Tibet

The Dalai Lama has made what may be his strongest public statement to date accepting that Tibet is a part of China. "This is the message I wish to deliver to China. I am not in favor of separation. Tibet is a part of the People's Republic of China. It is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Tibetan culture and Buddhism are part of Chinese culture. Many young Chinese like Tibetan culture as a tradition of China." The South China Morning Post published the interview, which took place in Bodh Gaya, the birthplace of Buddhism, on March 14, 2005. Chinese officials have insisted that the Dalai Lama publicly acknowledged Tibet's status as a part of China before substantive talks commence.

Samdhong Rinpoche, the head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, said that a fourth round of talks between the Dalai Lama's envoys and Chinese officials would have a "specific agenda" and be "decisive," according to a report by The Telegraph (Calcutta) on March 9, 2005. The comments went farther than those reported in a story filed the same day by the Press Trust of India (PTI).

Samdhong remarked, "The Chinese thought we were seeking consolidation of Tibetan areas and eventually independence," according to The Telegraph. He apparently referred to a formula, embraced by some Tibetans, in which all of the territory in China in which Tibetans live would be combined into a single autonomous area. "Whether the Tibetans then wanted to be governed as one administrative entity or separately," Samdhong said, "is something that can be looked at later."

Samdhong Rinpoche, head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, said that a fourth round of talks between the Dalai Lama's envoys and Chinese officials would take place "later this year," according to a report by the Press Trust of India (PTI) transcribed in FBIS. He did not provide further detail, but noted that talks in 2004 had "helped remove a lot of misconceptions and enhance mutual confidence." Referring to the time since the Dalai Lama fled into exile in March 1959, Samdhong said that "forty years is not a long time in Tibet's history." He summarized the Tibetan position saying, "We demand for autonomy to be granted to Tibet within the Chinese constitution like in the case of Hong Kong and Macao," according to the report. The Dalai Lama's envoys, Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, visited China in 2002, 2003, and 2004. They met with officials in Beijing and traveled to the Tibet Autonomous Region and ethnic Tibetan areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces.

Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun announced that the controversial Qinghai-Tibet railway will commence trial operations on July 1, 2006, according to a March 7 Xinhua report. The 1,142-kilometer (714-mile) section from Golmud, in Qinghai province, to Lhasa will be completed by the end of 2005. More than 80 percent of the sector will be above 4,000 meters (13,124 feet) elevation and will have a high point of 5,072 meters (16,641 feet). When construction began in 2001, officials estimated the cost at 26.2 billion yuan ($3.16 billion); but the figure has now risen to some 30 billion yuan. According to Xinhua, when the railroad opens for business in 2007 and connects Lhasa to Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, the Tibetan region will be linked to "the major cities of Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Guangzhou."

CECC Comment

The East-West Center (EWC), a U.S. think-tank based in Honolulu, has published a report entitled, "Sino-Tibetan Dialogue in the Post-Mao Era: Lessons and Prospects," according to a February 24, 2005, report by the Tibet Information Network (TIN). The EWC paper analyzes the complex relationship between China's leadership and the Dalai Lama since the late 1970s, when Deng Xiaoping introduced the notion of reconciliation. The Tibetan authors are Tashi Rabgey, a Harvard Ph.D. candidate, and Tseten Wangchuk Sharlo, a Washington-based journalist. According to the EWC's Web site, the paper is one of a series of policy studies that focuses on "key domestic and international political and strategic issues in and affecting Asia."

During a January 26 press conference, President Bush responded to questions about the themes of his January 20 inaugural address, particularly the role of the United States in promoting liberty around the world. In response to a reporter’s question about China, the President said that he believes that the United States can achieve both human rights and other objectives with the Chinese government, and that while he doesn't expect instant democracy, he expects to see progress toward a goal. The President recalled that when meeting with Chinese leaders during his first term, he has reminded them of the benefits of respecting human rights and human dignity. He specifically mentioned having raised issues concerning the Dalai Lama and the Catholic Church in China with Chinese leaders. The President said he would continue to raise these issues in future high-level meetings.

CECC Summary
A January 26 Xinhua report said that the Higher People’s Court of Sichuan province has commuted to life imprisonment a death sentence imposed on Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche (A'an Zhaxi), a popular Tibetan religious leader. The original sentence had been subject to a two-year reprieve, which expired January 26. The Court’s announcement came exactly two years after the same court upheld Tenzin Deleg’s conviction on appeal. According to the decision, "The court commuted [the] death penalty on A'an Zhaxi to [a] life term because he did not intentionally violate the relevant law specifications again during the execution period of the past two-year reprieve."

Reuters reported on January 24 that Chinese government officials ordered senior Tibetan religious leaders in Qinghai province to "urge the faithful to show more support for a top monk anointed by Beijing and on whom the future of the restive region may ride." Anonymous sources said that the officials held the meeting in secret in November 2004, and threatened the Tibetan Buddhist leaders with unspecified punishment if they failed to comply. According to the news account, a provincial religious affairs official said he had not heard of such a meeting, and an official in the Qinghai Communist Party propaganda office denied that it had taken place.