TGIE denies senior TAR official's allegations against Dalai Lama

Thursday, July 01, 2010

Phayul
By Kalsang Rinchen
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Dharamsala, July 1 – The exile Tibetan government has denied allegations against the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama by a top ranking Chinese official of the “Tibet Autonomous Region.”

Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of the “Tibet Autonomous Region,” Hao Peng, told a group of foreign journalists on a tightly controlled media tour that the Tibetan leader was a “threat” to the peace and stability of the restive Himalayan region that saw massive anti government outbursts in 2008. "The Dalai clique and some anti-Chinese forces internationally have colluded to make trouble in Tibet. Because of this, we have to take a lot of measures, to ensure the stability of the legal system and the stability of Tibet."

Thubten Samphel, the spokesperson of the Tibetan government based here, told the Voice of Tibet radio service that the allegations against the Tibetan leader were baseless saying findings of a Beijing based Gongmeng Law Research Centre indicate that “the upsurge of Tibetan nationalism was largely triggered by conditions in Tibet, including the pervasive corruption that spawns a ‘new aristocracy,’ which feeds on Beijing's largess but immediately blames the "separatists" for their own total incompetence and mis-rule.”

Gongmeng, which was later shut down by the Chinese government, sent researchers to three areas in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan areas outside of it to find out the causes of 2008 protests. Their findings were published in May 2009 as An Investigative Report into the Social and Economic Causes of the 3.14 Incident in Tibetan Areas.

Foreign journalists who are part of the current media tour have reported that the Tibetan capital which was hit by anti-government protests in 2008 still remain tense amid tight security and presence of armed forces.

Tibetans say there are marginalized in their own country by Hans who they call “intruders threatening their culture and religion.” However, China claims it has poured billions of yuan into the region for its development and that the region is more stable than before March 14, 2008 when deadly riot broke out in the Tibetan capital. Qin Gang, spokesman of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tuesday said foreigners were welcome to visit Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

Nicholas Bequelin, a researcher on China with Human Rights Watch, a New York-based advocacy group does not agree. "Two years down the line there is still no normality across the Tibetan plateau. It's still extremely tense," he said. "It's still very difficult to get things done, there are still a lot of restrictions, a lot of surveillance, a lot of troops. Certainly tourism and travel is not back to normal."

A 28-year-old Tibetan told John Garnaut of the Age who managed to dodge government minders of the media tour that the situation in Lhasa remains "tense" and "terrible". Garnaut was told by the Tibetan that "the Dalai Lama is the No. 1 best person"

“Monks are conforming to the new hardline religious policies and there have been few reports of violence this year. But little effort appears to have been expended on ‘winning hearts and minds’ or healing racial wounds,” writes Garnaut in his report. “In central Lhasa, armed police standing in formation, rifles at the ready, look to be a display of deliberate intimidation.”