One million ethnic Chinese people influx in the Tibet after the
Olympics in an effort to dilute Tibetan culture and identity.
=93We have received information that after the Olympics 1 million
Chinese are going to settle in the autonomous region of Tibet=94, the
Dalai Lama said in an interview published in the =91Guardian=92 today.
He said, =93there is every danger of Tibet becoming a truly Han Chinese
land and Tibetans becoming an insignificant minority. Then the very
basis of the idea of autonomy becomes meaningless.=94
Tibetan spiritual leader has been pleading for religious autonomy in
Tibet within the sovereignty of China.
He said there has been an increasing influx of Chinese settlers into
Tibet in recent years as trans****t has improved, but the exact figures
are a matter of dispute.
A 2000 census indicated there were 2.4 million Tibetans in the region
and 159,000 Han Chinese who are in majority in Lhasa, the regional
capital.
China has denied carrying out any deliberate settlement policy aimed
at the dilution of Tibetan culture and points instead to the benefits
brought to the region by economic development and investment.
The 72-year-old monk said, over-settlement and over-exploitation of
Tibet was threatening the quality and flow of rivers flowing out of
the Tibetan highlands, including the Yangtze, the Yellow River, the
Indus, the Mekong and the Ganges.
=94 Due to carelessness these rivers have been polluted and also
reduced, and I think billions of people=92s lives depend on these
rivers,=94 the Dalai Lama said.
=93There has been mining without proper care, deforestation, irrigation
without proper planning. In some valleys, new diseases have developed
which some specialists believe is the result of water pollution,=94 he
said.
His remarks comes after a meeting on Friday with the British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown at the Lambeth Palace. He said the talks had
been detailed and the prime minister had been helpful in spite of his
=93difficulties=94.
The Dalai Lama said: =93He met me and he showed genuine concern and he
wants to help.=94
According to Downing Street, the discussion focused on talks due on
11th June on Tibet=92s future between Tibetan representatives and
Beijing.
Asked what he thought Brown should tell the Chinese President Hu
Jintao, when he attends the Olympic closing ceremony in August, the
Dalai Lama said, =93If within two months it gets more positive then the
prime minister must give encouragement and appreciation. If things get
worse, the Prime Minister will have to speak out.=94
Lhasa is now relatively quiet since protests were put down by Chinese
troops in March, and the Dalai Lama has threatened to resign if the
unrest turned violence.
He said the Tibetan commitment to non-violence might not outlast him.
=93Now there are signs of frustration among Tibetans, not only young
monks,=94 he said.
|
