China erases Dalai Lama's face from Lhasa

Source: TOI
LHASA: There are 999 rooms and a sprawling cave in the awe-inspiring, centuries old Potala Palace in the centre of Lhasa Valley in Tibet.

But there is not a single photograph of the exiled Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in the palace-turned-museum where he spent his teenage, was educated, held religious ceremonies and met government officials and envoys. As China officially ended the renovation of the palace that was the seat of the god-kings of Tibet when it was an independent Buddhist kingdom, the erasure of the image of the 14th Dalai Lama, who lived there from his formal enthroning in November 1950 till his flight to India in 1959, was virtually total. The 64-year-old Nobel laureate, who remains a constant thorn in China's flesh with his government-in-exile in India, is never mentioned by his name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso in any of the hundreds of labels describing the thousands of exhibits visitors are allowed to glimpse. While the vice-premier from the central People's Government of China, who had an audience with the Dalai Lama in 1956 in Potala Palace, has his name preserved for posterity through an exhibit label, Tenzin Gyatso has been reduced to a faceless entity. The position is the same at the Tibet Museum, showcased as Tibet's first comprehensive modern museum and a must-visit for tourists. A key Chinese project for social development, the museum with over 30,000 exhibits is Beijing's endorsement of the annexation of Tibet. The displays emphasise that since the founding of the Yuan dynasty in China in the 13th century, Tibet remained under the jurisdiction of China's central government which assigned the General Administration as responsible for the political affairs of Buddhist monks across the country as well as the inhabitants in Tibet. The museum also highlights that the posts of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, the two topmost officials of theocratic Tibet, were formally assigned by the Qing government of China in 1653 and 1713 respectively. A key exhibit is the 17-point agreement signed between the local government of Tibet and China May 23, 1951, accepting measures for the peaceful liberation of Tibet and formalising the merger of the Buddhist kingdom with the communist republic. What it excludes though is that when the pact was signed, the Dalai Lama had already fled Lhasa to Yatung near the Indian border, readying to go into exile. At Lhasa's oldest and most important temple, the Jokhang or House of the Buddha, built around 642, there is a photograph of the current Panchen Lama, the second-highest ranking lama after the Dalai Lama. It is actually the photograph of Gyancain Norbu, the boy chosen by the Chinese government in a controversial move to replace the nominee of the Dalai Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who has since then vanished from public eye in Tibet. In the bustling markets outside temples in Lhasa, there are no photographs of the Dalai Lama, unlike markets in Nepal and India where the Tibetan diaspora live. In their household shrines or prayer rooms, Tibetans abroad keep photographs of the Dalai Lama before which they burn incense, light butter lamps and make offerings. But household shrines in Tibet are bereft of images of the popular red-robe-clad figure after China dubbed the Dalai Lama a separatist. The Government Information Office in Tibet issues booklets projecting China's view of the Dalai Lama and his rule. They project a horrendous image of a pitiless feudal system where power and money remained concentrated in the hands of only five percent while the remaining were reduced to serfs and slaves. The pamphlets describe graphically how serfs would be punished: have their eyes gouged out, legs hamstrung, tongues cut out, or hands severed, hurled from a cliff, drowned or otherwise killed. They also describe how each Dalai Lama had two money-lending agencies that lent money at an exorbitant rate of interest to bleed the people dry. However, while the campaign has been effective in effacing the Dalai Lama's image from Lhasa's public life, it is questionable whether it has succeeded in uprooting the exile from Tibetan hearts. Every day, more than 1,500 Tibetans undertake a tour of the Potala Palace. And each day, hundreds of 'khadas' - traditional silk scarves - pile up as offering before the empty throne of the Dalai Lama at the conference hall, once known as the Chamber of Golden Radiance.

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China opposes Taiwan decision to invite Dalai Lama

China said Thursday that it "resolutely opposes" a decision by Taiwan's president to allow the Dalai Lama to visit the island.
A spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office said a visit by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, "in whatever form and capacity," would be condemned by China, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. (AP)

Taiwan officials: Dalai Lama to visit this month

By PETER ENAV (AP) – 2 hours ago
TAIPEI, Taiwan — A group of Taiwan officials said Wednesday the Dalai Lama has accepted their invitation to visit this month, presenting the island's China-friendly president with an embarrassing political dilemma.
A joint statement by leaders from seven municipalities recently hit by deadly Typhoon Morakot said the Tibetan spiritual leader planned to be in Taiwan from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4 and would visit storm victims.
The invitation is sensitive for China on two fronts. China says the Dalai Lama is working to undermine its authority in Tibet. China also claims self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory, though they split amid civil war in 1949.
The invitation from the leaders — all from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party_ comes as President Ma Ying-jeou faces criticism that he botched the government's response to the island's deadliest storm in 50 years. The National Fire Agency says more than 670 are dead or missing.
Ma spokesman Wang Yu-chi declined to say whether Taiwan would allow the Dalai Lama to visit. Analysts said such a politically sensitive visit was unlikely, though the Dalai Lama has made three visits to the island over the past 12 years.
"We have jointly invited Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan on August 31, to make a speech and bestow blessings on Taiwan and the (typhoon) victims," the leaders' statement said. "The Dalai Lama has said he's very happy to come."
The Dalai Lama has accepted the invitation "in priniciple," said Tenzin Takhla, his spokesman in Dharmsala, India, home to the Tibetan government-in-exile.
He will not travel until the organizers have official approval for the visit, Takhla said, because "he doesn't want to cause any inconvenience for the Taiwanese government."
In China, the Taiwan Affairs Office, which handles Taiwan-related questions, was closed Wednesday evening. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no immediate response.
Last December, Ma nixed plans for a Dalai Lama visit in what was largely seen as a move to placate Beijing. Improving relations between China and Taiwan is the signature issue of Ma's presidency.
One criticism against Ma since the typhoon is that his government delayed accepting foreign assistance to help deal with the disaster, out of fear of angering China.
Political scientist George Tsai of Taipei's Chinese Culture University said the Dalai Lama announcement has put Ma in a bind.
"If the central government allows Dalai Lama to visit, relations with China will be damaged, but if not, the public will think the central government lacks humanitarian concern (for victims)," Tsai said.
He said the China consideration would probably win out, making the visit very unlikely.
Andrew Yang of Taipei's Council of Advanced Political Studies agreed.
"I don't think the Ma administration will let Dalai Lama come, as Ma has already rejected the possibility of such a visit," he said. "The DPP municipal chiefs are just trying to lash out at Ma when his approval ratings are down."
Associated Press writers Ashwini Bhatia in Dharmsala and Tini Tran in Beijing contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

China renovates former palace home of Dalai Lamas

By HENRY SANDERSON (AP) – 8 hours ago
BEIJING — China has completed a seven-year renovation of Tibet's Potala Palace — home to the Dalai Lamas until the region's current spiritual leader fled during an aborted uprising against Communist rule 50 years ago.
China says the project is part of its plan to promote Tibetan culture and language in the region as it develops its economy, of which tourism forms a major part. The renovation, which also repaired the Norbu Lingka, a summer palace for the Dalai Lamas, cost 300 million yuan ($43.9 million), according to a report Monday from the state-run news agency.
But many Tibetan exiles say the Himalayan region's cultural heritage has been threatened by Beijing's restrictions on the native Buddhist religion and the Tibetan language as well as a government-orchestrated mass migration of Han Chinese in the last three decades. A large number of monasteries and other artifacts also were destroyed during China's Cultural Revolution, from 1966 to 1976, although the Potala was spared in the violence.
In March 2008, riots erupted in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, to protest Chinese rule. In response, Beijing poured troops into Tibetan areas and intensified its vilification of the Dalai Lama, accusing him of instigating the unrest.
The spiritual leader, who fled China in 1959 and now lives in exile in India, has said that restrictions on Tibet's religious practices have resulted in a "cultural genocide."
A ceremony was held Sunday on the square in front of the Potala — whose facade looms over the city of Lhasa — according to the Xinhua News Agency.
"The repairs to the three key cultural relics is an important part in the conservation of the Tibetan culture," said Liu Yandong, a member of the Communist Party's Politburo, who attended the ceremony.
More than 189,000 workers were involved, and the government also spent 94.74 million yuan ($13.9 million) repairing the Sagya Monastery, which houses classical Buddhist texts, Xinhua said.
Xinhua quoted a former director of the Potala's administration office saying the palace could now accommodate 1,000 visitors a day.
The renovations are part of a 570 million yuan ($73 million) plan to promote tourism to Tibet, a mainstay of the region's economy, and include the repair to 22 cultural sites.
Earlier this year China tightened restrictions on advertising and construction outside the palace, following calls from the United Nations to better preserve the UNESCO World Heritage Site's natural setting.
Although palaces have existed on the grounds of the Potala since the seventh century, the current building dates from the rule of the fifth Dalai Lama, known as the "Great Fifth," who started its construction in 1645. It was then used as living quarters and a winter palace by the Dalai Lamas.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Tension Increases as China and Australia Grow Closer

BEIJING — China’s diplomatic relationship with Australia, so recently flourishing despite occasional spats, this month has taken a severe turn toward the governmental equivalent of thrown dinner plates.
Public exchanges between the nations, already testy after China’s detention of four employees of the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, grew sharper when Australia granted a visa to Rebiya Kadeer, the American-based rights advocate for China’s Muslim Uighur minority. Ms. Kadeer was accused by Chinese officials of plotting riots last month in China’s Xinjiang region.
The Australians recalled their Chinese ambassador to the capital, Canberra, for talks on Wednesday, after a week in which Beijing’s state-controlled news media excoriated Australia’s “Sinophobic politicians” and suggested that China’s billions were better spent trading with friendlier nations.
The Chinese also canceled planned visits by Vice Premier Li Keqiang, the heir apparent to Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, and the vice foreign minister, He Yafei, who was supposed to attend a meeting of Asian nations. Columnists in the Chinese press have also advocated limiting Chinese tourism in Australia and curbing the number of Chinese students studying there.
Australia’s prime minister, Kevin Rudd, countered that the nations’ relationship is always “full of challenges” and that their broader ties will endure. “We share enormous common interests with our friends in China, but we have continuous differences,” he was quoted as saying.
Hardly all Australians are persuaded. “I really don’t think there’s anything that Australia can do,” J. Bruce Jacobs, a China specialist at Monash University in Australia, said of the tiff. “The Chinese seem to have various people they like to pick on — the French, because of the Dalai Lama, and us, because of Kadeer. I think all of this is driven by political imperatives within China.”
Mr. Jacobs was referring to China’s decision to boycott a European Union summit meeting last December because the union’s leader then, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, planned to meet the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetans. The Chinese accuse the Dalai Lama of plotting to split Tibet from China.
In the latest case, China sought this month to keep Australia from granting Ms. Kadeer a visa to attend the screening of a film about her life, then tried to prevent her from making a speech to the National Press Club.
They were further examples of how Australians and Chinese have chafed at their inexorably growing ties. Trade between China and Australia has grown sevenfold this decade, making China Australia’s largest trading partner. Chinese investment in Australia, while still small compared with its investment in the United States, is mushrooming.
But Australians worry that Chinese investment is directed at their vast natural resources, turning them into a sort of open-pit mine for Chinese interests.
Mr. Rudd, who is fluent in Mandarin and was once an Australian diplomat in Beijing, has advocated deeper cooperation with China in global economic forums and with President Obama.
Despite that, the relationship has foundered lately on two issues that frequently divide Beijing and the West: Chinese industrial policy and human rights.
Many Chinese expressed frustration this summer after the collapse of a deal for a state-owned company to acquire a 19 percent stake in Rio Tinto, a crucial supplier of iron ore to China’s steel mills. Although economic factors stopped the deal, domestic suspicion of China’s intentions toward an Australian corporate icon was an undercurrent in the talks.
Relations deteriorated further in July after China arrested four Rio Tinto employees involved in iron-ore sales on espionage charges, accusing them of stealing state secrets about ore pricing. The Chinese later decided to pursue only lesser charges, but outraged Australians — including Mr. Rudd — warned that the prosecution would threaten China’s commercial relations with the outside world.
In Beijing, one political analyst said Friday that the rift was unlikely to cause lasting damage to Chinese-Australian relations.
“The mainstream of the two countries’ relationship remains stable and friendly, even though there are some kinds of problems,” said the analyst, Su Hao, director of the Center for Strategic and Conflict Management at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing. The current spats, he said, are “technical” issues.