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Ulterior motives behind Dalai's 'Memorandum'

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-22 09:50

But even today, the Dalai Lama side repeatedly claims that Tibet was an "independent country" before the People's Liberation Army entered Tibet in 1949 and that Tibet is "an occupied nation under colonial rule".

If Tibet was a colony of China and an "occupied" nation, as he claimed, it would enjoy sovereignty of its own and the right to gain independence in the future, according to international law. This would in fact deny China's sovereignty over Tibet and violate the principle set by the Constitution and law on regional autonomy of ethnic minorities that the autonomous areas are inalienable.

Provided that the memorandum ignores this fundamental issue, the Dalai side actually presages future movements to openly claim "Tibet independence".

Claiming 'Tibet government-in-exile' as representative of Tibetan people

The "Memorandum" says, "The objective of the Tibetan government in exile is to represent the interests of the Tibetan people and to speak on their behalf," and that after an agreement was reached on relevant issues, the "exile government" would be dissolved and the Dalai Lama would not assume any political post in the future.

However, Tibet was peacefully liberated in 1951 and with the democratic reform in 1959, the feudal serfdom under theocracy was overturned and the people's democratic government was established and more than 1 million serfs were emancipated. In 1965, the regional autonomy system for ethnic minorities was exercised, and people of various ethnic groups became the masters of their own affairs.

Therefore, it is the central government and the Tibet autonomous regional people's government, elected by the People's Congress of the Tibet autonomous region, that can represent the Tibetan people.

The so-called "Tibet government-in-exile" was created by the upper class of the serf owners who launched a failed armed rebellion in 1959, and then fled China. It is totally illegal and has been recognized by no country in the world.

The Dalai Lama side described the illegal "government-in-exile" as the representative of the Tibetan people, and told the international community that their contacts and talks with the central government was the "Tibet-China negotiation" and "Han Nationality-Tibetan Dialogue" on so-called issues of "Tibet's political status" and "high degree of autonomy". They attempt to confuse the nature of the contacts and talks and mislead the public, and it served them right to be solemnly denounced by the central government.

To sum up, the "Memorandum", from its title to content, is still about the "greater Tibetan-inhabited area" and "high degree of autonomy". It becomes more deceiving as it is disguised in legal terms and claims to be "in accordance with China's Constitution and laws".

Its attempt is to set up a "half independent" or "covertly independent" political entity controlled by the Dalai clique on soil that occupies one quarter of the Chinese territory, and when conditions are ripe, they will seek to realize "total Tibet independence".

As early as the 1980s when central government leaders like Xi Zhongxun, Ulanhu and Yang Jingren were meeting with visiting groups sent by the Dalai Lama, they made it clear that neither "Tibet as a country" nor "high degree of autonomy" would be tolerated, and that the "greater Tibetan-inhabited area" was absolutely out of the question.

Nearly 30 years have passed, and the Dalai Lama side still insists on issues of "greater Tibetan-inhabited area" and "high degree of autonomy". They never truly relinquish their stance on splitting the homeland, which is the fundamental reason why their contacts and talks with the central government have never made substantial progress for so many years.

What Zhu Weiqun said at the press conference made it clear about the nature and objective of the contacts and talks.

He said, "We only accept Mr. Lodi Gyari and his party talking with us as the private representatives of the Dalai Lama, and the topics can only be the Dalai Lama completely giving up separatist propositions and activities and his seeking forgiveness from the central government and all Chinese people for his own future. We will never discuss with them anything like the 'Tibet issue'. To help the Dalai Lama better understand the central government's attitude and realize his own mistakes, we will listen to their explanations, and the objective is still to check if he has given up his separatism and is trying to get close to the central government."

We can see that the central government's policy toward the Dalai Lama has been consistent and clear, and it has been treating him with the utmost decency and kindness and trying to give him a way out.

Although the Dalai Lama ran away in 1959, his position as the vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress was retained for him until 1964. Ever since 1979, relevant departments have organized dozens of visits to China for his private representatives and relatives to help them understand the country's development and policy.

The central government has repeatedly stated that so long as the Dalai Lama truly relinquishes his stance on "Tibet independence", stops splitting activities, openly acknowledges Tibet as an inalienable part of China, acknowledges Taiwan an inalienable part of China, and acknowledges the People's Republic of China as the only lawful government in China, we will have contacts and talks with them on his personal future.

Even after the violent criminal activities of beating, smashing, looting and burning occurred in Lhasa on March 14, and even with the fact that the Dalai clique sabotaged the Beijing Olympics, relevant departments of the central government still arranged three meetings with the Dalai Lama's private representatives, showing its sincerity.

The door of the central government for the Dalai Lama to return to the patriotic stance has always been open and will remain open in the future. However, the door for "Tibet independence", "half independence" or "covert independence" has never been open, nor will it be open in the future.

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