Dalai Lama: Chinese Censorship 'Immoral'

Monday, October 18, 2010

Global Atlanta
By David Beasly
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The Dalai Lama is greeted by Emory University President James Wagner Saturday, Oct. 16.

Chinese government censorship of the media is immoral, the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, said at an Emory University news conference Sunday.

"One-point-three billion Chinese people have every right to know reality," he said. "One-point-three billion Chinese people also have the ability to see what's right, what's wrong. Under that circumstance, global censorship is immoral. We must create an open China."

Mr. Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists. In 2007, he accepted an appointment as an Emory Presidential Distinguished Professor.

Tibet is currently governed by China, a communist country that has embraced free enterprise in recent years but still maintains strict control over its citizens and the media.

The Dalai Lama, who went into exile in India after a 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his efforts to preserve Tibetan culture and promote Tibet's liberation from China.

Another Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo, won the Peace Prize this year. Mr. Liu is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence for his pro-democracy efforts.

On Oct. 8 the Dalai Lama again called for Mr. Liu's release and commended his work to build a freer China. 

"I believe in the years ahead, future generations of Chinese will be able to enjoy the fruits of the efforts that the current Chinese citizens are making towards responsible governance," the Dalai Lama said in a statement. 

On Sunday during his fifth visit to Atlanta, the Dalai Lama called China a "great nation" and economic power but said maintaining a closed society hurts the country globally.

"That creates more suspicion, more distrust," he said.

A closed society stifles the creativity of Chinese citizens, said the Dalai Lama, adding that China, "has to go along with world change" and grant its citizens greater personal freedoms.

"Without utilization of individual creativity, there is stagnation," he said.