Dalai Lama sees "encouraging signs" of shift in China

[diamond girl]

HHDL is forever optimistic and forgiving towards China. It is amazing. If he can forgive a whole nation (China) that did so much harm to his own country, he surely would easily and quickly forgive those who finally abandon the practice of Shugden.

How single dimensional. As you say, the Dalai Lama can forgive the Chinese who have committed and still committing atrocities towards the Tibetans. He allows them to attend his teachings, despite the harm they have done.

So why doesn't the Dalai Lama forgive and embrace with open arms the Tibetans who continue to practice dorje shugden? Why doesn't he allow them at his teachings, as he allows the Chinese who have destroyed his country?

Why does he treat those of his own country who practice Shugden worse than the Chinese invaders? Forget what he is saying about china improving. This is the harsh truth for those who can see it.

WELL SAID THOR... I COULD NOT AGREE MORE.

If you see what HHDL is saying about China with so much "hope" it is demented. China will never return Tibet to Tibet. Even if they succumb to international coalition pressures at some point in the distant future, China would have some "deal" where they will maintain control and it will be through economics.

[diamond girl]

I thank Ensapa for the rich and well researched information on this thread.

Tibet seems to attract the politicians because of the self-immolations taking place in growing numbers, and not for the Shugden matter (as Big Uncle clearly pointed out). So, the US and whoever wants to jump onto the bandwagon will have a say. Is it really about Tibet? Or is it really a point of attack on China? Tibet is obviously a sore point, like a pimple which never goes away, for the glorious China... So, might as well fuel the wound a little.

Personally, I have a question: What has Tibet got to offer the US or any country so to speak, except a rich culture of Buddhism? And what economics can Buddhism harness? I apologise for sounding like a cold person but is it not true? My point still remains that Tibet and HHDL are only ponds to "attack" China in such a way that China can't retaliate with economics sanctions.

If the great countries will look at Tibet as a rich resource of peace and harmony where Buddhism is the product, then perhaps they may be more efficient in gaining solidarity to free Tibet. But then again, will the original Tibetan government bring Tibet to greener pastures? Is China really so bad for Tibet? 

[vajratruth]

The Dalai Lama is waiting for a change in Chinese leadership, which His Holiness is hoping would lead to a softening stance on the Chinese Government’s part, towards Tibet.   In the meantime, Beijing is waiting for the Dalai Lama to pass away which they know would be the end of the only champion of the Tibetan Cause capable of harnessing world attention to Tibet’s problem.

The reality it, no one can really say for sure what stops China and Tibet from having meaningful dialogue. The Dalai Lama already indicated that independence for Tibet was longer his goal and HH was seeking greater autonomy instead. This itself fulfills one of Beijing’s key conditions in order to have meaningful discussion with exiled Tibetan “Government”. But when HHDL announced this change in objective, Beijing failed to take it as an opportunity to solve the quarrel with exiled Tibetan Government.

Similarly, when the Dalai Lama missed the opportunity to find peaceful solution with the Chinese when the latter invited HHDL to come to Beijing to pay respects to the late Panchen Lama and HHDL refused.

There is too much distrust between Beijing and the Office of the Dalai Lama and it does not seem like there will be any solution soon. I think there are interests that do not wish to see China and Tibet burying their hatchets, namely the Americans. The US is experts at operating wars by proxy and has done so very well in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and several times in the Middle East.

It also appears that the primary issues at the centre of the conflict between China and Tibet are no longer present in reality today. The culture that Tibet so desperately wanted to protect (and accused China of cultural genocide) has changed permanently. The culture that Tibetans wanted to preserve (according to the CTA) is a feudal serfdom based on theocracy. Can that system still apply in 2012? The ban on the practice of Buddhism imposed on Tibet is already lifted as has not been in force since the death of Mao Zedong. The democracy that Tibetans seems to want exists more in Chinese Tibet today that it ever did under Tibetan rule. The Dalai Lama himself has said that he is no longer pursuing independence for Tibet. So what is the issue today?

Still, I am surprised at how active HHDL still is politically even though HHDL is supposed to have officially relinquished all powers and involvement in politics.  Where is Lobsang Sangay?

Also I am glad that HHDL seems to be in the pink of health and is looking forward to the next 10-15 years. So much for the Shugden threat. Actually I won’t be a bit surprised if Dorje Shugden has been looking after HHDL all this time. It is definitely in the Protector’s character to do so despite all the accusations against him. He is a real Buddha after all.

[Ensapa]

I thank Ensapa for the rich and well researched information on this thread.

Tibet seems to attract the politicians because of the self-immolations taking place in growing numbers, and not for the Shugden matter (as Big Uncle clearly pointed out). So, the US and whoever wants to jump onto the bandwagon will have a say. Is it really about Tibet? Or is it really a point of attack on China? Tibet is obviously a sore point, like a pimple which never goes away, for the glorious China... So, might as well fuel the wound a little.
Neverthenless, the self immolations do not really affect anyone on an international level in reality. It only affects the few Tibetans that live in Dharamsala. The US has been frienemies with Chinese and they will use whatever means necessary to defame China and make them look bad. Example is with the milk powder scandal that happened and the complaint of chemicals in China's toys and pet food. The self immolations and 'human rights' are just another excuse for the US to do that. Proof? US does not give a damm about the inhumane ways that Dorje Shugden practitioners are treated in Dharamsala.

Personally, I have a question: What has Tibet got to offer the US or any country so to speak, except a rich culture of Buddhism? And what economics can Buddhism harness? I apologise for sounding like a cold person but is it not true? My point still remains that Tibet and HHDL are only ponds to "attack" China in such a way that China can't retaliate with economics sanctions.
The US govt isnt interested in Buddhism, it is more interested in how CTA can make China look bad and undermine its power. that is the only reason why the US would help the Tibetans regain their 'homeland'. rest assured, US wont pay any attention to CTA once the self immolations stop as they no longer have any value to the US.

If the great countries will look at Tibet as a rich resource of peace and harmony where Buddhism is the product, then perhaps they may be more efficient in gaining solidarity to free Tibet. But then again, will the original Tibetan government bring Tibet to greener pastures? Is China really so bad for Tibet?
If China allows the building of the biggest statue of Lama Tsongkhapa in Tibet and the reopening of so many temples as well as the restoration of the many temples that were destroyed by the cultural revolution and even installed their own Panchen Lama and gave him a high place in the Chinese Buddhist council, i dont think it is that bad, They're just not happy with people worshipping the Dalai Lama. It's just a compromise.

No matter how you wanna see it, the US is merely using CTA. Has CTA stoop this low to allow themselves to be used by others like a toothbrush? If HHDL was in control, I would believe it was for a bigger reason, not so much so if you tell me Lobsang Sanggay. I have zero faith in him that he will take care of the Tibetans properly.

[yontenjamyang]

By relying on China to take a softer stance just because of its new leadership is wishful thinking. What the CTA needs to do it lift the ban and then Dorje Shugden will help by the power of karma. The ban is the single most damaging obstacle on the path for CTA in getting any autonomy from China. The ban is creating the cause for NOT getting any success with China.  The effect resemble the cause.

Just when is the CTA going to understand this? We can only change ourselves. Why hope for China to change. Always think what we can change. That is the only way.

[Ensapa]

Here is an article that perhaps, has sparked HHDL's enthusiasm with regards to talks with China. I do find it somewhat a welcome piece of news and it does show that China is now more open than ever before. CTA better now screw up, tho as China is very fragile even though it is a huge and strong nation. If CTA plays their cards right, they can get on China's good side and negotiate for a better Tibet if that is what they wanted from the start.

Insight – Does China’s next leader have a soft spot for Tibet?
By Benjamin Kang Lim and Frank Jack Daniel

BEIJING/DHARAMSALA (Reuters) – For decades, Beijing has maintained that the Dalai Lama is a separatist, but Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader once had a special relationship with the father of Xi Jinping, the man in line to become China’s next president.

Few people know what Xi, whose ascent to the leadership is likely to be approved at a Communist Party congress later this year, thinks of Tibet or the Dalai Lama.

But his late father, Xi Zhongxun, a liberal-minded former vice premier, had a close bond with the Tibetan leader who once gave the elder Xi an expensive watch in the 1950s, a gift that the senior party official was still wearing decades later.

The Dalai Lama, 77, recalls the elder Xi as “very friendly, comparatively more open-minded, very nice” and says he only gave watches back then to those Chinese officials he felt close to.

“We Tibetans, we get these different varieties of watch easily from India. So we take advantage of that, and brought some watches to some people when we feel some sort of close feeling, as a gift like that,” the Dalai Lama said in an interview in the Indian town of Dharamsala, a capital for Tibetan exiles in the foothills of the Himalayas.

The Dalai Lama gave the watch to the elder Xi in 1954 during an extended visit to Beijing. Xi was one of the officials who spent time with the young Dalai Lama in the capital where he spent five to six months studying Chinese and Marxism.

The Dalai Lama fled to India five years later, after a failed uprising against Communist rule, but as late as 1979, Xi senior was still wearing the watch, the make and style of which the Dalai Lama can no longer remember.

Xi senior was a dove in the party, championing the rights of Tibetans, Uighurs and other ethnic minorities. He also opposed the army crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen student protests and was alone in criticising the sacking of liberal party chief Hu Yaobang by the Old Guard in 1987. Xi senior died in 2002.

The Dalai Lama has never met Xi junior but his fondness for the father is, for some, a sign that China’s next leader may adopt a more reformist approach to Tibet once he formally succeeds President Hu Jintao next March. Some expect him to be more tolerant of Muslim Uighurs in the western region of Xinjiang, and also of Taiwan, the independently ruled island that China has vowed to take back, by force if necessary.

“To understand what kind of leader Xi Jinping will be, one must study his father’s (policies),” said Bao Tong, one-time top aide to purged party chief Zhao Ziyang. Bao was jailed for seven years for sympathising with student-led demonstrations for democracy centred on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.

“No (Chinese) Communist will betray his father,” he added.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON?

Xi senior is looked on favourably by China’s leaders with plans already made to commemorate his 100th birth anniversary in mid-October next year with a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People and editorials and commentaries in state media eulogising him, sources with ties to the leadership said.

But even if Xi junior wants to pursue a reform agenda, he is likely to bide his time.

“The key is whether Xi Jinping feels confident of his power consolidation,” said Lin Chong-Pin, a former Taiwan defence minister and China policy-maker who now teaches at Taipei’s Tamkang University.

Lin added, however: “There will be a more tolerant policy not only (towards) Tibet, but also Xinjiang.”

Taiwan, the democratic island Beijing claims as its own, may be the model for reconciliation with Tibet.

“Every generation of (Chinese) leaders must resolve problems left over from the previous generation,” a source with leadership ties said.

“For Hu, it was Taiwan,” the source added, referring to Hu mending fences with the island after his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, threatened it with war games in the run-up to its first direct presidential elections in 1996.

“For Xi, it’s Tibet,” the source said.

Asked if Xi might take a different tack on Tibet, a retired party official who used to work in Tibet said: “There has to be new thinking … He (Xi) is surely aware of the problems.”

“More and more government spending, more and more security, is not going to buy enduring stability in Tibet,” the official said, referring to China pouring billions of yuan to develop Tibet, including opening a railway in 2006 linking it with the rest of China, and a crackdown in the wake of the unrest.

“The high-pressure policies can’t continue forever,” the official said, asking not to be identified and adding that these were his personal views.

CARDS HELD CLOSE

Xi has played his cards close to his chest and little is publicly known about his policies. Like Hu, he will be no political strongman, and will have to rule by consensus as the first among equals.

If Hu stays on as military chief, Hu may continue to hold sway over major policies, but is unlikely to oppose detente.

“Hu will not be an obstacle to (any) reconciliation” moves, a second source with leadership ties said.

Initially, Hu sought to make up for his decision to crush riots in Tibet in 1989 by issuing a decree to “protect Tibetan culture” in the early 2000s, but was taken aback when the Dalai Lama accused China of “cultural genocide”.

China has defended its iron-fisted rule in Tibet, saying the region suffered from dire poverty, brutal exploitation of serfs and economic stagnation until 1950 when Communist troops “peacefully liberated” it and introduced “democratic reforms” in 1959.

Tensions over the issue are at their highest in years after a spate of protests and self-immolations by Tibetan activists, which have led to an intensified security crackdown. Fifty-one Tibetans have set themselves alight since 2009.

In the event the Dalai Lama dies in exile, it could radicalise exiled Tibetan youth who have clamoured for independence and are frustrated with his “middle way” approach that advocates autonomy within China.

It could create a rallying point for Tibetans disgruntled with Communist rule and leave a destabilising leadership vacuum.

“They (Chinese government) hope Tibet’s political problem can be basically resolved once the Dalai Lama passes away,” said Wang Lixiong, an author and expert on Tibet who has met the Dalai Lama several times.

Instead, Wang added, “the Dalai Lama’s death could spark massive protests and even rioting.”

“NORMAL HEARTS”

The outbreak of rioting in Tibet in 2008 ahead of the Beijing Olympics and a subsequent crackdown, which in turn sparked the self-immolations, may have prevented Hu from carrying out any reversal of China’s hardline policy on Tibet.

At the time of the riots, Xi commented: “We should have normal hearts” – a remark that was in stark contrast to insults rained on the Dalai Lama by the region’s then Communist Party boss, Zhang Qingli, who called the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner a “jackal in Buddhist monk’s robes” with “the face of a human and the heart of a beast”.

Zhang was not alone. Many Chinese party, government and military officials and many ordinary Chinese are convinced the 2008 unrest was a Western plot to demonise Beijing before the Games and try to split Tibet from China.

But tempers appear to have cooled a bit.

Hu is manoeuvring to promote one of his closest allies – Inner Mongolia party boss Hu Chunhua who speaks Tibetan, a rarity among Chinese officials – to the party’s inner sanctum, two independent sources said, in a bid to retain clout after retiring. The two Hus are not related.

In a sign the party may at times be willing to reverse bad decisions or policies, it backed down recently after liberal intellectuals slammed it for forcing Tibetan Buddhist monasteries to put up portraits of Mao and other leaders. Local officials now say this is voluntary.

Xi may have more to gain than lose from resuming talks with the Dalai Lama’s envoys, but this may not happen anytime soon.

“They probably will take very small, incremental steps. They cannot take big steps,” said Lin, the Taiwan-based academic.

Many challenges lie ahead.

“The talks process could start again at any point, we don’t know. We shouldn’t rule it out even though it looks very negative at the moment,” Robbie Barnett, a Tibetologist at Columbia University, said in a telephone interview.

“He may have to prove that he’s very tough … so it could make it quite difficult for Xi. He could risk heavy attack from hardliners. It’s quite complicated for him.”

But Robert Lawrence Kuhn, author of “How China’s Leaders Think”, was more optimistic.

“He is a very practical, pragmatic, very down-to-earth kind of person,” said Kuhn who has met Xi half a dozen times. “I don’t think he has an overblown sense of his own person, which to me is very important. People could rally around him.”

The Dalai Lama has said he hopes Xi will usher in a “realistic” and more open approach to Tibet, in the same way Deng Xiaoping introduced market reforms in the late 1970s that turned China into an economic powerhouse from a backwater.

After more than 50 years of confrontation with Beijing, the Dalai Lama is cautious but hopeful.

“I can’t say for definite, but according to many Chinese friends, they say the new, coming leadership seems more lenient,” he said in an interview in his audience room which was decorated with Bhuddist paintings and a bust of Mahatma Gandhi.

He said there had been a stream of visitors to Dharamsala from China, including people who told him they had connections with senior Communist Party leaders. “These are very, very encouraging signs,” he said. “No formal talks, but there are sort of signs among the Chinese officials or top leaders.”

Tibetan exiles see other small signs that Xi could take a softer line on Tibet – his wife is a Buddhist, and Xi went out of his way in 2006, while party boss of Zhejiang province, to host the first World Buddhist Forum in the provincial capital.

A batch of U.S. diplomatic cables obtained and published by WikiLeaks last year said the Dalai Lama had “great affection” for Xi senior, and that Xi junior was quite taken with Buddhist mysticism at one point early in his career.

In July last year, Xi visited Tibet and pledged to crack down on the separatist “Dalai clique” and “completely smash any plot to destroy stability in Tibet and jeopardise national unity”.

But a Western diplomat in Beijing cautioned that this was standard language and should not be construed to be hardline. “No one wins prizes for saying the Dalai is ok,” he said.

But many exiles are sceptical.

“I do not expect Xi junior to be like his father because he is facing a completely different situation, but I hope he can be different (from Hu Jintao),” said Khedroob Thondup, a nephew of the Dalai Lama who visited China more than 10 times with his father, Gyalo Thondup, as unofficial envoys of the Dalai Lama.

Another nephew, Tenzin Taklha, who is also a secretary to the Dalai Lama, said: “Even if it does happen it won’t be substantial, just to show the world the door is open again.”

The Dalai Lama, too, has yet to be convinced that Beijing will soften its stance on Tibet – even if Xi turns out to have the same moderate inclination as his father – and says political reformers sometimes do not last long in the Communist Party.

“These realistic people sometime live a very short life.”

(Additional reporting by John Chalmers in DHARAMSALA and Chris Buckley in BEIJING; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mark Bendeich)

[WisdomBeing]

I just wanted to address what the Dalai Lama mentioned in the Reuters report:

"I will not give encouragement to these acts, these drastic actions, but it is understandable and indeed very, very sad," the 77-year-old Tibetan leader said.

He says he will not give encouragement, but he does not actively ban self-immolation. Isn't banning self-immolation more important than banning Dorje Shugden practice? Especially when suicide is anathema to Buddhism? Yet, here the Dalai Lama simply "will not give encouragement". How about not giving encouragement to Dorje Shugden practice but NOT banning it?? How about NOT asking monks who practice Dorje Shugden to leave their monasteries? How about NOT stopping children of Dorje Shugden practitioners from attending school? How about NOT stopping Dorje Shugden practitioners from travelling by giving them travel papers? How about that???

[Ensapa]

I just wanted to address what the Dalai Lama mentioned in the Reuters report:

"I will not give encouragement to these acts, these drastic actions, but it is understandable and indeed very, very sad," the 77-year-old Tibetan leader said.

He says he will not give encouragement, but he does not actively ban self-immolation. Isn't banning self-immolation more important than banning Dorje Shugden practice? Especially when suicide is anathema to Buddhism? Yet, here the Dalai Lama simply "will not give encouragement". How about not giving encouragement to Dorje Shugden practice but NOT banning it?? How about NOT asking monks who practice Dorje Shugden to leave their monasteries? How about NOT stopping children of Dorje Shugden practitioners from attending school? How about NOT stopping Dorje Shugden practitioners from travelling by giving them travel papers? How about that???

Somehow, I find it odd that the Dalai Lama would say that he would hurt the sentiments of the families of the self immolation victims very much if he spoke up against the self immolations. Hurting the sentiments of a few families and stopping more people from immolating themselves is definitely a more logical decision. Unless of course, it was incited by the CTA in the name of the Dalai Lama, and the families of the self immolators are fully aware of this. Then, if the Kalon Tripa or Dalai Lama speaks out against self immolations, it would hurt very much these families and break their faith in the Dalai Lama. I personally find his no comment stance on the self immolators odd, and many other Buddhists also find it odd that the Dalai Lama choose to be silent over an act that goes against the Buddha's teachings.

You're right, wisdombeing. It would have been much better if the Dalai Lama spoke up against the Dorje Shugden ban and the discrimination of Dorje Shugden practitioners in Dharamsala. It would be so much better to stop discrimination at home in Dharamsala than to take back Tibet because it is something that the CTA can do, while taking back Tibet is not something the CTA can do at this moment.

[Ensapa]

50 years of being in exile and with very little accomplishments, CTA celebrates their anniversary. I just hope that they can break through old and backwards practices like the ban on Dorje Shugden and truly move forward. When will that time come? I hope soon.

The Dalai Lama and Kalon Tripa mark 50 years of CTSA
Phayul[Tuesday, September 11, 2012 12:49]


The Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama listens to Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay, during the commemoration ceremony of the 52nd anniversary of the founding of Tibetan democracy at Tsug-la Khang courtyard in Dharamshala, India on Sptember 2, 2012. (Phayul file photo/Norbu Wangyal)
DHARAMSHALA, September 11: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama joined Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal, and Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay in marking the 50th anniversary of the Central Tibetan School Administration yesterday in New Delhi.

CTSA, a body under the HRD ministry of the Indian government, was set up in 1961 by the then Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru to look after the special academic needs of Tibetan children.

Since the opening of the first CTSA school in Mussoorie, north India with 50 students, the Administration today manages 67 schools across India, caring for over 8700 students.

Speaking at the ceremony, the elected head of the Tibetan people, Dr Sangay, who is a former student of a CTSA school and later went on to study law in Harvard, expressed his gratitude to the Dalai Lama and CTSA.

While acknowledging the generosity of the government and the people of India in providing Tibetan children with modern education, Dr Sangay noted that the ancient traditions of Buddhism and ahimsa and the contemporary practice of democracy among Tibetans follow an Indian example.

“It’s easy to thank you on the one hand,” he said, “but difficult on the other, because we can’t thank you enough.”

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal in his address said that CTSA is an institution born out the vision of the two great visionaries of all times, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

“CTSA is a unique institution in the sense that it not only has a transnational character but an institution that is engaged in the preservation and development of Tibetan history and culture,” Sibal said.

The minister urged that in the years to come, “schools generally and CTSA schools more particularly should not only be institutions of learning, but must also provide an individualised environment where a student learns the simple techniques of goal setting, planning, dealing with difficult situations in life.”

The Dalai Lama in his remarks stressed on the oneness of humanity and the need for modern education to promote kindness and compassion.

“We are biologically equipped to be kind and compassionate by our mother’s care, which owes nothing to religion or education, but education can strengthen these values within us,” the 77-year-old Tibetan leader said. “Unfortunately, sometimes modern education pays more attention to the secondary differences between us, rather than the uniting common factors.”

The Dalai Lama described the Golden Jubilee of the CTSA as a “special moment” that brought to mind discussions he had with Pandit Nehru soon after arriving in to exile, during which the late prime minister remarked “the best way to keep the Tibet issue alive was to educate our children.”

“Pandit Nehru, who was a highly educated person himself showed deep concern for the Tibetan people and particularly the welfare of their children,” His Holiness said.

“There was discussion about what the medium of instruction should be, whether it should be Hindi or English. Nehru recommended English because it is an international language. After lunch he insisted that we announce the formation of the CTSA. Now, 52 years later, this organisation is still looking after our schools.”

Off late, talks have been going on between the exile Tibetan administration and the Indian government for a hand-over of all Tibetan schools currently being managed by the CTSA to the Education Department of CTA.

[Ensapa]

If there are indeed encouraging signs of change in China, the US is not seeing it and its not confident of CTA's talks with China. Interestingly enough, HHDL has not talked about this since, and neither has the kalon tripa. did something happen? And now, USA says its not possible. Oh well. Lets see if the US is wrong or HHDL is wrong. This will be a very interesting thing to observe.

Prospects of dialogue from China dim, says US on Sino-Tibet talks
Phayul[Saturday, September 15, 2012 16:23]
DHARAMSHALA, September 15: The United States government has expressed concern over the stalled Sino-Tibet dialogue process and said that prospects for the Chinese government to come back to the discussion table appear “dim.”

The US State Department in its annual “Report on Tibet Negotiations” to lawmakers, released on September 12, said: “We are very concerned that there has been no dialogue since early 2010 and that nine years of talks prior to that time have not borne concrete results.”

“Prospects for the Chinese government to resume the dialogue appear dim, at least in the short term,” the State Department said.?

The report noted that a tenth round of talks would be a “positive step at this critical time,” although a high-ranked Chinese official recently said that there would be no talks at least until the end of the year.

The elected leader of the Tibetan people, Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay, has repeatedly stated his willingness to conduct talks with the Chinese “anywhere, anytime.”

The US government expressed its belief that the Dalai Lama or his representatives can be “constructive partners for China as it deals with the challenge of overcoming continuing tensions in Tibetan areas.”

“The Dalai Lama’s views are widely reflected within the Tibetan society and command the respect of the vast majority of Tibetans,” the report says. “His consistent advocacy of non-violence is an important factor in reaching an eventual lasting solution.”

The report further argues that engaging the Dalai Lama in the talks is in the “interest of the Chinese government and the Tibetan people” and warned that the “failure to address these problems will lead to greater tensions inside China and will be an impediment to China’s social and economic development.”

“We continue to encourage both sides to engage in a substantive discussion that will work to achieve concrete results,” the State Department noted.

The report finds that in 2011, Chinese authorities continued to place Tibet under “increasingly intense and formalised systems of controls, many of which appeared to be aimed at facilitating enforcement of social stability and undermining the religious authority of the Dalai Lama.”

“Increasing official interference in Tibetan religious and cultural spheres provoked acts of resistance among the Tibetan population. These in turn led authorities to intensify to maintain control, thus creating a cycle of official repression and increasingly desperate acts by Tibetans, such as a series of self-immolations by Tibetan Buddhist clergy and laypersons in Tibetan areas.”

In June this year, Special Envoy of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lodi G. Gyari and Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen, resigned from their posts citing the deteriorating situation inside Tibet and their “utter frustration” over the lack of positive response from the China as reasons for their decision.

“Given the deteriorating situation inside Tibet since 2008 leading to the increasing cases of self-immolations by Tibetans, we are compelled to submit our resignations,” Gyari and Gyaltsen said in their resignation letter.

The State Department submits a “Report on Tibet negotiations” to the Congress every year, as required by the Tibetan Policy Act of 2002.

[DharmaSpace]

I really doubt the Chinese will leave Tibet alone, Tibet is mineral rich, with gold, copper, iron, lead, zinc and some petroleum too why would an occupying nation leave an occupied state that is so rich in resources. Between having a lousy reputation on human rights or the potential of bleeding Tibet dry of resources and having a poor reputation internationally, the Chinese seems to be choosing the latter and being comfortable about it, there is just too much at stake. China is no stranger in benefitting its own industries and corporates just like  any other world super power.

[Amitabha]

China has more gain in maintaining a status quo governing of Tibetan before CTA. China has more other more important tasking on other parts of its country on peace and order. China should be thankful for Dalai Lama is maintaining a peaceful order in Tibet over the years. China history stated that the Mongolian invaded and ruled China without disturbing its education system of confucianism to govern its people to ensure stability thorughout. 

[harrynephew]

The Tibet-China situation is an interesting one in the context of the whole Dorje Shugden issue, considering how so much of the reason for the DS ban arose because of the Tibetan government's failure to get back their country back. So they needed a scapegoat for WHY they couldn't get independent / autonomy - and who easier to blame than a protector, a supposed spirit, than on their own incapabilities. This is indeed what happened after all, when a prediction by Nechung that Tibet would gain back its country fell through and didn't manifest. The attention then turned to Shugden, as being the primary cause for damaging the Tibetan cause and the Dalai Lama's life. Why now? All of a sudden? If he was a malicious spirit, surely he would have started concocting and enacting his evil plans many other decades ago? or perhaps even when the Dalai Lama was praying to Shugden himself!

I don't know how much the CTA knows how to make a scapegoat because within their administration, there seems to be a better candidate to put into that positiong. The protective spirit of the CTA has more credits to how he is more a spirit than Dorje Shugden.

Take a look at this link:

http://youtu.be/bi1pULEARXE
	Small | Large

There are many pointers which make u think of why is a spirit chosen to advise on state, secular and spiritual matters which many a time goes downhill and shuffed under the carpet is propitiated and not a fully enlightened Buddha!

Who caused the death of HH 13th Dalai Lama?
Who said independance was possible to the Tibetans 2 decades ago?
Who gave false hope that Tibetans would eventually return to their homeland many years back?

It all didn't happen but why are such heavy prophesies being proclaimed and when it doesn't happen, no one points out and check out why?

So coming back to the point of a scape goat, isn't there a better candidate?

And when HHDL says there are encouraging signs, does it mean the shift in China means HHDL is trying to tell us that DORJE SHUGDEN isn't evil after all?

*puts his thinking cap on*

[Ensapa]

well, China has their new leader now which is Xi Jinping and he is a Tibetan Buddhist, together with his wife and there 'should' be progress in the talks. But what I do not understand is that despite this chance more people self immolate and show their dissatisfaction with the leader which just undos whatever progress made with China. Why does CTA want to sabotage themselves over and over again? I do not understand why. If the Dalai Lama says progress with the Chinese is possible, it probably is but CTA would quickly screw themselves over by allowing the self immolations to continue (or instigating them). Lobsang sanggay's wish of having the rest of the world pressure China to give Tibet up will never happen yet he foolishly clings on to that.