OPINION> Commentary
Dalai Lama's deeds belie his words
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-25 07:20

In his recent tour across the world, the Dalai Lama made lots of speeches on Tibet, insisting his words were in accordance with his deeds.

But were his words really "deep from the heart" and "sincere" as he himself claimed? Let's take a look.

First, the Dalai Lama reiterated that he met with many foreign politicians without any political intention, which could hardly be convincing.

On April 21, the Dalai Lama thankfully sought help from the US Undersecretary of State Paula J. Dobriansky. He also appeared before a British parliament committee to "give evidence about human rights in Tibet".

All the above proves what the Dalai Lama did was political. But why did he deny it?

The answer is that in the past several decades he has tried to cheat people in the guise of a "spiritual or religious leader". However, his tricks don't always work.

Second, the Dalai Lama always posed as a "guardian of peace" who defies violence.

Even on May 16, the Dalai Lama said in Bochum, Germany that he was not seeking independence for Tibet, and that "we want to live in peace with our Chinese brothers and sisters".

But when he mentioned the Lhasa riots in March, the Dalai Lama said such riots would happen again unless great changes happened in Tibet.

He also warned that China's moves to quell the riots would only fan calls for independence, AFP reported on May 23.

Not long after the Dalai Lama made such speeches, the Tibetan secessionists living in India created trouble along India's bordering areas with China, while others living in Greece tried to break into an International Olympic Committee meeting and the ones in Nepal protested violently outside the Chinese embassy.

All this is really ironic for the Dalai Lama's preaching of "non-violence" .

Furthermore, according to the New York Times' report "Curbs on Protest in Tibet Lashed by Dalai Lama" on March 17, "Asked if he could stop the protesters from defying the deadline, he replied, 'I have no such power.'

"He went on to say that he had spoken with a caller in Tibet on Saturday who said, 'Please don't ask us to stop.' The Dalai Lama promised he would not, even though he expected the Chinese authorities to suppress the protests with force."

Hence his fictional claims for "non-violence" have truly fuelled more violence.

What's more, his "support" for the Beijing Olympic Games was also untrustworthy.

On May 21, the Dalai Lama told the press in London: "I made clear right from the beginning that we fully support Olympic games. The Olympic torch is part of that. We must respect, we must protect that."

It seemed as if he had totally forgotten who tried to grab the Olympic torch from torch bearer Jin Jing in Paris on April 7.

In Berlin on May 19, he repeatedly said they were seeking "merely greater autonomy and more respect for Tibet culture, religion and language".

But his "greater autonomy" was actually for the feudal serfdom under which serfs lived in extreme poverty without freedom.

People have their right to know the truth about Tibet. The Tibet autonomous region enjoys great autonomy under the Constitution. There are about 1,780 monasteries and 46,000 monks in Tibet. The Tibetan language is the first language of an ethnic minority in China with international standards .

All these show that the Tibetan traditional culture is well inherited and preserved.

We should not only hear what the Dalai Lama says, but also see what he does.

Only when the Dalai Lama truly stops the plots to split Tibet from China and to sabotage the Olympic Games is he qualified to talk about sincerity.

Xinhua - China Daily

(China Daily 06/25/2008 page9)