Vancouver-based activist Tenzin Lhalungpa believes 2008 is especially significant for Tibetans, who continue to oppose the policies of the Chinese government in their homeland.
The 52-year-old Lhalungpa, born in northeast India to Tibetan parents, is president of the Vancouver chapter of the Canada Tibet Committee. The committee is holding a rally this Sunday (March 9) at the Vancouver Art Gallery, starting at 12:30 p.m. On Monday (March 10) starting at noon, there will be a march from the art gallery to the Chinese Consulate, located near Granville and 16th.
The March 10 event will commemorate the 49th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising in Lhasa, the capital city, in opposition to the Chinese invasion and occupation. The uprising was crushed, and as a result the Dalai Lama—Tibet’s spiritual leader—fled to India along with thousands of other Tibetan refugees.
“They [China] are going to use Beijing to show what a great nation they are,” Lhalungpa said of the Olympics taking place this August. “Whereas there are groups like us, the Falun Gong, some remnants of the people who are the [Chinese] democracy movement, and [Muslim] Uigurs from eastern Turkestan who beg to differ.”
In a written statement dated March 10, 2007, the Dalai Lama said that he has long sought a middle path that will be mutually beneficial to both the Chinese and the Tibetans. He also wrote that China’s constitution guarantees regional autonomy to minority nationalities within the People’s Republic. However, he expressed worry about the new train connection allowing the rest of China quick access to Lhasa.
“There is nothing wrong with infrastructural development such as [the] railway in itself,” the Dalai Lama wrote. “However, it is a source of deep concern that ever since the railway line became operational, Tibet has seen a further increase in Chinese population transfer, deterioration of its environment, misuse and pollution of its water, and exploitation of its natural resources.”
Yang Qiang, China’s consul general in Vancouver, did not respond to a Straight interview request. However, vice consul Wang Zeliang sent an e-mail with links to the central government’s China Tibet Information Center Web site, which has written statements on Chinese policies in Tibet.
“Since Tibet is situated in a remote area, and the feudal serfdom was in force before the democratic reform of 1959, Tibet’s development commenced much later, and has advanced at a slower pace than the interior area,” one Web page states.
Lhalungpa said that “popular opinion has always been very pro-Tibet”.
“Anyone who takes a minute to look at the situation would say that generally what the Tibetans are saying is correct, that great injustice has been committed,” he said.
Beijing’s official slogan for the 2008 Games is One World, One Dream.
