China disagrees with any country orinternational
organization that invites or meets with the Dalai Lama or
provides the Dalai Lama venues for separatist political
activities, the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's
National People's Congress (NPC) said in a statement on
Saturday. The statement was issued to denounce the Dalai
Lama's recent speech at the European Parliament (EP) general
assembly. Time and again, the Chinese Government has
reiterated that its problem with the Dalai Lama is not
religious, but political. The Dalai Lama is not merely a
religious figure but a politician-in-exile who indulges in
activities designed to split the motherland, the statement
said. The NPC Foreign Affairs Committee sincerely hopes that
the EP can soon take into consideration the importance of
friendly Sino-European relations and stop doing things to
hurt Chinese people's feelings, the statement said. "We
hope that EP members can put aside their prejudices and
learn the true picture of Tibet by visiting it
themselves," the statement said. "This way, they
will be able to avoid making erroneous judgments based on
biased information and avoid hampering the sound development
of Sino-European relations." In defiance of China's
repeated presentation and strong opposition, a few
irresponsible EP members had permitted the Dalai Lama to
visit the EP's general assembly on Oct 24 and deliver a
long, fact-distorting speech that attacked the Chinese
Government and unscrupulously discussed his plot to split
China. Such an erroneous act naturally causes China great
indignation, the statement said. It is perfectly justified
for a central government of one country to exercise
jurisdiction upon its own territory, as China does with
Tibet, the statement said. But the Dalai Lama wrongly
repeats claims that China has "invaded Tibet" and
refuses to recognize Tibet as part of China, and his desire
to split the motherland is very clear, the statement said.
In his speech, the Dalai Lama declared that he wants a
"referendum" for Tibet. Since Tibet is an
inseparable part of Chinese territory and an autonomous
region under the jurisdiction of China, there is no need to
conduct a "referendum" on Tibet's future, the
statement said. The old Tibet before the liberation was one
of the places in the world where human rights were violated
most seriously during the 20th century. The Dalai Lama bears
inevitable responsibility for this, so he is the real
arch-criminal who has trampled upon human rights and
freedoms in Tibet, the statement said. He never dares
mention his barbaric rule over old Tibet nor has he
expressed any sense of repentance. On the contrary, he
deceives the international community by shamelessly
regarding himself as the "spokesman" for the
freedom of Tibet and "protector" of human rights
and humanity, the statement said. After the peaceful
liberation of Tibet, some members of the Tibetan ruling
class were hostile towards the reform policies and wanted to
preserve serfdom to maintain their own vested interests, the
statement said. In March 1959, a handful of Tibetan
serf-owners, colluding with foreign forces, launched an
armed rebellion under the separatist slogan "Tibetan
independence." With help from Buddhist monks and
laymen, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) swiftly quashed
the separatists' rebellion, and the Dalai Lama fled the
country. But the Dalai Lama falsely describes the rebellion
as one in which "the Tibetan people rose up against the
Chinese" and said he had no choice but "to escape
from Tibet." From his comments, it is clear he distorts
the truth, the statement said. By analyzing what the Dalai
Lama has done over the past 40 years, anyone can see that he
has done nothing to "serve the people of Tibet."
Instead, he has done everything to try to regain his lost
paradise and re-enslave the Tibetan people and separate
Tibet from the motherland, the statement said. His dreams
will not come true, the statement said. The Dalai Lama fled
the country more than 40 years ago and has never since set
foot on the soil of Tibet; Therefore, he knows nothing of
the real situation there, the statement said. But that
doesn't stop him from uttering such nonsense like Tibet is
"oppressed by force and scarred by suffering" and
"an entire people with its unique culture and identity
are facing the threat of extinction." But history
proves that in a short span of 40 years, Tibet has gone
through a social and economic revolution that would normally
have taken centuries for mankind to achieve. This makes
Tibet one of the fastest developed and best improved areas
of the contemporary world in terms of various kinds of
social undertakings and human rights. The Dalai Lama is
reluctant to admit that the Tibetans have become the masters
of their own affairs, and the "genuine autonomy"
put forward by him is nothing but a synonym for
"separation" and "independence," the
statement said. Moreover, in his speech to the EP, he said
that his "initiatives and overtures to engage the
Chinese leadership in a dialogue remain unreciprocated"
and that "Beijing's attitude has hardened significantly
compared to the 1980s," but this again is an outright
lie, the statement said. China's policy towards the Dalai
Lama is consistent and explicit. That is, we hope that he
will renounce his separatist call for "Tibetan
independence" and become a patriot, the statement said.
It said the door will always be open to contact between the
central government and the Dalai Lama. Looking back at the
history of contacts between the central government and the
Dalai Lama for the last 20 years, it is clear that the Dalai
Lama's call for "Tibetan independence" never
wavers - even when he is in contact with the central
government. The statement asks rhetorically: Isn't the Dalai
Lama's EP speech proof of his activities to oppose the
central government, split the motherland and undermine
national unity? (China Daily October 29, 2001)