B.RAMAN
(This may please be read in continuation of my earlier article of November 13,2007, titled "Iran to Fund Sri Lankan Arms Purchases" at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers25/paper2455.html )
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad of Iran is to visit Sri Lanka for two days from April 28,2008, in response to an invitation from President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had visited Iran in November,2007. His engagements will include the inauguration of the construction of the Iranian-funded ( US $ 450 million) Uma Oya hydroelectricity project at Wellawaya in the Monaragala district. When completed, the project is expected to produce 100 megawatts of electricity. The visit is also expected to result in the finalisation of an agreement for Iranian financial and technical assistance for enabling the Sapugaskanda oil refinery to handle Iran’s light crude. This project is expected to result in a further Iranian investment of US $ one billion.
2. In this connection, quoting Sri Lankan media, the "Teheran Times" of April 20,2008, reported as follows: "Iran will increase its investment in the expansion project of an oil refinery in Sri Lanka up to US$ one billion, Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Development Minister A.H.M. Fowzie said. According to the IRNA office in Tokyo, Fowzie in an interview with Kyodo on Wednesday said: "Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has allocated this amount which would cover 70 per cent of the required investment for the refinery's expansion, in the form of a 10 year loan, with a five year exemption period from payment of the loan's instalments." Fowzie added: "Iran had earlier too provided the oil we need free from interest for four months." According to the report, Iran is the largest provider of crude oil to Sri Lanka. According to the Kyodo report, Managing Director Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Ashantha De Mel has said that the pilot study for increasing the production of Sri Lanka's only refinery from 50,000 to 100,000 barrels per day has been completed by Iranian oil engineers. De Mel added: "Iran would make the major part of the required investment for expansion of this oil refinery (70 per cent) and the CPC would cover the rest (30 per cent)." Fowzie said the project would yield noticeable benefits for its investors. He said: "From the economic point of view my affiliated ministry too is interested in making investments there." According to Kyodo, De Mel who visited Iran in early April 2008, expects the project's executive phase to begin within the next three to four months. Oil experts predict that Sri Lanka's oil refinery would increase its production after the Iranian oil engineers would end their work within the next two to three years."
3. Iran has also agreed to provide low-interest credit to Sri Lanka to enable it to purchase military equipment from Pakistan and China and to train a small group of Sri Lankan Army and intelligence officers in Iran. A team of about 10 officers has already proceeded to Iran for training after a clandestine visit to Sri Lanka by Brigadier Gen. Qassem Suleimani, the Director-General of Iran’s Quds Force, or the Jerusalem Brigade, which is, inter alia, responsible for covert actions against Israel and for liaison with friendly foreign intelligence agencies. He is expected to come again as a member of the entourage of the Iranian President for further discussions on intelligence co-operation between the two countries.
4.According to reliable sources, Israel is reported to have expressed to Colombo its concern over the developing relations between Sri Lanka and Iran and warned that this could come in the way of supply and sale of Israeli military equipment to Sri Lanka in future. It has been reported by these sources that Sri Lanka has already shared with the Iranian intelligence copies of the instructions, training and maintenance manuals of the Israeli equipment purchased by it in the past and allowed some officers of the Quds Force to inspect the Israeli equipment. (23-4-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
CHINESE LEADERSHIP UNABLE TO CONTROL NEO RED GUARDS
B.RAMAN
It is learnt that the Chinese leadership is facing difficulty incontrolling the Neo Red Guards, who have let loose an anti-foreignersand anti-Buddhists campaign to protest against foreign support to thefreedom struggle of the Tibetans and against the attacks on theOlympic Flame during its recent passage through London and Paris.
2. Whereas the protests in China are till now directed only againstthe French, the protests by the overseas Chinese are directed againstthe authorities of the UK, France and the US and the media of those countries. It is learnt that the protests inside China as well asabroad are being sponsored and directed by the Ministry of PublicSecurity, which is China's internal intelligence and security agency.Mr.Meng Jianzhu, the Minister for Public Security , is viewed by manyas the head of the new group of Neo Red Guards, which is increasinglydictating the Tibet policy after the uprising began in Lhasa on March10,2008, and from there spread to other Tibetan-inhabited areas ofTibet, Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan.
3.There have been demonstrations against the outlets of Carrefour,the French super-market chain, in Beijing and other Chinese cities. A campaign for an economic boycott of France and French products has also been launched by the Neo Red Guards.
4.Hundreds of overseas Chinese studying or working in the UK, Franceand the US have been mobilised to protest against the recent incidentsin London and Paris during the passage of the Olympic Flame andagainst the attempts to organise similar incidents in San Francisco,which were, however, thwarted by the local authorities. The orchestrated Chinese anger against the Western media has been particularly concentrated against the CNN, which has been accused of anti-Beijing bias in its coverage.
5. According to reliable sources, the Chinese leadership is worried that if these protests continue, it may foul the atmosphere in the months leading up to the Beijing Olympics of August,2008. The Chinese leadership's dream of projecting the Games as a spectacular exercise in international harmony has been badly damaged. Its appeals for cooling the anti-foreigner campaign have had no effect so far. The Neo Red Guards are reportedly of the view that countering what they see as an international conspiracy to bring about a splitting-up of Tibet and Xinjiang from China is more important than holding the Olympics in harmony. They are, therefore, not worried about the likely adverse impact of their campaign on the Olympics.
6.As part of its Patriotic Re-education campaign, the Ministry ofPublic Security has ordered all Buddhist monasteries in the Tibetan-inhabited areas to fly the Chinese national flag side by side with their religious flag. The monks have been resisting this order.The number of arrests so far is estimated to be more than two thousand. These figures include those arrested for their suspected participation in the violent incidents after March 10, those detained as a preventive measure and those arrested for refusing to fly the Chinese national flag.
7. The orders issued by the Ministry of Public Security to fly the Chinese national flag do not apply to the places of worship of the Muslims in the Xinjiang province. (20-4-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt.of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
It is learnt that the Chinese leadership is facing difficulty incontrolling the Neo Red Guards, who have let loose an anti-foreignersand anti-Buddhists campaign to protest against foreign support to thefreedom struggle of the Tibetans and against the attacks on theOlympic Flame during its recent passage through London and Paris.
2. Whereas the protests in China are till now directed only againstthe French, the protests by the overseas Chinese are directed againstthe authorities of the UK, France and the US and the media of those countries. It is learnt that the protests inside China as well asabroad are being sponsored and directed by the Ministry of PublicSecurity, which is China's internal intelligence and security agency.Mr.Meng Jianzhu, the Minister for Public Security , is viewed by manyas the head of the new group of Neo Red Guards, which is increasinglydictating the Tibet policy after the uprising began in Lhasa on March10,2008, and from there spread to other Tibetan-inhabited areas ofTibet, Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan.
3.There have been demonstrations against the outlets of Carrefour,the French super-market chain, in Beijing and other Chinese cities. A campaign for an economic boycott of France and French products has also been launched by the Neo Red Guards.
4.Hundreds of overseas Chinese studying or working in the UK, Franceand the US have been mobilised to protest against the recent incidentsin London and Paris during the passage of the Olympic Flame andagainst the attempts to organise similar incidents in San Francisco,which were, however, thwarted by the local authorities. The orchestrated Chinese anger against the Western media has been particularly concentrated against the CNN, which has been accused of anti-Beijing bias in its coverage.
5. According to reliable sources, the Chinese leadership is worried that if these protests continue, it may foul the atmosphere in the months leading up to the Beijing Olympics of August,2008. The Chinese leadership's dream of projecting the Games as a spectacular exercise in international harmony has been badly damaged. Its appeals for cooling the anti-foreigner campaign have had no effect so far. The Neo Red Guards are reportedly of the view that countering what they see as an international conspiracy to bring about a splitting-up of Tibet and Xinjiang from China is more important than holding the Olympics in harmony. They are, therefore, not worried about the likely adverse impact of their campaign on the Olympics.
6.As part of its Patriotic Re-education campaign, the Ministry ofPublic Security has ordered all Buddhist monasteries in the Tibetan-inhabited areas to fly the Chinese national flag side by side with their religious flag. The monks have been resisting this order.The number of arrests so far is estimated to be more than two thousand. These figures include those arrested for their suspected participation in the violent incidents after March 10, those detained as a preventive measure and those arrested for refusing to fly the Chinese national flag.
7. The orders issued by the Ministry of Public Security to fly the Chinese national flag do not apply to the places of worship of the Muslims in the Xinjiang province. (20-4-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt.of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
AN UNDERTAKER'S PROCESSION FOR THE OLYMPIC FLAME
B.RAMAN
That is what the Chinese wanted.
That is what the Government of India gave to them.
It did well to give to them what they wanted--- an undertaker's procession for the Olympic Flame as it passed through New Delhi on April 17,2008.
This is not the first time the world is going to have an Olympics.
This will not be the last time.
This is not the first time before the Olympics that the flame lit in Olympia in Greece has been taken through different countries---- togive the people of those countries the happy feeling of being associated with the Games.
And this will not be the last time.
But, what the world is going to have in Beijing in August is an Olympics with a difference.
What the world has been having since the flame was lit in Olympia is a flame with a difference.
What New Delhi had on April 17 was not a flame of joy, brotherhoodand harmony, which would make the world look forward to the Games in August.
It was a flame of sorrow, shock, disgust and troubled conscience which made us dread the advent of August.
Sorrow over the death of over a hundred Tibetans in the
Tibetan-inhabited areas of China since March 10----for no other reason than that they demanded their rights in their homeland.
Shock over the ruthless manner in which the Chinese troops killed the Tibetans.
Disgust over the so-called Patriotic Re-education campaign unleashed by the Neo Red Guards and over the vilification campaign against the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan youth, who rose in revolt.
A shocked conscience over the world's inability to go to their rescue.
When an Olympic flame is taken through a city, people in their hundreds of thousands flock to see it.
They cherish memories of the occasion so that they can tell their children and grand-children in the years to come that they were the proud spectators of the flame being taken across the world.
Hardly anybody came to see the flame in Delhi except some Government servants, staff of the Chinese Embassy and communists and their fellow-travellers.
One did not have people in their hundreds of thousands.
Instead, one had policemen and para-military forces in their thousands.
More than were deployed for the visit of President George Bush in March 2006 and for the visit of President Hu Jintao in November,2006.
The flame came to Delhi in stealth, was taken through the city in a procession that resembled the procession to a graveyard and quickly taken out of Delhi to Bangkok.
Planes diverted from Delhi, traffic dislocated, all Tibetans kept under surveillance like the Chinese keep them In Tibet.
And what did the Chinese leaders and officials tell their people through their Government-controlled media.
The flame was received and witnessed by the Indian people in their thousands, who shouted slogans in support of the Olympics and the dearly-loved Chinese people.
China has a Government and a party, which do not have the courage to face the truth.
And, which do not have the courage to tell the truth to their people.
China is a great country with a glorious civilisation.
Its people definitely deserve a Government of which they can be proud and which is loved by all sections of their own people.
It is time for the Chinese people to join hands with each other to strive for such a Government. (19-4-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt.of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
That is what the Chinese wanted.
That is what the Government of India gave to them.
It did well to give to them what they wanted--- an undertaker's procession for the Olympic Flame as it passed through New Delhi on April 17,2008.
This is not the first time the world is going to have an Olympics.
This will not be the last time.
This is not the first time before the Olympics that the flame lit in Olympia in Greece has been taken through different countries---- togive the people of those countries the happy feeling of being associated with the Games.
And this will not be the last time.
But, what the world is going to have in Beijing in August is an Olympics with a difference.
What the world has been having since the flame was lit in Olympia is a flame with a difference.
What New Delhi had on April 17 was not a flame of joy, brotherhoodand harmony, which would make the world look forward to the Games in August.
It was a flame of sorrow, shock, disgust and troubled conscience which made us dread the advent of August.
Sorrow over the death of over a hundred Tibetans in the
Tibetan-inhabited areas of China since March 10----for no other reason than that they demanded their rights in their homeland.
Shock over the ruthless manner in which the Chinese troops killed the Tibetans.
Disgust over the so-called Patriotic Re-education campaign unleashed by the Neo Red Guards and over the vilification campaign against the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan youth, who rose in revolt.
A shocked conscience over the world's inability to go to their rescue.
When an Olympic flame is taken through a city, people in their hundreds of thousands flock to see it.
They cherish memories of the occasion so that they can tell their children and grand-children in the years to come that they were the proud spectators of the flame being taken across the world.
Hardly anybody came to see the flame in Delhi except some Government servants, staff of the Chinese Embassy and communists and their fellow-travellers.
One did not have people in their hundreds of thousands.
Instead, one had policemen and para-military forces in their thousands.
More than were deployed for the visit of President George Bush in March 2006 and for the visit of President Hu Jintao in November,2006.
The flame came to Delhi in stealth, was taken through the city in a procession that resembled the procession to a graveyard and quickly taken out of Delhi to Bangkok.
Planes diverted from Delhi, traffic dislocated, all Tibetans kept under surveillance like the Chinese keep them In Tibet.
And what did the Chinese leaders and officials tell their people through their Government-controlled media.
The flame was received and witnessed by the Indian people in their thousands, who shouted slogans in support of the Olympics and the dearly-loved Chinese people.
China has a Government and a party, which do not have the courage to face the truth.
And, which do not have the courage to tell the truth to their people.
China is a great country with a glorious civilisation.
Its people definitely deserve a Government of which they can be proud and which is loved by all sections of their own people.
It is time for the Chinese people to join hands with each other to strive for such a Government. (19-4-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt.of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Friday, April 18, 2008
CHINA--TIBET: FEAR OF CYBER DEMOCRACY INDUCES MOVE FOR DE-ESCALATION
B.RAMAN
Till now, analysts have been talking and writing only of the dangersof cyber-terrorism to States and civil societies.
2. China has, for the first time, experienced the lethal force ofCyber Democracy and has started showing signs of fears of its likelyimpact on the stability of the authoritarian Chinese State and itsclosely-controlled civil society.
3. The uprising of large sections of the Tibetans against what theyperceive as the Han colonisation of their traditional homeland andsuppression of their Buddhist religion, which started in Lhasa onMarch 10,2008, and has been continuing since then in various forms,has been planned and orchestrated by Tibetan youth located indifferent parts of the world. Hundreds of Tibetan youth living indifferent democratic countries, who had never met each other and whocame to know each other only through Internet chat rooms anddiscussion groups, pooled their ideas together and decided to takeadvantage of the year of the Beijing Olympics to launch a movement forTibetan independence and democracy under the leadership of the TibetanYouth Congress (TYC).
4. Even if the movement is ultimately crushed after a few weeks byChina's Neo Red Guards, who are dictating the policy on Tibet, withthe help of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the third TibetanUprising of 2008--- the earlier two having taken place in the 1950sand the 1980s--- will go down in history as the first people'srevolution made possible by the power of the Internet's connectivity.This revolution might be crushed ultimately by the PLA, but neitherthe PLA nor the Chinese intelligence will be able to eradicate thispower.
5.Not only the Chinese, but even His Holiness the Dalai Lama and hisclose advisers were taken totally by surprise by the manner in whichyoung Tibetan boys and girls---- with the help of their youngnon-Tibetan friends in different civil societies--- planned thisuprising sitting behind their personal computers and had their plansexecuted.
6. The Chinese as well as His Holiness and his advisers are worriedover the dilution of their control over the youth and its implicationsfor the future of Tibet. His Holiness was in favour of only a peacefulmovement coinciding with the Olympics in support of the ethnic andreligious rights of the Tibetans. He did not want an anti-BeijingOlympics movement, but young Tibetan boys and girls, wielding thepower of the Internet, turned it into a global movement against theBeijing Olympics. His repeated appeals against any attempts tosabotage the Olympics have fallen on deaf ears till now.
7. The initial Chinese response was to close down all servers beingused by the Tibetans and try to impose an iron curtain on theInternet. They found this very difficult to achieve. There wereseepages through the Iron Curtain They realised that the Iron Curtain,which served the purpose of the USSR, cannot serve the purpose of theChinese State in this age of the Internet.
8. The Ministry of Public Security, which is China's internalintelligence and security agency, then decided to counter-attack theTibetan youth and their foreign supporters doing unto them what theywere doing unto the Chinese. Young Internet-literate Chinese boys andgirls, not only in the overseas Chinese diaspora,, but also in theChinese civil society were mobilised to unleash a counter-campaignagainst the Tibetan youth and their foreign supporters.
9. Young Chinese boys and girls, who were indignant over what they sawas acts of anti-Han brutality of the Tibetans and the distortedprojection of the events by the Western media and human rightsorganisations, joined in the Internet-based campaign against theTibetans and their foreign supporters. The outpouring of theirpatriotism was as impressive as the outpouring of the patriotism ofthe American people after the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the UShomeland by Al Qaeda.
10. The beginning of the patriotic campaign was state-inspired anddirected, but after a few days, it assumed a momentum, direction andflavour of its own.There were indications of a xenophobia and all thecontrols, which the Chinese State had been exercising on the use ofthe Internet, started showing signs of melting away. The moderatorsnominated by the Ministry of Public Security to moderate thisInternet-based campaign and to prevent it from taking directions whichcould be detrimental to the Chinese State, found themselves unable tomoderate effectively.
11.Fears that the exercise in controlled Cyber Psywar launched by theMinistry could turn into an uncontrollable exercise in CyberDemocracy with criticism of not only the Tibetans and their foreignsupporters, but also of the Chinese leadership itself for lettingitself be taken by surprise have caused the Chinese authorities to tryto apply brakes on the campaign. The Chinese are also worried that themounting anti-foreigner feelings as a result of this Internet-basedcampaign might lead to unpleasant incidents against foreigners duringthe Olympics.
12.The Ministry of Public Security and the offices of the CommunistParty in different parts of the country have reportedly been tellingthe young Chinese that they have achieved their patriotic purpose andthat it is now time to cool it.
13.But will they be able to? (19-4-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt.of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre ForChina Studies. E-mail:seventyone2@gmail.com )
Till now, analysts have been talking and writing only of the dangersof cyber-terrorism to States and civil societies.
2. China has, for the first time, experienced the lethal force ofCyber Democracy and has started showing signs of fears of its likelyimpact on the stability of the authoritarian Chinese State and itsclosely-controlled civil society.
3. The uprising of large sections of the Tibetans against what theyperceive as the Han colonisation of their traditional homeland andsuppression of their Buddhist religion, which started in Lhasa onMarch 10,2008, and has been continuing since then in various forms,has been planned and orchestrated by Tibetan youth located indifferent parts of the world. Hundreds of Tibetan youth living indifferent democratic countries, who had never met each other and whocame to know each other only through Internet chat rooms anddiscussion groups, pooled their ideas together and decided to takeadvantage of the year of the Beijing Olympics to launch a movement forTibetan independence and democracy under the leadership of the TibetanYouth Congress (TYC).
4. Even if the movement is ultimately crushed after a few weeks byChina's Neo Red Guards, who are dictating the policy on Tibet, withthe help of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the third TibetanUprising of 2008--- the earlier two having taken place in the 1950sand the 1980s--- will go down in history as the first people'srevolution made possible by the power of the Internet's connectivity.This revolution might be crushed ultimately by the PLA, but neitherthe PLA nor the Chinese intelligence will be able to eradicate thispower.
5.Not only the Chinese, but even His Holiness the Dalai Lama and hisclose advisers were taken totally by surprise by the manner in whichyoung Tibetan boys and girls---- with the help of their youngnon-Tibetan friends in different civil societies--- planned thisuprising sitting behind their personal computers and had their plansexecuted.
6. The Chinese as well as His Holiness and his advisers are worriedover the dilution of their control over the youth and its implicationsfor the future of Tibet. His Holiness was in favour of only a peacefulmovement coinciding with the Olympics in support of the ethnic andreligious rights of the Tibetans. He did not want an anti-BeijingOlympics movement, but young Tibetan boys and girls, wielding thepower of the Internet, turned it into a global movement against theBeijing Olympics. His repeated appeals against any attempts tosabotage the Olympics have fallen on deaf ears till now.
7. The initial Chinese response was to close down all servers beingused by the Tibetans and try to impose an iron curtain on theInternet. They found this very difficult to achieve. There wereseepages through the Iron Curtain They realised that the Iron Curtain,which served the purpose of the USSR, cannot serve the purpose of theChinese State in this age of the Internet.
8. The Ministry of Public Security, which is China's internalintelligence and security agency, then decided to counter-attack theTibetan youth and their foreign supporters doing unto them what theywere doing unto the Chinese. Young Internet-literate Chinese boys andgirls, not only in the overseas Chinese diaspora,, but also in theChinese civil society were mobilised to unleash a counter-campaignagainst the Tibetan youth and their foreign supporters.
9. Young Chinese boys and girls, who were indignant over what they sawas acts of anti-Han brutality of the Tibetans and the distortedprojection of the events by the Western media and human rightsorganisations, joined in the Internet-based campaign against theTibetans and their foreign supporters. The outpouring of theirpatriotism was as impressive as the outpouring of the patriotism ofthe American people after the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the UShomeland by Al Qaeda.
10. The beginning of the patriotic campaign was state-inspired anddirected, but after a few days, it assumed a momentum, direction andflavour of its own.There were indications of a xenophobia and all thecontrols, which the Chinese State had been exercising on the use ofthe Internet, started showing signs of melting away. The moderatorsnominated by the Ministry of Public Security to moderate thisInternet-based campaign and to prevent it from taking directions whichcould be detrimental to the Chinese State, found themselves unable tomoderate effectively.
11.Fears that the exercise in controlled Cyber Psywar launched by theMinistry could turn into an uncontrollable exercise in CyberDemocracy with criticism of not only the Tibetans and their foreignsupporters, but also of the Chinese leadership itself for lettingitself be taken by surprise have caused the Chinese authorities to tryto apply brakes on the campaign. The Chinese are also worried that themounting anti-foreigner feelings as a result of this Internet-basedcampaign might lead to unpleasant incidents against foreigners duringthe Olympics.
12.The Ministry of Public Security and the offices of the CommunistParty in different parts of the country have reportedly been tellingthe young Chinese that they have achieved their patriotic purpose andthat it is now time to cool it.
13.But will they be able to? (19-4-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt.of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre ForChina Studies. E-mail:seventyone2@gmail.com )
Saturday, April 12, 2008
THE TIBETAN CARD & THE TIBETAN ISSUE
B.RAMAN
After San Francisco, the Olympic flame is likely to have anxiousmoments at Islamabad (April 16), New Delhi (April 17) and Tokyo. AtIslamabad, the problem, if any, could be from the survivors of thePakistan Army's commando action in the Lal Masjid last year andanti-Chinese elements in the Uighur diaspora. The Tibetan issue willnot pose a problem there.
2.The students of the Lal Masjid madrasas hold Beijing responsible forforcing President Pervez Musharraf to order the commando action,during which about 300 tribal students were allegedly killed. Thesupport of Mrs.Benazir Bhutto for the commando action allegedly costher her life at the hands of jihadi terrorists. The anger over thecommando action remains strong and is directed against the PakistanPeople's Party (PPP), the leader of the present ruling coalition,which had also supported the commando raid.Musharraf ordered thecommando action after the madrasa students kidnapped some Chinesewomen working in beauty parlours and accused them of beingprostitutes. The anger of the Uighurs is due to the allegedsuppression of their ethnic members in Xinjiang and over thesuccessful Chinese pressure on Saudi Arabia during the last two yearsnot to issue pilgrimage visas to the Uighurs in Pakistan.
3. There will be very anxious moments in New Delhi because of theactivism of the highly-motivated Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), butthey may not have the same kind of street support from sections ofthe Indian civil society as the Tibetan residents had in London, Parisand San Francisco. The Dalai Lama's departure to the US---thoughostensibly in pursuit of long-scheduled programmes---is also meant tocool the temperature so that the Government of India is notembarrassed. Another possible reason is that he doesn't want to givethe Chinese an opportunity to make further allegations against himshould something go wrong on April 17.
4. In Tokyo, one could again see a mix of Tibetan activism andsections of the local civil society in action.Both the Chinese andJapanese authorities are prepared for it.
5 Unfortunately, in India and the rest of the world, the debate,which started after the violent incidents of March 10 to 18,2008, hasfailed to make a distinction between the "Tibetan card" and the'Tibetan issue". Many of the so-called hawks, including some retiredofficers of the Indian Foreign Service and leaders of the Hindutvagroup, as well as anti-China elements in the West look upon thepost-March 10 developments as providing a "Tibetan card", which can beexploited against China for different strategic objectives.
6. In the case of the Indian hawks, they want the Government to usethe Tibetan card to correct the past policy mistakes relating to thetotally unwise Indian action in recognising Tibet as an integral partof China without a quid pro quo from Beijing in the form of arecognition of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India.
7. I was myself tempted to join this hawks' brigade, but refrainedfrom doing so after careful thinking. I have come to the conclusionthat this will be a cynical approach which could provecounter-productive. We should not give the impression that we areexploiting the spilling of Tibetan blood and the justified emotionaloutburst of Tibetan youth not for getting a better future for theTibetans, but to serve our own national interest. Nothing can be moreunfortunate than such an impression among the Tibetans.
8. In the West also, many look upon the shocking mishandling of theTibetan people by the neo Red Guards of the Chinese Government andCommunist Party as providing a welcome stick to beat the Chinese within this year of the Beijing Olympics. The respect for the human rightsof the Tibetans is not the primary issue. Needling Beijing is theprimary issue.
9. We need policies and an approach in India as well as the West basedon the conviction that the long-neglected Tibetan issue---meaning theobservance of human rights and giving the Tibetans a genuine voice andgenuine political opportunities and religious freedom in their ownhomeland-- has led to the present situation and that unless thegrievances and anger of the Tibetan people are addressed in adisinterested manner the problem is likely to continue. Our policiesshould be based on a genuine interest in the Tibetan people, theirplight and their future and not on exploiting their uprising forserving our own national interest.Let us keep the spotlight on the TIBETAN ISSUE and resist the temptation to use the Tibetan anger as acard for narrow purposes.
10. Despite the widespread adverse reaction against China all over theworld, the Chinese have not blinked and are unlikely to blink even ifthere are more violent incidents as the flame is taken to the top ofthe Everest and across Tibetan-inhabited areas of China. In theirapprehension, any weakening of their stand on Tibet could mark thebeginning of their losing control over China's sensitive peripheryconsisting of Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.
11. At the same time, once the Olympics are over there would behopefully re-thinking in the Chinese Government and Party over themess created for them by the mishandling of the Tibetan issue by theneo Red Guards and other hawks. This could result in policy andmanagement correctives meant to address the widespread alienation.Wein India should not lose our ability for discreetly promoting suchre-thinking and policy correctives by taking an unbridled hawkishapproach. His Holiness the Dalai Lama should be in the centre of anydebate on such correctives.(12-4-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt.of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, the Institute ForTopical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the ChennaiCentre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
After San Francisco, the Olympic flame is likely to have anxiousmoments at Islamabad (April 16), New Delhi (April 17) and Tokyo. AtIslamabad, the problem, if any, could be from the survivors of thePakistan Army's commando action in the Lal Masjid last year andanti-Chinese elements in the Uighur diaspora. The Tibetan issue willnot pose a problem there.
2.The students of the Lal Masjid madrasas hold Beijing responsible forforcing President Pervez Musharraf to order the commando action,during which about 300 tribal students were allegedly killed. Thesupport of Mrs.Benazir Bhutto for the commando action allegedly costher her life at the hands of jihadi terrorists. The anger over thecommando action remains strong and is directed against the PakistanPeople's Party (PPP), the leader of the present ruling coalition,which had also supported the commando raid.Musharraf ordered thecommando action after the madrasa students kidnapped some Chinesewomen working in beauty parlours and accused them of beingprostitutes. The anger of the Uighurs is due to the allegedsuppression of their ethnic members in Xinjiang and over thesuccessful Chinese pressure on Saudi Arabia during the last two yearsnot to issue pilgrimage visas to the Uighurs in Pakistan.
3. There will be very anxious moments in New Delhi because of theactivism of the highly-motivated Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), butthey may not have the same kind of street support from sections ofthe Indian civil society as the Tibetan residents had in London, Parisand San Francisco. The Dalai Lama's departure to the US---thoughostensibly in pursuit of long-scheduled programmes---is also meant tocool the temperature so that the Government of India is notembarrassed. Another possible reason is that he doesn't want to givethe Chinese an opportunity to make further allegations against himshould something go wrong on April 17.
4. In Tokyo, one could again see a mix of Tibetan activism andsections of the local civil society in action.Both the Chinese andJapanese authorities are prepared for it.
5 Unfortunately, in India and the rest of the world, the debate,which started after the violent incidents of March 10 to 18,2008, hasfailed to make a distinction between the "Tibetan card" and the'Tibetan issue". Many of the so-called hawks, including some retiredofficers of the Indian Foreign Service and leaders of the Hindutvagroup, as well as anti-China elements in the West look upon thepost-March 10 developments as providing a "Tibetan card", which can beexploited against China for different strategic objectives.
6. In the case of the Indian hawks, they want the Government to usethe Tibetan card to correct the past policy mistakes relating to thetotally unwise Indian action in recognising Tibet as an integral partof China without a quid pro quo from Beijing in the form of arecognition of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India.
7. I was myself tempted to join this hawks' brigade, but refrainedfrom doing so after careful thinking. I have come to the conclusionthat this will be a cynical approach which could provecounter-productive. We should not give the impression that we areexploiting the spilling of Tibetan blood and the justified emotionaloutburst of Tibetan youth not for getting a better future for theTibetans, but to serve our own national interest. Nothing can be moreunfortunate than such an impression among the Tibetans.
8. In the West also, many look upon the shocking mishandling of theTibetan people by the neo Red Guards of the Chinese Government andCommunist Party as providing a welcome stick to beat the Chinese within this year of the Beijing Olympics. The respect for the human rightsof the Tibetans is not the primary issue. Needling Beijing is theprimary issue.
9. We need policies and an approach in India as well as the West basedon the conviction that the long-neglected Tibetan issue---meaning theobservance of human rights and giving the Tibetans a genuine voice andgenuine political opportunities and religious freedom in their ownhomeland-- has led to the present situation and that unless thegrievances and anger of the Tibetan people are addressed in adisinterested manner the problem is likely to continue. Our policiesshould be based on a genuine interest in the Tibetan people, theirplight and their future and not on exploiting their uprising forserving our own national interest.Let us keep the spotlight on the TIBETAN ISSUE and resist the temptation to use the Tibetan anger as acard for narrow purposes.
10. Despite the widespread adverse reaction against China all over theworld, the Chinese have not blinked and are unlikely to blink even ifthere are more violent incidents as the flame is taken to the top ofthe Everest and across Tibetan-inhabited areas of China. In theirapprehension, any weakening of their stand on Tibet could mark thebeginning of their losing control over China's sensitive peripheryconsisting of Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.
11. At the same time, once the Olympics are over there would behopefully re-thinking in the Chinese Government and Party over themess created for them by the mishandling of the Tibetan issue by theneo Red Guards and other hawks. This could result in policy andmanagement correctives meant to address the widespread alienation.Wein India should not lose our ability for discreetly promoting suchre-thinking and policy correctives by taking an unbridled hawkishapproach. His Holiness the Dalai Lama should be in the centre of anydebate on such correctives.(12-4-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt.of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, the Institute ForTopical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the ChennaiCentre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
Friday, April 11, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
OLYMPIC TORCH TO EVEREST: NEO RED GUARDS PREVAIL
B.RAMAN
Before the outbreak of the disturbances in Tibet and the adjoining Tibetan-inhabited areas on March 10,2008, the Chinese Olympic Organising Committee had planned to take the Olympic torch to Tibet twice. It was to be taken first to the summit of the Everest from the Chinese side by a group of Chinese mountaineers and then taken to other provinces. Thereafter, it was to be brought back to Tibet for a second time for being taken across Lhasa, the capital, and adjoining areas.
2. The Committee had announced the dates of the second run as between June 19 and 21,2008, but it had kept the dates of the climb to the Everest a secret to prevent the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) from disrupting it.However, one could guess that it would be in the laast week of April and the first week of May,2008, from the fact that the Chinese authorities had imposed a ban on foreign tourists and journalists travelling to the Himalayan foothills till May 10. They had pressured the Nepal Government to ban all expeditions to the Everest till May 10, since they were afraid that the TYC volunteers may climb the Everest from the Nepal side and cause an avalanche on the Chinese side as the flame was being taken to the top of the Everest.
3. It is learnt that in the wake of the continuing unrest in the Tibetan-inhabited areas, the matter was considered by the party leadership in Beijing and a suggestion reportedly made by Prime Minister Wen Jiabo that the torch should be taken to Tibet only once between June 19 and 21 and that the proposal for Chinese mountaineers to take it to the top of the Everest should be abandoned. This suggestion was reportedly accepted. Though no official announcement was made about it, Chinese officials in Beijing and Lhasa indicated that the ban on the travel of foreign tourists to Tibet would be lifted from May 1.
4. However, this position has been changed and Chinese officials have been saying that they are determined to take the torch to the top of the Everest whatever be the consequences and that the ban on the foreign tourists going to Tibet would continue even after May 1 till further orders. They apparently intend lifting the ban only after the torch had been taken to the top of the Everest, brought down and taken to other provinces.
5. The reiteration of the plan to take the torch to the top of the Everest is reported to have been the outcome of a strong opposition from a group of Neo Red Guards consisting of Mr.Meng Jianzhu, the Minister for Public Security, Mr. Zhang Qingli, the head of the Chinese Communist Party in Tibet, and Mr.Qiangha Puncog, the head of the Tibetan Government. It is understood that the policy on Tibet is increasingly dictated by this group, which enjoys the support of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). This group reportedly argued that any plans to abandon the climb to the Everest with the torch could be seen by the Tibetans as a sign of weakness and could further worsen the situation. Its views prevailed.
6. In the meanwhile, after nearly a month of vicious attacks on the so-called Dalai clique, which was held responsible for the uprising in Tibet, the Government-controlled media has now turned its guns on the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), whose activities are being compared to those of Al Qaeda and the Chechen terrorists in Russia. The Government-owned "People's Daily", which has been carrying articles on this subject, has avoided giving the impression that these are its views. Instead, it has been projecting them as the views of Chinese netizens, having their own blogs.
7. Annexed is the text of an interview given by Mr. Zhang Qingli to "Spiegel", the well-known German journal, on August 16,2006.(10-4-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
ANNEXURE
Text dated August 16,2006 of an interview given by Mr.Zhang Qingli, to 'Spiegel", the well-known German magazine
SPIEGEL: Mr. Zhang, Tibet is traditionally a deeply religious country, whereas the Chinese Communist Party is secular. Marx called religion the opium of the masses. How do you reconcile the two?
Zhang: Nature is diverse. Different life forms coexist and the world is colorful. This also holds true when it comes to ideology. We emphasize harmony, so that different ideologies and ideas can live together in peace. The Chinese government practices religious freedom.
SPIEGEL: But since when has the Communist Party tolerated religion in its current form?
Zhang: The party and the government have a clear policy on religion. First, we have religious freedom. Second, religious communities must make their own decisions, and we cannot have interference from abroad. Third, they must be conducted and managed according to the laws. And, finally, we show them how to become integrated into socialist society. You can see the way it is in Tibet, where people make pilgrimages to the temples, turn their prayer wheels and pray to Buddha.
SPIEGEL: The Dalai Lama is one of the world's most popular religious leaders, and he is deeply revered by the people of Tibet. But the government in Beijing sees him as a despicable separatist. Why?
Zhang:Five thousand Tibetan soldiers died during the supposedly "peaceful liberation" of the region. In 1959, the Tibetans rebelled against China and the Dalai Lama fled to India. In 1989, a bloody crackdown stamped out a renewed protest movement. Zhang: Our policy toward the Dalai Lama is clear and consistent. After the founding of the People's Republic and the peaceful liberation of Tibet, he was elected to a leadership position in the National People's Congress in 1954. He remained a member of that body until 1964. In 1956 he was named director of the preparation committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region. All of this was done so that religious freedom could be guaranteed, and so that Tibet could be integrated into the great family of socialist nations. He fled the country in 1959. There is no doubt that at that time he was a widely respected religious leader.
SPIEGEL: And is he no longer that today?
Zhang: He did many bad things later on that contradict the role of a religious leader. The core issue is this: Everyone must love his motherland. How can it be that he doesn't even love his motherland? We have a saying: "No dog sees the filth in his own hut, and a son would never describe his mother as ugly."
SPIEGEL: The Dalai Lama doesn't love Tibet?
Zhang: Tibet is the home of the 14th Dalai Lama, but China is his motherland. He deceived his motherland. He rebelled in the 1950s and in the late 1980s he incited unrest in Lhasa that was directed against the people, the government and society. He destabilized Tibet.
SPIEGEL: The Dalai Lama is widely respected worldwide.
Zhang: If I remember correctly, from 1959 to the middle of this year he has made 312 visits to places all over the world, which comes to an average of six countries a year. It was even 12 in 2005. And what did he do during these visits? The goal of these so-called official visits was to form alliances with anti-Chinese forces and to engage in propaganda for his separatist views, which conflict with religion.
SPIEGEL: But much has changed in the world in the last 20 years. China has opened up and trade has become globalized. The question of power on the roof of the world has been resolved. The Dalai Lama has abandoned his claims to independence and agrees to a far-reaching autonomy for Tibet. Why isn't China generous and self-confident enough to allow the Dalai Lama back into the country, as he would like? Does he still pose a threat to you?
Zhang: We have a clear policy. The door to negotiations will always be open to him, but only when he truly and comprehensively abandons his intentions to divide the motherland, intentions that are directed against society and the people, only when he gives up his splittist activities and only when he openly declares to the world that he has given up claims to independence for Tibet.
SPIEGEL: Didn’t he do this long ago?
Zhang: The problem is that his behavior and his statements contradict one another. He says: "I want to take a middle path and I accept that there is only one China." But in reality he has not spent a single day not trying to split the motherland.
SPIEGEL: What do you mean by that?
Zhang: What his so-called middle path means is this: He wants to integrate Tibetan settlement areas in the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai and Gansu into Tibet. He wants to be in charge of this "Greater Tibet" and he demands that the People's Liberation Army be withdrawn from the region. Besides, he wants to see a return to an earlier, theocratic feudal realm, as dark and gruesome as it was. In those days, government officials, noblemen and monks ruled 95 percent of the population. And he wants even more autonomy for Tibet than has been given to Hong Kong and Macau. That is splittism.
SPIEGEL: But haven't there already been talks between representatives of the Dalai Lama and Beijing?
Zhang: His government-in-exile is illegal. Our central government has never recognized it. No country in the world, including Germany, recognizes it diplomatically. There are no talks between the Chinese and his so-called government-in-exile. The current contacts merely involve a few individuals from his immediate surroundings. The talks revolve around his personal future.
SPIEGEL: The Dalai Lama enjoys a great deal of sympathy in America, Europe and in Asia, also because the Chinese Communist Party is not particularly democratic.
Zhang: Frankly, the number of people who know the true Dalai Lama is very small. His supporters include enemies of China, but also the true faithful, who are being led astray by this false religious leader. And, finally, there are those who do not understand the real situation.
SPIEGEL: Nevertheless, the Dalai Lama is a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Zhang: I have never understood why a person like the Dalai Lama was honored with this prize. What has he done for peace? How much guilt does he bear toward the Tibetan people! How damaging is he for Tibet and China! I cannot understand why so many countries are interested in him.
SPIEGEL: For many Europeans, Tibet is still a country full of myths. A new railroad line to Lhasa was inaugurated a few weeks ago. What does it mean for Tibet?
Zhang: We are very pleased about this railroad. Everyone is convinced that what the Communist Party has achieved on the roof of the world is a miracle. It demonstrates China's strength and its economic and technological progress. But, more important, the railroad shows that the Chinese Communist Party is doing everything it can to improve life for the various nationalities in the border regions. Tibet is now economically linked to other provinces and the rest of the world.
SPIEGEL: There are rumors that China has nuclear weapons stationed in Tibet. Can you confirm this?
Zhang: I can assure you with all responsibility that this is all a complete fantasy. There is no nuclear weapons factory in Tibet.
SPIEGEL: The Dalai Lama is 71. He has hinted that there may not be a successor or reincarnation. How will you react? Will you nevertheless encourage a search for a reincarnation?
Zhang: The current Dalai Lama is the 14th. We do not know how much longer he will live. We believe that good people live longer while bad people live shorter lives.
SPIEGEL: Then the Dalai Lama, at 71, must be a good person.
Zhang: It is difficult to say whether he is good or bad. But when we consider his actions, he does not appear to be a good person.
SPIEGEL: If the Dalai Lama doesn't want a successor, will the Communist Party then say that this is a good thing? Or will it undertake its own efforts to search for a successor in Tibet?
Zhang: There has always been a specific system to search for a successor to the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. According to the historic rules and religious rituals, monks must travel throughout the country and draw lots from the Golden Urn. But the central government has the final say.
SPIEGEL: Will there be an official and an unofficial Dalai Lama, one in Tibet and another in India? After all, since 1995 there has been a dispute over the Panchen Lama, Tibet's second most important religious leader. The Dalai Lama recognized one Panchen Lama, but Beijing approved another.
Zhang: The reincarnation of the Panchen Lama has been regulated since the Qing dynasty, that is, since the 17th century. The search for and naming of the 11th Panchen Lama was done strictly in accordance with historic rules. This is why he was recognized by the central government. He is the legal Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lama broke the historic rules during the search for the Panchen Lama. He didn't even have the Golden Urn from which to draw lots. The Dalai Lama creates chaos. But the market for him here in Tibet is shrinking.
SPIEGEL: Religion appears to be gaining strength in many parts of the world, such as in predominantly Islamic regions and in the United States. Isn't religion also on the rise in Tibet?
Zhang: Religion is a historic phenomenon that will continue to exist for a long time. Our religious policy is very relaxed, and it is in keeping with realities. But religion may not operate against the law and may not interfere in justice, education, production and labor. In China, people are free to believe or not. We do not become involved in this personal decision.
SPIEGEL: But you have announced plans to strengthen the so-called patriotic education campaign in the monasteries, which is also directed against supporters of the Dalai Lama.
Zhang: Every nation on earth teaches its people to love their motherland. We are organizing patriotic education everywhere, not just in the monasteries. Those who do not love their country are not qualified to be human beings. This is a matter of common sense.
SPIEGEL: Do you actually speak Tibetan?
Zhang: Just a few words. I have only been here a few months. But I do want to learn the language.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Zhang, we thank you for this interview.
Interview was conducted by editors Stefan Aust, Andreas Lorenz and Gerhard Spörl in Lhasa.
Before the outbreak of the disturbances in Tibet and the adjoining Tibetan-inhabited areas on March 10,2008, the Chinese Olympic Organising Committee had planned to take the Olympic torch to Tibet twice. It was to be taken first to the summit of the Everest from the Chinese side by a group of Chinese mountaineers and then taken to other provinces. Thereafter, it was to be brought back to Tibet for a second time for being taken across Lhasa, the capital, and adjoining areas.
2. The Committee had announced the dates of the second run as between June 19 and 21,2008, but it had kept the dates of the climb to the Everest a secret to prevent the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) from disrupting it.However, one could guess that it would be in the laast week of April and the first week of May,2008, from the fact that the Chinese authorities had imposed a ban on foreign tourists and journalists travelling to the Himalayan foothills till May 10. They had pressured the Nepal Government to ban all expeditions to the Everest till May 10, since they were afraid that the TYC volunteers may climb the Everest from the Nepal side and cause an avalanche on the Chinese side as the flame was being taken to the top of the Everest.
3. It is learnt that in the wake of the continuing unrest in the Tibetan-inhabited areas, the matter was considered by the party leadership in Beijing and a suggestion reportedly made by Prime Minister Wen Jiabo that the torch should be taken to Tibet only once between June 19 and 21 and that the proposal for Chinese mountaineers to take it to the top of the Everest should be abandoned. This suggestion was reportedly accepted. Though no official announcement was made about it, Chinese officials in Beijing and Lhasa indicated that the ban on the travel of foreign tourists to Tibet would be lifted from May 1.
4. However, this position has been changed and Chinese officials have been saying that they are determined to take the torch to the top of the Everest whatever be the consequences and that the ban on the foreign tourists going to Tibet would continue even after May 1 till further orders. They apparently intend lifting the ban only after the torch had been taken to the top of the Everest, brought down and taken to other provinces.
5. The reiteration of the plan to take the torch to the top of the Everest is reported to have been the outcome of a strong opposition from a group of Neo Red Guards consisting of Mr.Meng Jianzhu, the Minister for Public Security, Mr. Zhang Qingli, the head of the Chinese Communist Party in Tibet, and Mr.Qiangha Puncog, the head of the Tibetan Government. It is understood that the policy on Tibet is increasingly dictated by this group, which enjoys the support of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). This group reportedly argued that any plans to abandon the climb to the Everest with the torch could be seen by the Tibetans as a sign of weakness and could further worsen the situation. Its views prevailed.
6. In the meanwhile, after nearly a month of vicious attacks on the so-called Dalai clique, which was held responsible for the uprising in Tibet, the Government-controlled media has now turned its guns on the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), whose activities are being compared to those of Al Qaeda and the Chechen terrorists in Russia. The Government-owned "People's Daily", which has been carrying articles on this subject, has avoided giving the impression that these are its views. Instead, it has been projecting them as the views of Chinese netizens, having their own blogs.
7. Annexed is the text of an interview given by Mr. Zhang Qingli to "Spiegel", the well-known German journal, on August 16,2006.(10-4-08)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. He is also associated with the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
ANNEXURE
Text dated August 16,2006 of an interview given by Mr.Zhang Qingli, to 'Spiegel", the well-known German magazine
SPIEGEL: Mr. Zhang, Tibet is traditionally a deeply religious country, whereas the Chinese Communist Party is secular. Marx called religion the opium of the masses. How do you reconcile the two?
Zhang: Nature is diverse. Different life forms coexist and the world is colorful. This also holds true when it comes to ideology. We emphasize harmony, so that different ideologies and ideas can live together in peace. The Chinese government practices religious freedom.
SPIEGEL: But since when has the Communist Party tolerated religion in its current form?
Zhang: The party and the government have a clear policy on religion. First, we have religious freedom. Second, religious communities must make their own decisions, and we cannot have interference from abroad. Third, they must be conducted and managed according to the laws. And, finally, we show them how to become integrated into socialist society. You can see the way it is in Tibet, where people make pilgrimages to the temples, turn their prayer wheels and pray to Buddha.
SPIEGEL: The Dalai Lama is one of the world's most popular religious leaders, and he is deeply revered by the people of Tibet. But the government in Beijing sees him as a despicable separatist. Why?
Zhang:Five thousand Tibetan soldiers died during the supposedly "peaceful liberation" of the region. In 1959, the Tibetans rebelled against China and the Dalai Lama fled to India. In 1989, a bloody crackdown stamped out a renewed protest movement. Zhang: Our policy toward the Dalai Lama is clear and consistent. After the founding of the People's Republic and the peaceful liberation of Tibet, he was elected to a leadership position in the National People's Congress in 1954. He remained a member of that body until 1964. In 1956 he was named director of the preparation committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region. All of this was done so that religious freedom could be guaranteed, and so that Tibet could be integrated into the great family of socialist nations. He fled the country in 1959. There is no doubt that at that time he was a widely respected religious leader.
SPIEGEL: And is he no longer that today?
Zhang: He did many bad things later on that contradict the role of a religious leader. The core issue is this: Everyone must love his motherland. How can it be that he doesn't even love his motherland? We have a saying: "No dog sees the filth in his own hut, and a son would never describe his mother as ugly."
SPIEGEL: The Dalai Lama doesn't love Tibet?
Zhang: Tibet is the home of the 14th Dalai Lama, but China is his motherland. He deceived his motherland. He rebelled in the 1950s and in the late 1980s he incited unrest in Lhasa that was directed against the people, the government and society. He destabilized Tibet.
SPIEGEL: The Dalai Lama is widely respected worldwide.
Zhang: If I remember correctly, from 1959 to the middle of this year he has made 312 visits to places all over the world, which comes to an average of six countries a year. It was even 12 in 2005. And what did he do during these visits? The goal of these so-called official visits was to form alliances with anti-Chinese forces and to engage in propaganda for his separatist views, which conflict with religion.
SPIEGEL: But much has changed in the world in the last 20 years. China has opened up and trade has become globalized. The question of power on the roof of the world has been resolved. The Dalai Lama has abandoned his claims to independence and agrees to a far-reaching autonomy for Tibet. Why isn't China generous and self-confident enough to allow the Dalai Lama back into the country, as he would like? Does he still pose a threat to you?
Zhang: We have a clear policy. The door to negotiations will always be open to him, but only when he truly and comprehensively abandons his intentions to divide the motherland, intentions that are directed against society and the people, only when he gives up his splittist activities and only when he openly declares to the world that he has given up claims to independence for Tibet.
SPIEGEL: Didn’t he do this long ago?
Zhang: The problem is that his behavior and his statements contradict one another. He says: "I want to take a middle path and I accept that there is only one China." But in reality he has not spent a single day not trying to split the motherland.
SPIEGEL: What do you mean by that?
Zhang: What his so-called middle path means is this: He wants to integrate Tibetan settlement areas in the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai and Gansu into Tibet. He wants to be in charge of this "Greater Tibet" and he demands that the People's Liberation Army be withdrawn from the region. Besides, he wants to see a return to an earlier, theocratic feudal realm, as dark and gruesome as it was. In those days, government officials, noblemen and monks ruled 95 percent of the population. And he wants even more autonomy for Tibet than has been given to Hong Kong and Macau. That is splittism.
SPIEGEL: But haven't there already been talks between representatives of the Dalai Lama and Beijing?
Zhang: His government-in-exile is illegal. Our central government has never recognized it. No country in the world, including Germany, recognizes it diplomatically. There are no talks between the Chinese and his so-called government-in-exile. The current contacts merely involve a few individuals from his immediate surroundings. The talks revolve around his personal future.
SPIEGEL: The Dalai Lama enjoys a great deal of sympathy in America, Europe and in Asia, also because the Chinese Communist Party is not particularly democratic.
Zhang: Frankly, the number of people who know the true Dalai Lama is very small. His supporters include enemies of China, but also the true faithful, who are being led astray by this false religious leader. And, finally, there are those who do not understand the real situation.
SPIEGEL: Nevertheless, the Dalai Lama is a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Zhang: I have never understood why a person like the Dalai Lama was honored with this prize. What has he done for peace? How much guilt does he bear toward the Tibetan people! How damaging is he for Tibet and China! I cannot understand why so many countries are interested in him.
SPIEGEL: For many Europeans, Tibet is still a country full of myths. A new railroad line to Lhasa was inaugurated a few weeks ago. What does it mean for Tibet?
Zhang: We are very pleased about this railroad. Everyone is convinced that what the Communist Party has achieved on the roof of the world is a miracle. It demonstrates China's strength and its economic and technological progress. But, more important, the railroad shows that the Chinese Communist Party is doing everything it can to improve life for the various nationalities in the border regions. Tibet is now economically linked to other provinces and the rest of the world.
SPIEGEL: There are rumors that China has nuclear weapons stationed in Tibet. Can you confirm this?
Zhang: I can assure you with all responsibility that this is all a complete fantasy. There is no nuclear weapons factory in Tibet.
SPIEGEL: The Dalai Lama is 71. He has hinted that there may not be a successor or reincarnation. How will you react? Will you nevertheless encourage a search for a reincarnation?
Zhang: The current Dalai Lama is the 14th. We do not know how much longer he will live. We believe that good people live longer while bad people live shorter lives.
SPIEGEL: Then the Dalai Lama, at 71, must be a good person.
Zhang: It is difficult to say whether he is good or bad. But when we consider his actions, he does not appear to be a good person.
SPIEGEL: If the Dalai Lama doesn't want a successor, will the Communist Party then say that this is a good thing? Or will it undertake its own efforts to search for a successor in Tibet?
Zhang: There has always been a specific system to search for a successor to the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. According to the historic rules and religious rituals, monks must travel throughout the country and draw lots from the Golden Urn. But the central government has the final say.
SPIEGEL: Will there be an official and an unofficial Dalai Lama, one in Tibet and another in India? After all, since 1995 there has been a dispute over the Panchen Lama, Tibet's second most important religious leader. The Dalai Lama recognized one Panchen Lama, but Beijing approved another.
Zhang: The reincarnation of the Panchen Lama has been regulated since the Qing dynasty, that is, since the 17th century. The search for and naming of the 11th Panchen Lama was done strictly in accordance with historic rules. This is why he was recognized by the central government. He is the legal Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lama broke the historic rules during the search for the Panchen Lama. He didn't even have the Golden Urn from which to draw lots. The Dalai Lama creates chaos. But the market for him here in Tibet is shrinking.
SPIEGEL: Religion appears to be gaining strength in many parts of the world, such as in predominantly Islamic regions and in the United States. Isn't religion also on the rise in Tibet?
Zhang: Religion is a historic phenomenon that will continue to exist for a long time. Our religious policy is very relaxed, and it is in keeping with realities. But religion may not operate against the law and may not interfere in justice, education, production and labor. In China, people are free to believe or not. We do not become involved in this personal decision.
SPIEGEL: But you have announced plans to strengthen the so-called patriotic education campaign in the monasteries, which is also directed against supporters of the Dalai Lama.
Zhang: Every nation on earth teaches its people to love their motherland. We are organizing patriotic education everywhere, not just in the monasteries. Those who do not love their country are not qualified to be human beings. This is a matter of common sense.
SPIEGEL: Do you actually speak Tibetan?
Zhang: Just a few words. I have only been here a few months. But I do want to learn the language.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Zhang, we thank you for this interview.
Interview was conducted by editors Stefan Aust, Andreas Lorenz and Gerhard Spörl in Lhasa.
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