Jane Macartney in Beijing
We've made some changes
to The Sunday Times
Hundreds of Tibetan Buddhist monks celebrating the award of a US honour to the exiled Dalai Lama have clashed with Chinese police, resulting in an unknown number of injuries and arrests.
Such violence has become unusual in recent years as China has tightened its grip on the region. The entry by police into Drepung monastery, on the outskirts of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, was a sign of the hard line adopted against any sign of dissent.
Dozens of monks had begun repainting with whitewash the exterior of a hall assigned as the residence of the Dalai Lama inside Drepung to show their joy after the US Congress awarded its highest civilian honour, personally bestowed by President Bush in Washington last week.
Members of the paramilitary People’s Armed Police moved in to stop the monks, who left peacefully to take part in morning prayers. When the monks returned to resume painting the police moved in again, resulting in violent scuffles, according to sources who declined to be identified for fear of repercussions. The Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao said that the clash involved hundreds of monks.
Three thousand armed police surrounded the sprawling monastery, once the largest in the world with as many as 10,000 monks in residence, and refused to allow anyone to leave. Local sources said that hundreds of monks may have been arrested and several injured. Similar clashes were reported at the smaller Nechung monastery.
China, which reviles the Dalai Lama as a separatist, denounced the award of the Congressional Gold Medal as a “farce” that would hurt relations between Beijing and Washington. Beijing called in the US Ambassador and said that the decision had gravely undermined ties between the countries.
The clashes coincided with China’s ruling Communist Party concluding its 17th Congress yesterday with an announcement that it had included a reference to religion in its constitution for the first time.
Officials have been enraged by the loyalty of Tibetans to the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule and has since lived in India. So nervous is China at his persistent influence among the deeply religious Tibetans that it has banned all photographs of him.
Keeping the faith
30,000 Number of Buddhist monks who live in the monasteries of Tibet
260 Buddhist temples in the city of Lhasa
1416 The year of the foundation of Drepung monastery
Sources: Drepung Loseling Monastery; Times archives; www.tibet.com
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Pete - I think you summed it up nicely. The comments by the Chinese on here show us clearly the mentality of the Chinese inside China. They have grown up bombarded with communist propaganda and are unable to look at the Tibetan situation with any clarity and humanity. Their lack of compassion and cold hearted violent aggression is deeply disturbing.
TJ, South Africa,
I wonder what the corporation is trying to get from Tibet this time? Is there oil like in Iraq, a strategic place for the gas/oil pipes like Aghanistan, oil like in Dafur, gas and oil in East Timor.
Every time when there were turmoil and wars in other countries, they were mostly originated by the oil companies using the tax payers' money and using the politicians who depend on the big corporations as sources of money.
No politicians dare to talk about the money being made in wars because they depend on the money from the big corporations.
Jack Caraway, Fremont, CA
I think Northen Irland and Scotland do not belong to England too.
richard, tianjin,
I am a Chinese. I have absolutely NO interesting in CCP, however, CCP is not a simple party but smart enough, let see how CCPhandle the tibet issue.
A) Let dalai lama with 80k tibetans escape to India in 1959.
Results : how chaos tibet were in 1950's, It is a trick to let dalai go, all people who were loyal to Dalai lama had gone with no shot, those who pro-CCP have stayed in tibet, everthing was OK then, otherwise, another palestine.
B) Pretend to anti-Dalai lama and keep him out from China, regardless what western countires pressure.
Results: How dangerous for CCP in 1980's, e.g Tiananmen in 1989, how badly CCP was luck then that Dalai were awarded Nobel price in that year, following with pro-dalai lama in western countries, those invited hatred from Chinese people and built up nationalism to anti-democracy, CCP immediately enjoyed priceless sympathy, CCP are still gining interests from dalai, otherwise, CCP collapsed years ago.
CCP are winner.
Yang TY, Shenzhen, China
Chinese people are welcoming western countries to criticise CCP with Tiananmen, culture revolution, Great leap foward, lack of democracy, etc. You will obtain respect from us if you raise these issues. however, dalai lama is not, all Chinese people hate separatist with no reasons, this is our tradition and culture. Chinese people are not stupid, no matter what western propangada are, they can easily get to know what the dalai lama is, simply go to tibet in person and truth come out. it is insulting human intelligent to claim that dalai is a good man.
China is bigger country , CCP does not worry about outer outer pressure, most fear for CCP are inter Chinese people standing up to anti-CCP, unfortunately, Chinese people have moved away from Pro-america / Pro-democracy to anti-america / Pro-CCP in the past 20 years, one reason is that american have used the tool of dalai lama too much.
to honour dalai lama, american are pushing Chinese people to CCP side, the winner is CCP.
Yang TY, Shenzhen, China
Of course the Dalai Lama is advocating seperatism. Tibet is not Chinese and certainly should not be part of China.
The US is just acknowledging the magnificance of a peaceful protest against an injustice and foreign invasion that has continued for 50 years.
M Mantle, Moscow, Russia
Unite the fight for free Tibet with the one of free Burma. Same treatment, same governement foe, same (peaceful) combat.
Netzen, Tawau, Malaysia
If I were to come to your house with 20 thugs with guns and put a gun on every single one of your family member and ask you to give up your house. Wouldn't you do so? Such is the case with Tibet.
And to those that spoke ill of the Dalai lama and his non-violent and peaceful ways for freedom, I don't have much to say to you. What you've expressed above is most likely due to what you've read and heard from the state controlled media. Step outside China for once and see what the world thinks of China, you'll be ashamed. In the meantime, try to see if you can access these websites from China (I am sure they are filtered out): rsf.org, amnesty.org, tibet.com
World, this is your chance to support those who brave the path of peace and non-violence.
I am a Tibetan. I have absolutely NO hate for Chinese people. In fact, I have lots of Chinese friends here in the U.S It is only the communist government that I loathe.
Free Tibet!
RESTORE HUMAN RIGHTS IN TIBET AND IN CHINA!
Sangay, Richfield, U.S
I am opposed to the Chinese Communist government beating demonstrators. However, I am also opposed to god worship of this guy called the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama takes money from, promotes, has photo ops with, and hangs out with terrorists and Nazi war criminals such as Dr. Bruno Beger and Heinrich Harrer and Shoko Asahara. If we can justify the Dalai Lama's hypocrisy that is, "talk peace but act war", why then (being the devil's advocate here) can't we accept the Chinese Government response to demonstrations for the Dalai Lama. After all, the Chinese government speaks peace too...but acts out war--just like the Dalai Lama. They are learning from the Dalai Lama.
Justice For All, USA,
The sad thing is that the Chinese people commenting here don't realise their remarks say as much (or more) about the national psyche than this article does.
The Chinese authorities aren't 'realizing that Tibet could be a big focus for international tourism'; they're counting on it finishing off what the Cultural Revolution started.
Pete, China,
Yang,
Other people are a representation of yourself. Normally this type reaction you are giving is a reflection of the self you have deny.
Perhas it is the self of you that stood for freedom and equality. Love and compassion. Perhas at a point when you were growing up, you stop questioning the authority. And start conforming to what the people in authority tells you to think.
As a nation, the type of reaction China is giving is also reflective of the mass SELF it is denying. China has so much fear of the self it deny. The loving, equality and compassionate self. So big is the fear, that is why China is giving such a big reaction to a 71 year old nice man.
Because China as a mass consciousness is fearful of the SELF it has banish and burried.
JohnTheBillionaire, KL, Malaysia
Burma (Sorry Myanmar!), Tibet (Sorry China!)... It's not easy for peaceful Buddhist monks these days what with all the arrests, tortures and killings. Still lets not worry - China is "our new friend" and Burma is their friend, and we wouldn't want a little thing like TRUTH to get in the way of friendship would we?..
Chinese and "proto-Tibeto-Burman" may have split sometime before 4000 BC, when the Chinese began growing millet in the Yellow River valley while the Tibeto-Burmans remained nomads. Most Chinese dynasties were based in the historical heartlands of China, known as China proper. Various dynasties expanded into territories like Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Tibet. The Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) and its successors, the ROC and the PRC, incorporated these territories into China. China proper is bounded by the Great Wall and the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. But Chinese imperial theory dictates the Emporers right to rule "All Under Heaven" - a little bit arrogant
Karl, London, UK
Tibet is not Chinese... Chinas claims to Tibet, are based on the Qing Empire having once exercised authority over Tibet and never having renounced this authority. This is important to the China because it establishes a history of rule over Tibet.
The Qing Empire occupied Tibet throughout the 18th century and signed treaties with Great Britain in which Britain recognized Chinese SUZERAINTY over Tibet. However, pro-Tibetan independence supporters argue that suzerainty does not equate with sovereignty and that Tibet therefore should not be part of China. Further complicating (or simplifying) the situation is the fact that the Qing Dynasty was not, in fact, Chinese, but Manchurian, a nomadic tribe from north east of China, which, much like the Mongolian Yuan dynasty, conquered China along with vast swaths of Asia, but was not itself Chinese.
Karl, London, UK
Tell me, Chen: where's the Panchen Lama?
If I invade somebody's house, help myself to the contents of their fridge, sit on their couch and say "this is my house now" - does it make it so?
Matthew, Brisbane,
In reality the Chinese government is realizing that Tibet could be a big focus for international tourism - didn't they just finish building the highest airport in the world in Tibet? The 14th Dalai Lama has helped spread Tibetan culture and religion in the US and around the world.
Chris Baker, Maine, USA
Tibetans are a part of China. If they are trying to revolt, that's treason. It's no different from what the south tried to do during the US civil war.
Chen, Beijing,
Yang is obviously just a CCP propaganda cadre. If there was a national election in China tomorrow, the CCP would be voted out of power. Anyways, the Tibetan people don't support the CCP & want China out of Tibet. Tibet was independent prior to 1951 & now it's ruled like a colony of the PRC Empire. Regardless of history, no country, including China, has the right to beat up people engaging in peaceful, lawful activities as these Tibetans monks were doing.
Wangchuk, New York, USA
Praising one who would invite peace invites hate from your nation?
Matt, Queen Creek, Arizona
Chinese people hate separatist, they have fought against any separatism for thousands years , it is why China is a country with a long histroy of 5000 years, China is a Unified Multinational Country for thousand years.
Chinese people are fully supporting CCP policy towards Dalai lama, no matter what he is saying.
T Yang, Shenzhen, China
I applaud the Monks for their courage. They stood up against China and fought for what they believe in. I just saw a website about Estoniaâs Singing Revolution â http://singingrevolution.com; is quite inspirational. Thousands of people came together and stood up against Russia. This reminded me of the monks.
Tanvir, Queens, NY,
Yang is a typical example of a brainwashed Chinaman.
These monks were just painting a wall not revolting.
Anyhow, Tibetans have the right to live in their country without fear. Who are the Chinese to say they want to rule over the Tibetans.
Dee Breen, London, UK
Yang - wake up! Stop being so blinded by CCP propaganda! Why don't you actually listen to what the Dalai Lama said in his acceptance speech - he does not want independance, he does not want to seperate Tibet from China. He simply wants Tibetans to have human rights in their own country. Yang, you show your ignorant and brainwashed mind through your comments and you give us a clear picture of the effects of propaganda on Chinese people.
Trisha, Sydney, Australia
to honour dalai lama, a man of separatist, theocracy and serfowner, USA is attempting to destroy china in vain. American are inviting more hatred from Chinese people.
Yang TY, Shenzhen, China