Lodi Gyari’s Statement on the Recent Talks

Envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen and I had the honour of briefing His Holiness the Dalai Lama immediately after our arrival yesterday from China. Kalon Tripa, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, joined us in the briefing. We also briefed the Deputy Speaker, Mrs. Dolma Gyari, this morning. The Speaker, Mr. Karma Choephel, is currently on an official visit.

On 4 May 2008 in Shenzhen, China, we met with Executive Vice Minister Zhu Weiqun and Vice Minister Sithar of the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party. We would like to express our appreciation to the hosts for accepting our suggestion to hold this informal meeting in Shenzhen as well as agreeing to a meeting of principals without aides. Executive Vice Minister Zhu Weiqun and Vice Minister Sithar were our counterparts for the last several years. This long relationship made it possible to have open and frank discussions in a friendly and respectful atmosphere, despite the prevailing tense and grave situation in Tibet.

Our main purpose of seeking this urgent informal meeting was to discuss the critical situation in Tibet. There were strong and divergent views on the nature as well as the causes of the recent tragic events in Tibet. These views were expressed in a frank and candid manner. On our part we rejected categorically the accusation made against His Holiness the Dalai Lama of instigating the demonstrations and unrest in Tibet. Instead we made it clear that the events in Tibet are the inescapable consequences of wrong policies of the authorities towards the Tibetans, which goes back several decades. The recent crisis in Tibet is a clear symptom of deeply felt grievances and resentment of the Tibetans with these policies. The task at hand is to address the legitimate concerns of the Tibetan people in a realistic and constructive way.

We have stressed the importance of ending the current repression throughout Tibet. We have called for the release of prisoners, to allow those injured to be given proper medical treatment and give unfettered access to visitors, including the media. We have also called for an end to the “patriotic re-education” campaign which is deeply resented by the Tibetan people.

We also rejected the accusation that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is sabotaging the Olympic Games 2008. On the contrary, we made it clear that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has consistently and unambiguously supported the Beijing Olympic Games right from the beginning.

Despite major differences on important issues both sides demonstrated a willingness to seek common approaches in addressing the issues at hand. In this regard, each side made some concrete proposals, which can be part of the future agenda. As a result an understanding was reached to continue the formal round of discussions. A date for the seventh round will be finalised soon after mutual consultations.

We welcome the recent statement of President Hu Jintao that his government is “serious” about the dialogue and his acknowledging that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is being “conscientious and serious”. This statement is encouraging at a time when there is growing skepticism about China’s sincerity in resolving the Tibet issue through dialogue.

08 May 2008
Dharamsala

Lodi Gyari’s Summary of the Current Situation in Tibet

In brief, with little official information available, we can report that:

• Chinese government authorities have acknowledged the “surrender” or detention of some 4,000 Tibetans.
• We know of numerous deaths as a result of Chinese forces firing into crowds of demonstrators in several areas of Tibet.
• Many monasteries have been sealed off and under lockdown across Tibet, and monks within subjected to many deprivations and punishments.
• Police have been carrying out house-to-house night raids in Lhasa, in villages and nomad encampments, dragging away many Tibetans.
• Hundreds of Tibetans have been loaded onto the new train in Lhasa and taken away to prisons in China.
• Large numbers of Chinese forces have been sent to all the Tibetan areas where demonstrations have occurred. In the Amdo and Kham areas of eastern Tibet, demonstrations have been widespread and large-scale, and retaliation has been brutal.
• One or more instances of protest have been reported in at least 52 county-level locations, as well as Chengdu (the capital of Sichuan), Lanzhou (the capital of Gansu) and Beijing.
• More than 98 protests have been counted so far, and they are still happening. In only one of those protests, as far as we are aware, has violence been used against Chinese civilians.
• In recent weeks a new wave of protests has begun, in response to stringent patriotic education campaigns in monasteries and requirements to denounce the Dalai Lama. The actions of the authorities are doing nothing to create stability - they are provoking further resentment, despair and unrest. For instance, in a raid on Labrang monastery on April 15, Chinese forces smashed altars in monks’ cells and burned images of the Dalai Lama that some monks had kept at great risk. At Tongkor monastery in Kardze, photographs of His Holiness were trampled upon. When monks and laypeople protested about the actions of the work team and called for His Holiness to return to Tibet, troops fired into the crowd, killing 15 Tibetans including monks, a young woman and a teenage boy.
• In the Tibet Autonomous Region alone, authorities have announced that they will try some 1000 Tibetans by May 1st. China has virtually closed the TAR. With the exception of two show-tours, no journalists or diplomats have secured permission to visit the TAR since the crisis began, so these trials will be carried out absent outside observers.
• Major monasteries and townships including Labrang Monastery, Kanhlo TAP, Gansu; Amchok Monastery, Ngaba TAP, Sichuan; Kardze Monastery, Kardze TAP, Sichuan; Tonkhor Monastery, Kardze TAP, Qinghai; Thonggu Monastery, Kardze TAP, Qinghai; Kirti Monastery, Ngaba TAP, Sichuan; Wara Monastery, Kardze TAP; Shiwa Monastery, Nyarong Prefecture, Kardze, TAP and Larung Gar, Serthar, Sichuan, are sealed off or are under intense surveillance.

Extracted from U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Testimony, April 23rd, 2008.

The full text is here.

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From the website of the International Campaign for Tibet.