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 Dalai Lama Threatens to Quit Over Tibet CrisisPosted on Mar 18, 2008
Even though certain inherently prohibitive logistics make it impossible for the Dalai Lama to resign from his position as Tibet’s spiritual leader, that’s what he’s threatening to do insofar as he can if the tensions and violence in Tibet continue to escalate.
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By QuyTran, March 19, 2008 at 12:25 pm Link to this comment
An excellent actor worth an Oscar next year !
Report thisBy camis, March 19, 2008 at 10:55 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
There seems to be some confusion in the media about what His Holiness has said. He said, not for the first time, that if the majority of Tibetans turn violent in their struggle for freedom he will resign his political postition as head of the Tibetan Government in Exile. This does NOT mean he would step down as Tibet’s spiritual leader, which he has no interest in doing and which he could not do anyway given the way his spiritual system works.
You can go to His Holiness The Dalai Lama’s website for further clarification about this and for ongoing updates about his position on current events.
Report thisBy Douglas Chalmers, March 19, 2008 at 3:17 am Link to this comment
Aussie man Mike Smith shot some of the only independent footage to emerge of the recent riots on the streets of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa http://media.theage.com.au/?rid=36434
Report thisBy Douglas Chalmers, March 18, 2008 at 9:54 pm Link to this comment
The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959, defended his “middle way” of campaigning peacefully for greater autonomy within China rather than independence. “On violence, it’s wrong. We should not develop anti-Chinese feelings. We must live together side by side,” he said. “Independence is out of the question.”
This is an important quotation but it doesn’t actually appear in The Times article Truthdig has linked to although it reports the Dalai Lama as exhorting both Chinese and Tibetans not to commit violence. Perhaps someone can tell us the source?
Another important statement quoted by Timesonline is:-
Western tourists emerging from Tibet yesterday described their shock and fear as they watched a “howling” mob of Tibetans stoning and beating Chinese passers-by in two days of rioting in Lhasa last week…. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3578941.ece
China’s foreign finistry spokesman Qin Gang might be a pretentious dickhead but the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao is a man with a significant reputation. He was not accusing the Dalai Lama so much as “the Dalai clique”, which presumably means certain factors within Tibet. See video http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/18/tibet.china3
No doubt Tibetan frustrations have boiled over and that is the cause of the disconnect between local Chinese authorities in Tibet and the heavy-handed rule from BeiJing which is still afraid of autonomy in a border region historically infamous for wars with India in the past.
In the end, their insistence is backfiring badly (and repeatedly) and things will not get better until they finally come to some mutual agreement with Tibetans to co-exist. Neither side can do without the other and so both can find a way to benefit the Tibetan populace.
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