Dalai Lama accuses UK of failing Tibet

From Times Online
May 22, 2008
by Nico Hines

The Dalai Lama appeared at the Foreign Affairs Select Committee to not show enlarge option

The Dalai Lama today accused the British Government of failing to sufficiently help Tibetans who he claimed were being subjected to a “cultural genocide”.

The monk was in the House of Commons this morning to discuss the situation in Tibet when he was asked by MPs whether the UK was doing enough to support his homeland.

“I think not enough,” he replied, ending the non-political cordiality that has characterised the start of his 11-day tour of the country.

Gordon Brown was apparently looking to avoid any direct criticism of China during the visit which will see him become the first world leader to meet the Dalai Lama since violence flared in Tibet earlier this year.

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Mr Brown has been accused of kowtowing to Beijing by refusing to invite the Dalai Lama to Downing Street for formal talks. Instead he will meet the spiritual leader at Lambeth Palace on Friday enabling the Prime Minister to claim that he is receiving the 72-year-old monk in a spiritual rather than political capacity.

The Dalai Lama however insisted that he was not concerned about the Prime Minister’s choice of venue and confirmed that he would hold political discussions with him.

“For me - no differences. So long as meeting and talk - that is important,” he said. “I always meet on the level we are human beings.”

Today the Dalai Lama plunged into debating the political situation in Tibet during an appearance before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

He acknowledged that there was a “limitation” as to what the UK - or even the United States and European Union - could achieve in Tibet but insisted that more could be done.

Two months after the authorities suppressed a series of anti-Chinese protests across the Tibetan region, he claimed that arrests and “severe torture” were still taking place.

“One thing I find very painful. When they arrest - severe torture before asking questions,” he said, describing one case where an elderly abbot at a Buddhist monastery was left with a broken leg after a beating by the Chinese.

He said that it was still very difficult to discover what was happening inside Tibet and repeated his calls for an international investigation into what happened.

At the same time he expressed concern about the continuing influx of Han Chinese settlers into Tibet, which threatened to reduce the Tibetan population to an “insignificant minority”.

He said that two-thirds of the population in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, were now Han Chinese while a leak from military sources in the city suggested there were plans to settle another 1 million Chinese immigrants once the Beijing Olympics were over.

“The government is, I think, deliberately promoting nationalism and Han chauvinism,” he said. “Whether intentional or unintentional, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place.”

He said that the Chinese language was now more useful than Tibetan in Lhasa, while many of the Chinese immigrants looked down on the Tibetans.

“Those Chinese who think Tibetans are dirty and bad smell – better go,” he said.

Dalai Lama says Beijing Olympics offer chance to press China on human rights

By David Stringer,
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thursday, May 22, 2008


The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama speaks to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee at the House of Commons in London, Thursday.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON - China lacks the moral authority needed to be considered a superpower, the Dalai Lama said Thursday in remarks to British legislators in which he also noted that the Summer Olympics provide an opportunity to press Beijing over human rights.

"Chinese leaders want to be a good member of the whole world, and the Chinese ambition is to become a superpower," the Dalai Lama told Parliament’s foreign affairs select committee.

He said China meets most of the criteria to become a leading power, but still lacks the moral standing required to achieve the global status it craves.

"Big population, there," he said. "Army, there. Economic power, there. The fourth thing is moral authority. In order to become a superpower, moral authority is very important.

"The Dalai Lama is on an 11-day visit to Britain. He meets with Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday at Lambeth Palace, home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.

Some opposition politicians have accused Brown of trying to avoid provoking China by meeting the Dalai Lama at Lambeth Palace rather than at his official Downing Street residence.

"For me, no difference," the Dalai Lama said, when asked about Brown’s choice of venue. "It’s all meeting and talking; that’s the important thing.

"The Dalai Lama also said he believes world leaders should attend the Beijing Olympics if they believe meeting with Chinese leaders will help improve the country’s human rights policies.

He told the British Broadcasting Corp. that he believes the Summer Games could provide a chance to press China over Tibet.

"If they feel to talk and meet with Chinese leaders is more effective, then go there," he said, referring to the Olympics.

"The world should take this opportunity to remind the Chinese government of its poor record on human rights and religious freedom and the environment".

Meanwhile, the 72-year-old exiled Tibetan leader said he sensed that China is slowly changing its approach.

"I think at least decade by decade," he said. "Hopefully now (this will) lead to a more transparent attitude in other fields, including the Tibet case.

"Chinese officials seemed unimpressed by the Dalai Lama’s earlier statement that he would consider attending the Beijing Olympics, if a number of conditions were met.

"If the Dalai side truly wants to make some contribution to his motherland, then he should really stop separatist activities, stop plotting and provoking violent activities and stop disrupting the Beijing Olympics," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in Dharamsala, India, since 1959, eight years after Chinese troops occupied Tibet.

Protests against Chinese rule began in March in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, on the 49th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Events turned violent and touched off pro-Tibetan demonstrations in three neighbouring provinces - and around the world during the Olympic torch relay.


END