China celebrated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the roof of the world yesterday with a rallying cry against its exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
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Top political adviser Yu Zhengsheng stressed that Tibet was ethnically united during a speech in the Tibetan capital of Llasa in front of the Potala Palace, once home to the Dalai Lama and now a museum.
The central government has an undeniable endorsement right on the reincarnation of living Buddhas in the Tibet autonomous region, a senior official said on Sunday. In recent years, Beijing said he was at school and his parents had taken government jobs, the latter claim repeated September 6.
Kelsang Gyaltsen, a member of the Tibetan government-in-exile told nonprofit broadcaster Radio Free Asia: “China has adopted the format of white paper by citing many data, number, special terminologies, to justify its ruling legality toward Tibet, rather than investigation and changes toward anything that happened in Tibet and criticisms from the worldwide community”.
The event lauded Tibet’s economic successes under Communist Party rule, even as activists criticized its record on human rights.
Analysts say that a fresh focus on Marxism could be part of drive to consolidate support within the Communist Party of China, following the President’s extensive, but sometimes divisive, anti-corruption campaign.
It said the anniversary celebrations were “imposed” on Tibetans by Beijing.
Schoolchildren waved flags and paramilitary troops marched in full battle dress at a mass spectacle China staged Tuesday to mark 50 years since establishing Tibet as an ethnic autonomous region firmly under Beijing’s control.
“Religious affairs should be managed according to law and problems should be addressed through legal means to maintain order in the practice of Tibetan Buddhism”, he was quoted as saying. Tibet is “still under occupation and Tibetans are still brutally repressed”, Lobsang Sangay said in a statement.
State-backed Global Times also published an editorial yesterday in which it drew an analogy between Dalai Lama and disgraced mainland qigong “master” Wang Lin, who was arrested by Jiangxi police in July on suspicion of kidnapping and killing a disciple.
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The issue of the selection is becoming increasingly important as the Dalai Lama ages – he turns 80 this year – raising the prospect of Beijing seeking to name its own successor to the exiled spiritual leader.
