His Holiness all set to visit Taiwan
Dharamsala, August 27 – His Holiness the Dalai Lama said he hoped for a change in Chinese government’s policy regarding Tibet after last year’s protests and unrest there, reported the Voice of Tibet radio service.
“Last year’s protests were not just in the Tibet Autonomous Region but also in the Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Yunnan, Gansu and Sichuan. So I really was hopeful that China would adopt a more realistic approach, ” the 74 year old Tibetan leader said, adding that he hoped China would accept the real situation in Tibet and eventually change its Tibet policy. “But that did not happen. Instead, they resorted to violent measures of crackdown on the Tibetans. ”
His Holiness was speaking Wednesday to a gathering of more than a thousand people at the playground of Choglamsar TCV School near Leh, Ladakh.
The Tibetan leader also said he knew of about 680 articles and essays in Chinese language on the Internet supporting the Tibetan people, and also criticizing the Chinese government’s policies in Tibet.
All these articles by Chinese writers and intellectuals, His Holiness said, were supportive of Tibetans. “Some of them even said the Tibetan people had the right to seek independence from China.”
The 1989 Nobel laureate also said that some Chinese leaders have even called for a change in the Chinese government’s policies towards ethnic minorities following the recent ethnic tensions in Xinjiang.
After concluding Ladakh tour on August 29, His Holiness will head for Taiwan where leaders of seven municipalities hit by Typhoon Morakot have invited him to console the victims and their families. His Holiness will be in Taiwan from 31 August- 3 September during which he will deliver speeches and visit the areas affected by the Typhoon.
His Holiness’s last two visits to the island in March 1997 and April 2001 were during the rule of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), that held a more antagonistic view towards China than the ruling Kuomintang government with a more friendly approach. China lashed out at His Holiness and Taiwan during the Tibetan leader’s last visits to the island calling the visits a plot to split Taiwan from China. So far, no condemnation from China of His Holiness’ scheduled visit to Taiwan has emerged in the Chinese state-run news agency. But analysts seem certain that the Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou is headed for Beijing’s rebuke in the coming days.
