding concern to us is that no positive developments have taken place in Tibet since a new crisis developed on 10 March 2008. Therefore, the Kashag would like to urge the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to put an immediate halt to their inhuman and unlawful actions, including repression and violations of human rights in Tibet, as well as handing down death and long-term prison sentences to the Tibetan people without due process of law. The Kashag would also like to make an emphatic appeal to them to release all the innocent Tibetan prisoners, including the young Panchen Lama — Gendun Choekyi Nyima. Furthermore, the Kashag would like to appeal to the Tibetans inside Tibet to exercise utmost restraint and caution.
In the on-going dialogue process, we have presented to the concerned officials of the PRC the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People on 31 October 2008. In this memorandum, we have, besides articulating the fundamental aspirations of the Tibetan people inside and outside Tibet, requested for the full implementation of the National Regional Autonomy provisions as enshrined in the constitution. The Chinese side has, however, sought to distort or misrepresent the requests we have made in it. In order to offer clarifications to these, as well as to make a fresh request of two points, the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited Beijing this year and conducted ninth round of talks with their Chinese counterparts on 30 and 31 January. In this
latest round of talks, the envoys, as advised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, put forward these two points for the Chinese government’s consideration:
1) The ultimate concern of His Holiness is only the welfare of the six-million Tibetan people. Regarding this, the Chinese central government contends that the Tibetan people in Tibet are leading a happy life to their satisfaction and that there is no such issue as the Tibet issue that needs to be resolved. We believe, however, that most of the Tibetans in Tibet face tremendous hardships. There is, among them, a strong feeling of dissatisfaction or discontentment in every respect — be it religion, politics, economy, language, culture or social conditions. In the light of such divergent views between the two sides, there is a need for us to collectively undertake a careful investigation of the situation on the ground so as to understand what the reality is. We would like to, therefore, request the Chinese government to undertake the proposed investigation in a manner that affords all Tibetans the real opportunity to express their true feelings without any fear and doubts in their minds. If, as a result of such an investigation, it is found that most of the Tibetan people do not believe there is a problem in Tibet and that they are completely satisfied with their lot, then this is what His Holiness the Dalai Lama is calling for. There is, then, no need for both sides to argue about the issue of Tibet in the future. Whereas if we find that most of the Tibetans are dissatisfied, then the Chinese central government should also — treading the path of “seeking truth from facts” — acknowledge that there is a problem in Tibet and start discussions to collectively find the ways and means of solving the problem.
2) The allegation that His Holiness the Dalai Lama or his exile organisation has instigated the spontaneous and peaceful uprising that rocked the whole of the Tibetan areas since 10 March 2008 is not true. Hence, this allegation is not acceptable to us. This has been put across to the Chinese leadership during the informal discussion that took place in Shenzhen. As a result, during the seventh round of talks, the Chinese central government accepted the reality by changing its stance from the “Three Stops” to “Four Not- to-Supports”. Of late, however, it has begun to make the same kind of allegations against us. A need has, therefore, arisen for the Chinese central government to clarify now as to whether its viewpoint is same as it was during the seventh round of talks, or has it changed since then. If it has indeed changed, then the Chinese central government should undertake an in-depth investigation — both inside and outside Tibet — to determine scientifically the truth of these accusations. The verdict of such
an investigation should be accepted by both the parties concerned. Moreover, we should make amends if we are found to be wrong. If we are not found to be wrong, then the Chinese central government must stop spreading lies, or making such baseless allegations, both domestically and internationally, and issue a clarification to this effect.
The Chinese government didn’t provide any clear answers to these two points and they also failed to exactly communicate our requests in its subsequent press briefings or statements. As for us, we will continue to press ahead with these two requests we made in a sincere and honest manner. If the views held by the Chinese central government — and what they say — have any truth in them, then it should not hesitate to subject these to investigation. All of us can vouch for the fact that once a proper investigation is undertaken, it will help clear things for the future, thus making it easier for all to see the reality.
During the past nine rounds of talks, the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama have stated categorically to the Chinese government that they have nothing to talk about the personal issue of His Holiness or about the issue of a few people surrounding him. The sole agenda of the dialogue process was to discuss about the welfare of the six-million Tibetan people. In none of these exchanges had they raised the personal issue of His Holiness. We have made this amply clear earlier and we would like to reiterate this today. Therefore, the Chinese government’s saying, through its official statements, that their purpose of engaging in dialogue with us is only to talk about the personal issue of His Holiness and not about the welfare of the Tibetan people is not true. This is simply irrelevant. Although there is no change whatsoever in our determination to engage in dialogue with the PRC until the issue of
Tibet is resolved once and for all, the Kashag would like to emphatically state that the agenda of the dialogue process should be only about the welfare of six-million Tibetans and nothing else. Therefore we reiterate that there is nothing to discuss about the personal welfare of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Considering the Tibet problem to be a domestic issue that has to be resolved within the framework of the PRC, we are always engaging with the Chinese central government. However, the Chinese side continues to talk about His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the issue
of Tibet and exert enormous pressure in connection with these issues everywhere — be it in their bilateral relations with other countries or in various international forums. It is clear to all of us that this is what actually drives the issue of Tibet towards becoming an internationalised issue.
Our struggle is based on truth and non-violence. We have no doubt that if all Tibetans living inside and outside Tibet put their complete faith in the non-violent path that we have chosen and practise, then the truth of the issue of Tibet will prevail sooner rather than later. Today, there are an increasing number of justice- loving countries, peoples as well as religious and political leaders, showing great concern and support to the issue of Tibet. A significantly large number of Chinese intellectuals from Mainland China and from abroad are now beginning to appreciate and support His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Middle-Way policy. Moreover, the truth about the Chinese government’s wrong policies in Tibet is becoming ever more evident these days. Particularly, the mutually beneficial Middle-Way policy does not envisage victory for oneself and defeat for others. Envied by all the people of the world, it has the strong support of the USA and many other like-minded countries. Tibetan intellectuals inside Tibet, across three regions of Tibet, also admire and support it. Hence, the issue of Tibet has achieved — and is continuing to achieve — great results that have both the short- and long-term benefits. While expressing our immense gratitude to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for formulating such a genuine policy, the Kashag would like to pledge before Your Holiness that we will continue to uphold this policy without any doubt in our minds in the future.
Unimaginable atrocities and cruelty of the past about 60 years have not been able to shake the spirit and determination of the Tibetan people. The Chinese government is now further sharpening its strategy of employing deceit and money to destroy the spirit and unity of the Tibetan people. The Kashag believes that the Tibetan people will not fall prey to these Chinese deceptions. The unity among all the Tibetan people, which has remained intact for a long time now, has been strengthened after the popular uprising of 2008. The Kashag would like to urge all Tibetans to make efforts to further strengthen this bond of unity and to stay clear from the incitements or machinations of the other side to drive a wedge between us Tibetans. The Kashag would like to also urge that we Tibetans should caution by refraining from indulging in internal squabbles over petty matters.
Two important issues that the Tibetans inside Tibet must give a serious thought to are: 1) Tibetan youths should be encouraged to broaden their educational horizon by concentrating on both traditional and modern education and by acquiring professional and specialised skills in their chosen fields of study; and 2) explore all possible ways and means to save the delicate environment of the Tibetan plateau from further degradation. These are non-political issues that have a strong bearing on the short- and long-term benefits of both the Tibetan and Chinese peoples. Therefore, it is very important for both sides to make collective efforts towards these ends. Similarly, everyone should make best efforts to put into practice the advices His Holiness the Dalai Lama give to the people of world in general and to the people of Tibet in particular, the advices of both spiritual and temporal aspect that have huge bearing not just in this life but also in many lives to come.
If the Tibetans, who are currently divided into many administrative units, could be brought under a single autonomous administration, it will be more helpful in devising a uniform policy to bring about all-round development in the fields of education, culture, health, etc. It will, in particular, help protect the unique culture and identity of Tibet. The request to bring all Tibetans under a single administration has now and again been made to the Chinese government since 1951. As such, during the recent Fifth Work Forum on Tibet, delegates from all Tibetan areas were summoned to deliberate upon a uniform development plan for all Tibetans. The Forum has also identified the fact that the Tibetans in general, and the Tibetan farmers and herders in particular, are lagging behind as far as the standard of living is concerned. We must take note of these developments indeed. We await the Chinese government to actually implement a uniform development programme for all the Tibetan-inhabited areas.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama will turn 75 on 6 July 2010. The Kashag plans to celebrate his coming birthday more elaborately than the previous ones with major spiritual activities. Similarly, our exile democracy will complete 50 years on 2 September, this year. Therefore, we are planning to commemorate this day as well. We hope that all Tibetans will bear these upcoming events in mind. Although it is very difficult for the Tibetans inside Tibet to openly come out and celebrate these upcoming events, we believe they will be able to join us Tibetan exiles in their hearts and minds.
To conclude, the Kashag prays for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the spontaneous fulfilment of all his wishes. May the truth of the issue of Tibet prevail soon!
The Kashag
N.B. This has been translated from the original statement issued in Tibetan. If there is any discrepancy between the two, please treat the Tibetan version as authoritative and final.