Tibetan Uprising

The Chinese government’s criticisms of His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the mastermind behind the protests in Tibet, culminated on March 19th, with TAR Communist Party leader Zhang Qingli referring to him as a “wolf in monk’s robes, a devil with a human face but the heart of a beast.” The Dalai Lama held a press conference during which he invited the international community to check government records to see for themselves that he had not plotted the protests. The Dalai Lama repeated what he told Jonathan Mirsky of the Observer, London, more than fifteen years ago: if the majority of the Tibetans in Tibet resorted to violence in their freedom struggle, he would have no option but to resign as spokesperson of the Tibetan people.

In a follow-up press release, His Holiness stated that:

“I believe the demonstrations and protests taking place in Tibet are a spontaneous outburst of public resentment built up by years of repression…They mistakenly believe that further repressive measures are the way to achieve their declared aim of long-term unity and stability… We remain committed to taking the Middle Way approach and pursuing a process of dialogue.

“With these points in mind, I also seek the international community’s support for our efforts to resolve Tibet’s problems through dialogue, and I urge them to call upon the Chinese leadership to exercise the utmost restraint in dealing with the current disturbed situation and to treat those who are being arrested properly and fairly.”

For the Dalai Lama’s full press release, please visit http://dalailama.com/news.218.htm. The video of the full press conference is available at http://www.dalailama.com/page.188.htm.

Reiterating how important it was for Sino-Indian relations, Wen Jiabao said that he “appreciated” the Indian authorities’ detention of the 101 Tibetan marchers on March 13th. Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee publicly responded that he hoped the troubles in Tibet would be solved through non-violence and dialogue, and confirmed that India would continue its policy of non-interference in China.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke to Wen Jiabao and made it “absolutely clear” that there had to be an end to the violence in Tibet. Much to the concern of the Chinese government, Brown also said that he would meet His Holiness when he visits London in May.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern about reports of violence and loss of life in Tibet. He said his office would continuously monitor events inside Tibet but there was no room for intervention or further action by UN officials. Russia’s UN Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said Tibet was “not a matter for the Security Council”.

Polish Prime Minister Mr. Donald Tusk declared today that he will not attend the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics and that he would meet the Dalai Lama whenever he comes to Poland.

Pope Benedict XVI expressed “sadness and pain in the face of so much suffering” in Tibet. Like the Dalai Lama, he said, “Problems can not be solved through violence, but only made worse.” Pope Benedict XVI made a plea that God “…[grants] to all the courage to choose dialogue and tolerance. “