We are always very sorry to read distorted stories regarding Tibet, like the one narrated by Jhado Tulku Rinpoche (Haaretz, Feb. 3rd, 2005, P.11). Such a story not only distorts the reality on the ground, but also betrays the dharma of the religion Rinpoche claims to believe in. After all, despite the mysteries around Tibet, something is easy to see, and is hard to deny.
The past and the present
Even in the first half of the 20th century, Tibet remained a society of feudal serfdom under theocracy, one even darker and more backward than medieval Europe. The ecclesiastical and secular serf owners, though accounting for less than five percent of the population of Tibet, controlled the personal freedom of the serfs and slaves who made up more than 95 percent of the population of Tibet, as well as the overwhelming majority of the wealth. To maintain their cruel economic exploitation, political oppression and mental control of the serfs and slaves, some extremely savage punishments were practiced, including gouging out eyes, cutting off ears, tongues, hands and feet, pulling out tendons, throwing people into rivers or off cliffs. As disgusting as these punishments sound to us, they were parts of the notorious official 13-Article Code and 16-Article Code under the very rule of the Dalai Lama. Therefore, it's hypocritical and ridiculous for the Dalai Lama and his followers to talk about education, or even freedom, since the serfs and slaves under their control were simply too busy worrying about their survival to dream of those rights.
Everything changed after the Democratic Reform of 1959. The feudal serfdom was overthrown, and the feudal hierarchic system was abolished, along with all savage punishments. As a result, a million serfs and slaves were emancipated, became masters of the country as well as of the region of Tibet, and acquired the citizens' rights and freedom specified in the Constitution and law.
In 2002, when elections of local legislatures in Tibet were hold, 93.09 percent of electors in the Autonomous Region turned out to vote. Deputies of the Tibetan and other minority ethnic groups constitute the vast majority (80-90%) of those elected. The Tibetans also make up the bulk of the officials of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Since the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region, six terms (including the current one) of the Standing Committee of the Regional People's Congress and seven terms (including the current one) of the Regional People's Government have had Tibetans as the chairman. Some Tibetans also serve in leading positions in state organs at the central level, and even the Dalai Lama himself once served as the vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
Tibetans fully enjoy the freedom of religion. At present, there are over 1,800 venues for Tibetan Buddhist activities, with some 46,000 resident monks and nuns. Only for the maintenance of the holy Buddhist sites of Potala Palace, Norbulingka and Sakya Monastery, the Central Government has invested about USD 50 million and a large quantity of gold and silver. The Tibetan language and traditional culture are being studied, protected and promoted.
Destruction or construction?
Rinpoche claims that "everything was destroyed". I don't know how he defines the word of "destruction".
From 1965 to 2003, the GNP of Tibet increased from USD 41 million to 2.3 billion, and the GDP per capita rose from USD 30 to USD 860, while the annual growth rate toped 12% in the last decade. There was no highway in Tibet in the old days, but today a road transportation network has taken shape with national highways and 14 provincial highways as the trunk lines, with more than 41,300 kilometers open to traffic. Does Rinpcoche call it "destruction"?
The old Tibet had no school of the modern type, and the attendance rate of school-age children was less than two percent, with 95 percent of young and middle-aged people being illiterate. By the end of 2003, Tibet had 1,011 schools of various types and levels and 2,020 teaching centers, with a total of 453,400 students, the enrollment proportion of primary schools rising to 91.8 percent and the illiteracy rate dropping to less than 30 percent. Since 1985, the Central Government has established Tibetan classes/schools in 21 provinces and municipalities, training up to 10,000 college and secondary technical school graduates. Does Rinpoche call it "destruction"?
Medical and health-care conditions have improved markedly. Now, there are 1,305 medical and health institutions in Tibet, with 6,216 beds and 8,287 medical personnel, the number of beds and medical personnel per 1,000 people being higher than the national average. Infant mortality rate has dropped from 43 percent before 1959 to 3.1 percent, and the average life span of the Tibetan people has increased from 35.5 years to the present 67 years. Tibet's population has grown from 1.1409 million before 1951 to the present 2.7017 million, of whom the number of Tibetans rose from 1.2087 million in 1964 to 2.5072 million in 2003, making up over 92 percent of the region's population. Does Rinpoche call it "destruction"?
Well, maybe there are no such words as "construction" in Rinpoche's political dictionary.
What is the connection between peoples?
It simply doesn't make any sense to compare the sufferings of the Jewish people with those of the Tibetan people. Yes, the majority of the Tibetan people suffered, but not in today's Autonomous Region. The serf owners should have taken that responsibility. Maybe Rinpoche is talking about the "sufferings" of the Dalai Lama and his followers. Then let's learn some facts of the history.
Since the 13th century, Tibet has been one part of China. The central governments of the Yuan Ming and Qing dynasties and the Republic of China all assumed the responsibility of approving the local administrative organs, and deciding and directly handling important affairs concerning Tibet. On May 23, 1951, the "Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" ("17-Article Agreement" for short) was signed, and Tibet was peacefully liberated from foreign invasions and the Kuomintang's corrupt rule. According to the Agreement, under the unified leadership of the Central People's Government, the Tibetan people shall have the right to exercise regional ethnic autonomy. It should be noted that the Dalai Lama participated personally in the negotiation and signing of the Agreement.
But in face of the ever-growing demand of the people for democratic reform, some people in the upper ruling strata of Tibet, in order to preserve feudal serfdom, and supported by external forces, staged an armed rebellion all along the line on March 10, 1959, in an attempt to separate Tibet from China. The rebellion failed, and the Autonomous Region was established. The Dalai Lama and a handful of his followers chose the so-called "exile" and waged a movement against the unification of the motherland. Is that the suffering Rinpoche is taking about?
Our policy as regards the Dalai Lama is consistent and clear. It is hoped that the Dalai Lama will look reality in the face, make a correct judgment of the situation, truly relinquish his stand for "Tibet independence," and do something beneficial to the progress of China and the region of Tibet in his remaining years.