TAR Party Secretary Accuses the Dalai Lama of Being a "False Religious Leader"

Zhang Qingli, the Communist Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), challenged the Dalai Lama's credibility as a religious leader and dismissed his approach to resolving the Tibetan issue in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel that was published on August 14. Zhang also defended the record of the Chinese government and the Party on respecting Tibetan Buddhists' right to religious freedom. Spiegel Magazine, an Online publication, published an English translation of the interview on August 16.

Zhang accused the Dalai Lama of being a "false religious leader" who has led Tibetans astray and done "many bad things . . . that contradict the role of a religious leader" since he fled into exile in 1959. He supported this charge by telling Der Spiegel that the Dalai Lama's frequent international travel and "so-called official visits" are intended "to form alliances with anti-Chinese forces and to engage in propaganda for his separatist views, which conflict with religion." Responding to a question about his plans to increase patriotic education, which teaches that religion must promote patriotism toward China, Zhang said, "We are organizing patriotic education everywhere, not just in the monasteries. Those who do not love their country are not qualified to be human beings."

Zhang dismissed the Dalai Lama's Middle Way Approach to resolving the Tibetan issue as "splittism," which is a crime under Article 103 of the Criminal Law. The Middle Way Approach proposes that the Chinese government combine all ethnically Tibetan areas of China into a single area that practices "genuine autonomy." Although the Dalai Lama has stated publicly that he is not seeking Tibetan independence, Zhang claimed, "[I]n reality he has not spent a single day not trying to split the motherland."

Zhang told Der Spiegel that Chinese policy on religious freedom is "very relaxed" and that people in China are "free to believe or not." He described that choice as a "personal decision" in which the government and Party do not become involved. The exercise of religion by religious communities, however, is subject to government control, as Ye Xiaowen, Director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, emphasized during an interview reported in a July 21 Xinhua article. Zhang summarized for Der Spiegel what he described as government and Party policy on religion: "we cannot have interference from abroad," "[religious communities] must be conducted and managed according to the laws," and, "we show [religious communities] how to become integrated into socialist society." In addition to conforming to policy and laws, Zhang said that the exercise of religion "may not interfere in justice, education, production, and labor." Tibetan monastic institutions traditionally maintain a degree of separation from secular social, educational, and production systems. Zhang did not explain how the government and Party think such institutions can comply with policy and regulations on religion without undermining their religious legitimacy and purpose.

Western news media rarely are granted interviews with serving TAR Party secretaries. Since the Party leadership permitted the interview to take place, Zhang’s vigorous challenge to the Dalai Lama's legitimacy as a religious leader likely reflects both the leadership's support for Zhang and the views that he expressed. Zhang has expressed similarly hard line views in recent Party speeches. For example, in a May 16 speech to Party officials in Lhasa, Zhang said that the Party is engaged in a "fight to the death struggle" against the Dalai Lama and his supporters. He called on government and Party officials to expand patriotic education and strengthen control of Democratic Management Committees within monasteries and nunneries. Zhang served as acting TAR Party Secretary between November 2005 and May 2006 and was promoted to Secretary on May 29, according to a Xinhua report dated the same day.

The CECC’s 2005 Annual Report observed that the Party does not allow Tibetan Buddhists the freedom to practice their religion in a meaningful way, and instead tolerates religious activity only within the strict limitations imposed under the Chinese government's interpretation of the Constitution, laws, regulations, and policies. See Section III(d) - "Freedom of Religion," Religious Freedom for Tibetan Buddhists, and Section VI - "Tibet," The Status of Discussion Between China and the Dalai Lama, of the CECC 2005 Annual Report for more information on religious practice, and on the Dalai Lama's efforts to move forward in the dialogue with Chinese leaders.