My post refers to a related article [Dalai Lama threatens to quit amid
Chinese accusations.] Tania Branigan in Beijing. guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday March 18 2008.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/18/tibet.china3
PPP: The FALLOUT
What resignation? Being Dalai Lama is an appointment for life. If
the DL resigns he has to die first before the next DL can be chosen.
The next DL must be a Tibetan child born under auspicious
cir***stances INSIDE Tibet (1). This child must be discovered in the
course of an extensive search by a panel of senior Buddhist monks.
None of the DL's ranking religious officials have authority outside
their small clique in Daramsalah. They have no ability to conduct
such a search in Tibet. DL's rump Buddhist sect dies with him. None
of his "Government in Exile" has any following, authority or raison
d'être post DL.
Since the DL has taken credit for giving voice to the frustrations of
Tibetans inside Tibet his implied role is an offer to mediate. But
what exactly were those frustrations and what objectives had the
Tibetan Underground (TUs) hoped to achieve? Since the DL cannot
claim(2) to be their leader then who is the TU leader or TU
organization that can make political demands on the Chinese
government. If there is no TU organization then the rioters were just
the garden variety of anarchists and terrorists since none of the
ordinary Tibetans joined in the rioting. Since the DL gave them
direct moral sup****t the DL is sup****ting anarchism and terrorist
activities as evidenced by the mayhem caused.
The ability of Chinese authorities to provide overwhelming security
force and impose order was never in question. It took less than a day
to lock down Lhasa and a few other affected Chinese towns. The
identification and arrests of Tibet rioters should not be too
difficult a task. We'll wait for the rest of the story. In the
meantime the Dalai Lama has a big job ahead in spin control.
(1) I do reacall a TV re****t on a sumptious Tibetan temple
establishment in California. This one came complete with a 14 year
old white boy who was the next Dalai Lama designate, anointed by the
DL himself. He came across as a nice intelligent kid who was having a
hoot. Likely great as a fund raiser. But as the next DL? Nah.
(2) A claim would destroy his negotiating position with the Chinese
and place into jea****dy his status with the Indian government.
===================================================
Dalai Lama threatens to quit amid Chinese accusations
" Tania Branigan in Beijing
" guardian.co.uk,
" Tuesday March 18 2008
" http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/18/tibet.china3
The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, today ramped up government attacks on
the Dalai Lama, accusing followers of the exiled Tibetan spiritual
leader of orchestrating riots in Lhasa in order to sabotage the
Beijing Olympics.
His comments prompted the Dalai Lama to say he would resign if the
unrest, which has spread to other provinces, spiralled out of control.
Speaking at a press conference, Wen told re****ters that the situation
was "basically" returning to normal.
However, he added: "There is ample fact and plenty of evidence proving
this incident was organised, premeditated, masterminded and incited by
the Dalai clique.
"This has all the more revealed [that] the consistent claims by the
Dalai clique that they pursue not independence but peaceful dialogue
are nothing but lies."
Wen said the protesters "wanted to incite the sabotage of the Olympic
games in order to achieve their unspeakable goal".
Asked whether he feared boycotts of this summer's Beijing event, he
insisted: "I have confidence [that] the smiles of 1.3 billion Chinese
people ... will be reciprocated by the smiles of people from all over
the world."
In a separate press conference, the foreign ministry spokesman, Qin
Gang, dismissed the Dalai Lama's calls for an investigation into the
Chinese crackdown on the demonstrations.
"The one who should be tried and investigated is the Dalai Lama
himself," he said. "I feel at least he should be put under moral
trial."
Wen told re****ters the authorities had responded to the protests with
"extreme restraint".
Officials said 13 "innocent civilians" died last week, adding that
three rioters were killed when they jumped off a roof to escape
police. Tibetan exile groups said the death toll was at least 99 -
including 19 deaths in protests outside Tibet today.
Central Lhasa is understood to remain under lockdown, with witnesses
re****ting that mass arrests were taking place well before yesterday's
midnight deadline for protesters to hand themselves in.
"When the fighting began, you saw no Chinese," a Canadian tourist who
left Tibet today told Reuters. "Now you see no Tibetans on the
streets. The young Tibetans are probably hiding."
Speaking at a news conference at his base in Dharamsala, northern
India, the Dalai Lama, a Nobel peace laureate, brushed off the Chinese
attack.
"Investigate thoroughly, so if you want to start investigating from
here you are most welcome," he said.
"Check our various offices … they can examine my pulse, my urine, my
stool, everything."
He said that, if matters became "out of control", his "only option is
to completely resign".
His spokesman, Tenzin Taklha, said the unrest started with one or two
incidents. "Because of technology, because of word of mouth, word
quickly spread," he added. "This was very spontaneous."
Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, told
re****ters it was facile to attribute unrest "to some deep, dark
conspiracy bred by the Dalai Lama".
"A degree of introspection on the part of Beijing would be appropriate
in understanding why the Tibetan people feel so repressed by China's
restrictive policies," he said.
Roth called for more pressure to be put on China over its handling of
the protests, saying the Olympics provided "an op****tunity to
encourage a positive evolution".
However, he added that boycotting the games would not be productive
because the games were so popular with ordinary Chinese people.
While the EU and many nations urged Beijing to show restraint, the
International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge, yesterday
said there had been "absolutely no calls" for a boycott.
Hans-Gert Poettering, the president of the European parliament, said
politicians planning to attend the opening ceremonies should
"consider, if [the violence] continues, whether it would be
responsible to make such a trip".
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