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Summary
The Dalai Lama admitted Wednesday there was little hope of the current Chinese government compromising on the issue of Tibet, after years of vain attempts to win autonomy for his homeland. Insisting that he sought no political power in Tibet, he also urged Tibetans working within the Chinese administration to visit Tibetan communities in the free world to get a better understanding of their aspirations. In a speech to mark the 51st anniversary of the failed uprising against Chinese rule that prompted him to flee Tibet, the Dalai Lama said he had done everything he could to explain that his goal was Tibetan autonomy within China -- and not full independence as Beijing suspects. Although I have clearly articulated Tibetan aspirations... we have not obtained any concrete result, said the 74-year-old Buddhist monk. Judging by the attitude of the present Chinese leadership, there is little hope that a result will be achieved soon, he added. The Dalai Lama's envoys have held numerous rounds of talks with Chinese officials since 2002 -- most recently in January -- but with little tangible progress. China routinely blames the Dalai Lama for any unrest in Tibet and on Tuesday the region's top Communist Party official again accused him of trying to create chaos. In an apparent new initiative, the Dalai Lama's speech included an appeal for Tibetan administrators in Tibet to tour exiled communities. To understand the situation of the Tibetans in exile and their aspirations, I invite Tibetan officials... to visit Tibetan communities living in the free world, either officially or in a private capacity, to observe the situation for themselves, he said. The offer was accompanied by a grim description of life in Tibet, where the Dalai lama said monks and nuns were being held in prison-like conditions as part of an overall policy intended to deliberately annihilate Buddhism. The Dalai Lama made his speech in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala where he established his government-in-exile after his flight from Tibet.
