By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, September 1: The Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to talk about the existence of Tibetan government in exile and role of the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama in India during his upcoming India visit this month, according to the Indian daily Times of India.
“The Tibetan government-in-exile is a political activity against China…India should keep its promise about adhering to one-China policy and give no importance to forces trying to split China,” TOI quoted Ma Jiali, from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, as saying.
Ma further said that he wished President Xi will talk about shutting down the Tibetan government based in Dharamshala with Indian leaders and called Middle Way Approach proposed by the Dalai Lama in nature a ‘disguised independence.’
President Xi Jinping will visit India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan this month and it will be Xi’s first visit to India since he became the President of China a year ago.
Meanwhile, the Tibetan Youth Congress, which had organized several protests during visits of Chinese leaders to India, said it would be better for China to follow India’s example instead of lecturing India. “Unlike communist China, India is a democratic country. China should not be lecturing India but instead follow her example and grant freedom and democracy to their people as well as Tibetans,” said Tenzing Jigme, President of Tibetan Youth Congress.
“The issue is about Tibet, a nation that has been illegally occupied by China since 1949 and its people who are suffering under the brutal Chinese regime. That is the issue, which needs to be raised, and therefore any such discussions to genuinely address this matter are welcome and encouraged. As Tibetans living in exile, we have a responsibility to expose the truth about the situation inside Tibet and urge the international community to take a stand for Tibet,” said Jigme.
Last week, the Hindu reported that Chinese government claimed they were in talks with the Dalai Lama through personal envoys about the possibility of his return to Tibet but not Tibet’s future. However, speaking to Radio Free Asia, Tibetan Prime Minister Dr Lobsang Sangay rejected it saying, “If dialogues are to take place, as we stressed earlier, it would be between the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and representatives of the new Chinese leadership,” he said. “It has been like this before and will remain like this in the future.”
There have been nine round of talks between the Chinese side and the envoys of the Dalai Lama’s since 2002 to resolve the Tibetan issue. However, the talks entered a stalemate with China accusing the Tibetan side of seeking “disguised independence in the garb of Middle Way.”
