[Reuters]

Published date: 9th Mar 1997

9 March 1997

Reuters News

English

(c) 1997 Reuters Limited

NEW DELHI, March 9 (Reuter) – Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Sunday accused China of pursuing a Policy of “cultural genocide” and warned that isolated violence in his Himalayan homeland could spread.

In a strongly worded statement issued to mark the 38th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising that triggered his own flight to exile in India, the Dalai Lama also said he hoped post-Deng China would “find the courage, Wisdom and vision” to solve the Tibetan issue.

The Dalai Lama said a new Beijing policy launched last year aims to “systematically undermine and destroy the distinct and cultural and national identity of the Tibetan people”.

Experimental Tibetan language middle schools established in the 1980s were being closed down, and the Tibet University in Lhasa was compelled to teach Tibetan history in the Chinese language, the 61-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said.

“These new measures… coupled with the unabated influx of Chinese immigrants to Tibet…amounts to a policy of cultural genocide,” the statement said.

“If this population transfer is allowed to continue, in a few decades the Tibetan civilization will cease to exist.”

The Dalai Lama said under the “Strike Hard” anti-crime campaign which China launched in April 1996, Tibetans Were subjected to increased torture and imprisonment.

“Political re-education conducted by the authorities in monasteries and nunneries throughout Tibet have resulted in mass expulsion, imprisonment and death,” the statement said.

He said he continued to be concerned about the fate of Gedung Chowki Nyima, the boy he had identified as the successor to the Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism’s second highest figure.

China anointed seven-year-old Gyranican Norbu, as a rival to Nyima, a step many Tibetans interpret as eIJ1ng’s attempt to whittle down the Dalai Lama’s status as their rightful leader.

“For us Tibetans the path of non-violence is a matter of principle,” the Dalai Lama said, but added that he was concerned by recent reports of isolated bomb explosions in Tibet.

“I Will continue to counsel non-violence, but unless the Chinese authorities forsake the brutal methods it employs, it will be difficult to prevent the situation in Tibet from deteriorating further,” he said.

Raidi, chairman of the Tibetan People’s Congress, on Friday accused Western nations of colluding with pro­ : independence activists who launched a wave of bombings and acts of sabotage in the restive Himalayan region act Year.

fears of unrest among China’s ethnic minorities have risen in recent months, fuelled by reports of ethnic Violence both in Tibet and the neighboring far western region of Xinjiang.

Exiled Uighur nationalists have claimed responsibility for bomb planted on a Beijing bus in Friday In at least two people died and about 30 were injured.

The Dalai Lama’s statement was issued less than two weeks before he starts a controversial six-day visit to Wan that has been condemned by China’s foreign minister Qian Qishen.

The Dalai Lama Is a political figure in a lengthy exile and is engaged in activities aimed at splitting the

Motherland ” Qian said on Friday. “His visit to Taiwan will inevitably have political purposes.“

Beijing insists that both the exiled Dalai Lama and Taiwan’s leaders have a pro-independence agenda.

The Dalai Lama, worshipped as a god-king in Tibet, has said his visit will be purely religious. Taiwan has said Foreign Minister John Chang will not meet with the Dalai Lama during his visit and no meeting has been set With President Lee Teng-hui.

(c) Reuters Limited 1997