Dalai Lama says little progress with China’s ‘hard line’ on autonomy for Tibet
Wellington, (New Zealand): Efforts to seek autonomy for Tibet are hitting a brick wall because of the hard-line attitudes among some senior officials in China, the Dalai Lama said Tuesday.
“We are passing through a difficult period … and our brothers and sisters (in Tibet) are also passing through a difficult period,” the exiled Tibetan leader told New Zealand’s National Press Club, renewing an appeal for international support.
“At this moment we really need your help. Your warmhearted support is very, very essential,” he said.
Beijing regards the 71-year-old Buddhist monk as a beacon for pro-independence sentiment in Tibet, which China rules by military force.
Despite accusations by some Chinese officials that he is a “separatist, or splittist,” the Dalai Lama said Tibetans merely want autonomy and are “not seeking independence (and) not seeking separation, because Tibet is backward economically.”
“Even (some) Chinese officials acknowledge the Dalai Lama is not seeking independence,” he said.
“I think many Chinese officials probably support us — they agree our approach (seeking autonomy for Tibet) is mutually beneficial. But at the official level still their attitude is very, very hard-line,” he said.
He said since 2002 there had been renewed contact with the Chinese government, which “well knows we are not seeking independence.”
The Dalai Lama said the landlocked nation has a small population, large resource base and a desire to modernize.
“Therefore as far as economic development is concerned, Tibet remains within the People’s Republic of China (and) we get major benefits … so it’s in our interest to remain within … China,” he told the gathering in the Great Hall of the New Zealand Parliament.
Autonomy would safeguard the culture, development and language of Tibet, but also ensure economic progress in the remote Himalayan region, where 95 percent of the population are unhappy with the current state of affairs, the Dalai Lama said. “So that’s our real approach,” he said.
Earlier the Dalai Lama encouraged New Zealand to embrace a free trade deal it is currently negotiating with China.
Such deals were good because China needed to be encouraged to become part of the mainstream international community, he said.
The Dalai Lama also held meetings with leaders of the National, New Zealand First and United Future parties in the New Zealand Parliament.
Prime Minister Helen Clark has ruled out a formal meeting with the Buddhist icon after meeting with him last week at an airport in Australia, as has Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
During his trip to Australia last week, the Dalai Lama met with Prime Minister John Howard and main opposition Labor Party head Kevin Rudd, meetings which drew protests from the Chinese government.
