Dalai Lama's 80th birthday celebrations politicized: expert

BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese expert has lambasted the Dalai Lama for hyping up his 80th birthday celebrations and politicizing the issue in the United States.

In an op-ed published on Monday by the Global Times, Lian Xiangmin from the China Tibetology Research Center said that Monday's celebration is the third time the Dalai Lama has celebrated his 80th birthday. He marked his eightieth year with a Tibetan Buddhism service in 2014 and on June 21 this year in line with the Tibetan calendar .

Such celebrations are another farce by the Dalai group to save their declining influence, said Lian, adding both China's national power and Tibet's rapid development have eclipsed the Dalai group's so-called "middle way" proposal, which advocates a "Greater Tibet" with "a high degree of autonomy" within China.

Lian accused the group of premeditating the event, citing the preparation work one year ago, press conferences and some overseas websites' whipping up unrest in China.

That the Dalai chose to celebrate his 80th birthday in California shows that he is seeking the support of the United States, whose Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has funded the Dalai group, it added.

As always, the celebration marked another chapter in the Dalai group's "politicizing everything," said the op-ed.

Though the Dalai Lama announced his retirement from politics in 2011 and vowed to separate religion from politics, he seems busier than ever. At 80, he still visits more than a dozen countries a year, courting senators and politicians, doing talkshows and delivering speeches.

"He dresses like a monk, but he is a politician," said the op-ed.

The expert then cited Gyalo Thondup, brother of the Dalai Lama, who wrote a book criticizing the American government's handling of the Tibet issue and said the Tibet issue cannot be resolved without the participation of the Chinese government.

"The government has urged [the Dalai Lama] to put aside his illusions in his remaining years, face up to reality, adapt his position, choose the objective and rational path, and do something of benefit to overseas Tibetan compatriots in exile," it said.

"Perhaps he should listen to his brother, change his position to what he held before 1959, when he fled China, and stand with the Tibetan people rather than with the separatists," it said.