“We are like prisoners here. There are soldiers all over the place…It’s all lies. The worshippers are really government officials. They are lying. They are treating us very badly.”
Monks speaking out at the Jokhang temple, during the carefully orchestrated tour for the Western media
“How many people watching these images in the West will buy China’s story? Instead, what you see are these heroic monks who are risking a lot for their cause. That’s something your average Westerner is very sympathetic with.”
Steve Tsang, Oxford University
“It is absolutely clear that there are human rights abuses in Tibet. It’s clear-cut; we need to be upfront and absolutely straight about what’s going on.”"
Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd (who, incidentally, speaks Chinese)
“China has a lot to answer for, and I’ve been struggling with it; obviously I condemn what they’re doing. I think the situation is terrible, and I think that anyone who is doing [the relay] should speak out on their views.”
British TV Presenter Konnie Huq, on the moral dilemma of being an Olympic torch bearer in London
“China may rail against those seeking to “politicise” a sporting occasion. But it knows that it has itself introduced the most political elements: a torch relay taking the Olympic flame round the world and, provocatively, through Tibet; and an opening ceremony to which it has invited the world’s leaders.”
The Economist
“The most efficient route to peace in Tibet is through the Dalai Lama, whose return to Tibet would immediately alleviate a number of problems. Much of the current ill will, after all, is a direct result of the Chinese government’s verbal attacks on the Dalai Lama, who, for Tibetan monks, has an incomparably lofty status. To demand that monks denounce him is about as practical as asking that they vilify their own parents.”
Wang Lixong, leading Chinese intellectual, Wall Street Journal
“Of all world leaders at this time, the Dalai Lama most convincingly provides spiritual, intellectual, and ethical leadership, exemplifying and elucidating the most reasonable path to peace and happiness. This is the secret of his worldwide popularity. His person and teaching really do matter, to the Tibetans, to the Chinese, and to all of us and our future generations.”
Professor Robert Thurman, ‘China Needs the Dalai Lama’, Washington Post
Tags: china, crisis, dalai lama, Jokhang, kevin rudd, Konnie Huq, monks, olympics, Robert Thurman, Tibet, Wang Lixong
