![]() |
![]() ![]() Links with China cut off-Dalai Lama DHARAMSHALA, India, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Tibet's spiritual and political leader-in-exile, the 14th Dalai Lama, has said that informal communication with China over the future of Tibet has come to a complete halt. "There were informal channels working, and since the early part of last year they were working smoothly. But since the last six months things have changed," he said in an interview on Friday in Dharamshala, the Himalayan town from where he runs a Tibetan government-in-exile. "Now there is no communication, even through these informal channels, and meantime the situation in Tibet is becoming much worse, more tight," added the Dalai Lama, 63-year-old Tenzin Gyatso. The Dalai Lama, who met U.S. president Bill Clinton briefly last November, had hoped negotiations with the Chinese might be brokered through pressure from the United States, but admitted the euphoria which the meeting generated had produced little. "I am ready to talk... anywhere, any time, without pre-conditions. That's my middle-way approach, strictly non-violent," he said. "I am not seeking independence." "But 1999 is the 50th anniversary of founding of PRC (People's Republic of China, and the 10th year since the Tiananmen (uprising) and also for the Tibetan case, the 40th anniversary, and so I think the Chinese government is taking every sort of precaution," he said. China annexed Tibet in 1950. In March 1959, the Dalai Lama and 80,000 other Tibetans entered India with the cooperation of then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to set up offices at the former British hill station of Dharamshala in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The spiritual leader, who won the Nobel peace prize in 1989, said Beijing had hardened its position on dissidents and democratic movements. "They have adopted a very tough policy, so I think overall they are becoming much more tough and hardline," he added. Since 1959, thousands of Tibetans have followed the Dalai Lama to India, and hundreds more continue to arrive each month from Tibet, usually travelling a tough, freezing route over the Himalaya mountains. Many stay in India for the Tibetan education in religious schools, while others return to Tibet, where they can face imprisonment and job loss if discovered. "I am always telling them (the Tibetans), look at things from a wide perspective. Second, I always say 40 years or 50 years in one life is quite long, but for a nation's history it is very short," the Dalai Lama said. "In the 60s and the 70s, the Chinese accused me of being a wolf with a monk's robe. It doesn't matter, I am still here, a simple Buddhist monk," he said. "The Tibetan issue is not just the Dalai Lama issue, it is the issue of the lives of six million Tibetans," he said. The Dalai Lama said some of his followers, especially those in India, may find his non-violent approach testing their patience. Last year, against the wishes of the Dalai Lama, the India-based Tibetan Youth Congress launched a hunger strike until death in New Delhi. It ended in the self-immolation of Thupten Ngodup, a 50-year-old Tibetan activist. In early January, a branch of the Congress stormed the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, setting Chinese flags on fire. The Dalai Lama said the Chinese army could react strongly if the Tibetans took to violence. "I think they are waiting for this kind of problem because they can find a solution very easily. I say cool down and think at a practical level," he said. "Now, Tibet is in a way now dying," the Dalai Lama said, referring to changes in the attitude towards Tibetan Buddhism even among his followers.
"My most important task and responsibility is to contribute to the preservation of Tibetan cultural heritage with the Tibetan people. Once that is achieved, my responsibility is fulfilled."
[ Homepage ] [ NewsRoom ]
|