Tibetologist: 14th Dalai Lama political figure bent on "Tibet
independence"
May 4, 2008
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90780/91342/6402793.html
The 14th Dalai Lama, described as a "spiritual leader" by some Western
media outlets, is actually a political figure who has never given up
"Tibet independence," a Tibetologist said here Friday.
"Painting him as a 'spiritual leader' is totally misleading," said
Renzhen Luose, an ethnic Tibetan native of Yajiang County, Ganzi
Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province who once served as
director of the province's Institute of Tibetan Studies.
The "Tibet Government-in-exile" amended its so-called draft
"constitution" of 1963 in 1991, expressly stated Tibet as an
"independent nation" where all matters must be approved by the Dalai
Lama before they become effective, and on the Dalai Lama's official
website, a so-called "draft for future political system" provides
plans for "political construction" and "establi****ng ties with the
United Nations," said the Tibetologist.
All these prove that the 14th Dalai Lama's claim that he had never
sought independence is a total lie, said the Tibetologist.
In his autobiography, the 14th Dalai Lama himself has also described
his role as mainly secular, as the leader of the "Tibet
government-in-exile," Renzhen Luose said, adding that describing the
14th Dalai Lama only as a "spiritual leader," as has been the case
with many Western media outlets, is mistaken and does not accord with
reality.
Renzhen Luose, who is a consul at the Chinese Consulate-General in New
York, also discussed the relation****p between Tibetan Buddhism and
Tibetan culture and whether the Dalai Lama is the only leader of
Tibetan Buddhism during a two-hour meeting with re****ters from New
York-based Chinese-language media organizations.
He said Tibetan Buddhism has four major sects -- Gelug, Sakya, Kagyu
and Nyingma -- and many sub-sects, and in the past, their influence
changed as the Chinese central government's sup****t differed.
In the late Qing Dynasty, Renzhen Luose said, the sect of Gelug, where
the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama were institutionalized, achieved
dominance with the sup****t of the central government and established a
theocracy that integrates religion with government.
During that period, despite efforts by the Gelug sect to crack down on
other sects, the Dalai Lama had never had unified leader****p over
Tibetan Buddhism, the Tibetologist added.
Born and raised in a Tibetan region, Renzhen Luose said he has
maintained contact with fellow Tibetan Chinese all along, visited
nearly all areas with Tibetan communities and worked at different
levels of grassroots governments. Long being a scholar of Tibetan
history and culture, Renzhen Luose has published dozens of research
papers on Tibetans' ethnic origins and on the origin and evolution of
the Tibet question.
"Having myself experienced and witnessed the changes in Tibet and
other areas with Tibetan community, I believe I am more qualified than
the Dalai Lama to comment on the current situation in Tibet," he said.
Source: Xinhua
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