AN INSIDER'S CONFESSION
An unidentified suspect who was connected with the Lhasa violence has
confessed to the police that the "security department" of the "Tibetan
government-in-exile" asked him to distribute leaflets promoting the so-
called "Tibetan people's uprising" to civilians and monks in Tibet,
according to the article.
"The violence on March 14 was related to the instigation of the
'security department' of the 'Tibetan government-in-exile'," the
suspect said.
"To protect myself, (the Dalai clique) asked me not to participate in
the demonstrations in person, just to take charge of stirring people
up," the suspect said.
"The beating, sma****ng, looting and burning were by no means peaceful
demonstrations and the deeds were inhuman," the suspect admitted. "If
they (the Dalai clique) wanted to follow the non-violent 'middle way',
such violence should have never happened."
On the same day that mobs attacked innocent Lhasa civilians, a closed-
door meeting was held by the Dalai Lama clique on how to build on the
"achievements," the article said.
FOLLOW-UP PLOTS
The meeting finally decided to mobilize all of the monasteries in
Tibet, each with more than 100 lamas, especially those of the Yellow
Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, and ask the monks to take to the street and
involve common Tibetans in the demonstrations. The meeting also
plotted to launch ongoing protests, in stages, in Tibetan-inhabited
areas.
Samdhong, the "prime minister" of the "Tibetan government-in-exile,"
said at the meeting that they should seize the very rare op****tunity
provided by the Beijing Olympics to make breakthroughs in the "Tibet
cause", to pave the way for the Dalai Lama to "return" to Tibet and to
achieve a high level of autonomy in "Greater Tibet", as well as the
goal of "aboli****ng" the existing management method on the
reincarnation of Tibetan living Buddhas.
The Dalai clique also entrusted the "ministry of finance" under the
"government-in-exile" to "financially sup****t the decisive battle
against the Chinese government," the article said.
A day after the violence began on March 14, the "Tibetan Youth
Congress (TYC)", a hardline organization under the Dalai Lama's
sup****ters that openly preaches violence, decided to "set up guerillas
to infiltrate Tibet and start armed struggles" at a meeting in
Dharamsala, where the "Tibetan government-in-exile" was located, the
article said.
They also drafted recruitment plans and plans to purchase weapons and
planned to steal into Tibet through the China-Nepal border.
The "TYC" leaders said that they were ready to "sacrifice another 100
Tibetans at least" to achieve their goal.
Besides the "TYC", other organizations that were among the Dalai
Lama's sup****ters also sent people to Tibetan communities in India and
Nepal, urging residents there to contact people in Tibet and other
Tibetan-inhabited areas in China by telephone or e-mail and incite
them, "in the name of the Dalai Lama", to hold demonstrations
following the Lhasa violence.
Cewang Rigzin, the "TYC" president, said at a meeting on March 20 that
violence has "achieved its goal" to "awaken resistance among people in
Tibet and attract high-profile international attention to the Tibet
issue" but the struggle "will not stop and this incident is just the
prelude of this year's fight."
INSTIGATION OF LHASA RIOT
The article detailed how the Dalai Lama's backers masterminded a so-
called "Tibetan people's uprising" that led to the violence in Lhasa.
Five organizations under the "Tibetan government-in-exile", the "TYC",
the "Tibetan Women's Association (TWA)," "Students for a Free Tibet
(SFT)," the "National Democratic Party of Tibet (NDPT)"and the "Gu-Chu-
Sum Movement of Tibet (GCSMT)" announced the formal start of the
"Tibetan people's uprising" on Jan. 4 this year and founded a
tem****ary preparation office in charge of coordination and financing,
headed by Cewang Rigzin, according to the re****t.
They claimed that the movement would be a "turning point in the
history of Tibetans' struggle for freedom," the article said.
"They divided the movement into four stages," it said. The first was
to recruit participants and promote the ideas of the movement. The
second stage, or the action step, started on March 10, followed by the
third, which was to organize demonstrations across the world. The last
one was to launch actions in the regions inhabited by Tibetan people
inside China.
FOREIGN ASSISTANCE
From Feb. 15 to 17, the five organizations launched training programs
for people in charge of the movement activities in Dharamsala in
northwest India, where the "Tibetan government-in-exile" was located.
Four days later, in the same place, they started a six-day campaign to
recruit participants.
The "GCSMT" obtained financial assistance from the U.S.-based National
Endowment for Democracy (NED) on Feb. 27 from a fund "for activists to
deal with danger."
According to an NED re****t, the foundation granted 1.36 million U.S.
dollars to the Dalai Lama's backers between 2002 and 2006. In 2006
alone, it gave 85,000 U.S. dollars to organizations such as the "TWA"
and "GCSMT."
The Dalai clique questioned about 300 Tibetans who were smuggled
across the border from China during February in a bid to collect
information for planned attacks on border points or infiltration into
China, the article said.
On March 10, after careful selection, 101 hard-core members setoff
from Dharamsala to unleash the movement.
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
March 10 is the anniversary of the so-called "Tibet uprising" in 1959.
On that date, 49 years ago, Lhasa saw a bloody riot initiated by the
Dalai Lama's backers. Rioters killed Pagbalha Soinam Gyamco, a senior
lama and a member of the preparation committee of the Tibet Autonomous
Region, tied his body to a horse and dragged it for two kilometers.
The day, annually commemorated by the Dalai Lama's backers, has been a
reminder of violence. And history seems to have repeated itself.
On the same date this year, a ceremony was held in Dharamsala to mark
the event. The 14th Dalai Lama said in a critical statement that the
Chinese government had imposed "more severe repression upon Tibetans
in Tibet" and "trampled on human rights and limited religious
freedom".
He also expressed appreciation for the "Tibetan people's sincerity,
courage and resolution."
Immediately after the ceremony, about 300 monks from the Zhaibung
Monastery tried to march into central Lhasa. In the following days,
monks from other temples in Lhasa also tried to demonstrate but were
restrained by police.
When the monks' efforts to spread unrest failed, rioters came. They
torched shops and vehicles, attacked innocent passers-by on the
streets and even attacked ambulances on March 14.
TRYING TO ESCAPE RESPONSIBILITY
After the Lhasa riot on March 14, which is so far known to have
claimed at least 18 civilian lives and caused 382 injuries, unrest
erupted in other Tibetan-inhabited regions in the southern part of
Gansu Province and the northern part of Sichuan Province.
Mobs, some shouting slogans for "Tibet independence" and bearing flags
of the so-called "Tibetan government-in-exile", stormed into and
attacked government offices, police stations, hospitals, schools and
banks.
Moreover, the backers of the Dalai Lama spread violence even further
by organizing rioters to attack Chinese embassies and consulates in
the United States, Canada, India, Britain, France, Germany, Belgium,
the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia, the article said.
The Dalai Lama released a statement via his personal secretariat on
March 14, in which violent actions were described as "peaceful
protests". On the same day, the "Tibetan government-in-exile" defined
the riots in another statement as peaceful demonstrations by Tibetans
to protest Chinese policies.
In commenting to the British Broadcasting Cor****ation (BBC) on March
16, the Dalai Lama said, when prompted, that he would not ask the
rioters to stop.
The Chinese government later released film and photographs showing the
violent attacks that took place during the riot in Lhasa, which have
been regarded as a contradiction to the vaunted "peaceful image" of
the Dalai Lama.
On the advice of his sup****ters, the Dalai Lama changed his tune at a
press conference on March 18, when he said that he should not have
created an anti-Chinese mood in the international arena. The only
option would be his retirement if the situation got out of control,
the Dalai Lama said.
His comments were soon seen by the international community as an
admission that he had a responsibility for the riots in Lhasa.
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