HONG KONG - Hours after Monday's midnight deadline passed for anti-Chinese
protesters in Tibet to turn themselves in or face severe punishment, Chinese
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao clearly laid the blame for the unrest on the Dalai
Lama, the spiritual leader and temporal head of the Tibetan government in
exile.
"There is ample fact - and we also have plenty of evidence - proving that this
incident was organized, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai
clique," Wen said in Beijing at the end of the annual National People's
Congress
session in a press briefing that was broadcast live nationally.
Despite Wen's unequivocal accusation against the Dalai Lama of orchestrating
events in Tibet, he said China was prepared to talk to the spiritual leader.
"We have repeatedly stated that the Dalai Lama gives up his independence
position, recognizes Tibet as an inseparable part of China's sovereign
territory and recognize Taiwan as an inseparable part of China's sovereign
territory. [Then] our door is open to him for talks ... But the recent events
exactly prove he is hypocritical on these two key issues. Even so, I want to
reiterate that we still keep our word. Now what is key to this is his action."
The Dalai Lama has repeatedly said he does not seek independence for Tibet, but
true autonomy for the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The Dalai Lama has called for
an investigation into the Chinese crackdown and whether it was deliberate
"cultural genocide".
Sources close to the Chinese government told Asia Times Online that Beijing
believes the Dalai Lama and his supporters want to use the occasion of the
Summer Olympic Games in Beijing in August to "internationalize" the Tibet issue
in the hope it would lead to the ultimate independence of the Himalayan region.
"But China is not Serbia and Tibet is not Kosovo. China will never allow any
issue concerning its sovereignty to be internationalized or the intervention of
foreign forces," one of the sources said.
It is not known how many protesters took up Beijing's offer to turn themselves
in as news has been blacked out from the Tibetan capital Lhasa, where
officially 16 people have been killed in protests over the past few days.
Foreign tourists and journalists have been barred from entering the region.
However, the US government-funded Radio Free Asia on Tuesday quoted an unnamed
witness as saying authorities in Lhasa had begun arresting hundreds of people.
Tibetan exile groups claim that 100 people or more have died.
Wen, who was re-elected as premier for another five years on Monday, assured at
the briefing that the situation in Tibet was returning to normal, and that
Beijing would "consider the possibility" of allowing access for foreign
journalists, but he did not say when. "Social order has basically been restored
in Lhasa," Wen said.
It remains now for China to limit the damage of the events that have dominated
world headlines for several days. The chief concern is how the fallout might
affect the Olympics.
Again, Wen accused the Dalai Lama of trying to undermine the Games. "They want
to undermine the Beijing Olympic Games. We should respect the principles of the
Olympics and the Olympic charter. We should not politicize the Games."
A high-level contact who spoke to Asia Times Online stressed China's obsession
with staging a successful Games, including a relay for the Olympic torch that
will pass through Tibet in June. As Wen said, "I want to reiterate that China
is a country with a history of 5,000 years. To hold an Olympic Games is a dream
of many generations. Through hosting the games, we hope to strengthen
friendship and cooperation with peoples in other countries."
Many nations have called on China to exercise restraint in dealing with the
Tibetan protests, but none has indicated it will stage - or call for - a
boycott of the Olympics.
So at this stage, Beijing looks to have escaped an Olympic bullet, provided it
can keep the lid on any more protests.
As for relations with the Dalai Lama, Beijing has sparred with him ever since
he fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against the China-backed
government in Lhasa. Despite the rhetoric, the latest events are unlikely to
change much.
However, the Dalai Lama was quoted in the media on Tuesday as saying "if things
become out of control [in Tibet] then my only option is to completely resign".
A neighbor on edge
Wen admitted that Tibet is a "sensitive" issue between China and India and
expressed his appreciation to the Indian government for cracking down on
Tibetan protesters there.
The Dalai Lama's government in exile is based in the Indian Himalayan town of
Dharamsala, which is also home to thousands of his followers and fellow exiles.
"The Tibetan issue is a very sensitive one in our relations with India. We
appreciate the position and the steps taken by the Indian government in
handling Tibetan independence activities masterminded by the Dalai clique."
Indian police last week arrested about 100 Tibetan marchers who were trying to
get into Tibet from India. Delhi also said it "does not permit Tibetans to
engage in anti-China political activities in India".
Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Parliament during a debate on
Tibet that India's policy of non-interference in China was the same despite
recent events. "New Delhi's policy on China and Tibet has remained unchanged
since 1959 despite various political parties being in power at the center
[Delhi] since then," he said.
Economic concerns
Addressing economic issues, Wen said he was worried about the potential global
economic and financial fallout from the US subprime crisis, which would make
his job of balancing growth and fighting inflation more challenging.
"I am closely watching and feel deeply worried about the global economic
situation, especially the US economy. What concerns me now is the continuous
depreciation of the US dollar and when the dollar will hit bottom and what
measures the US government will take."
Wen said Beijing would have to take the changing international environment into
account. "Global economic developments cannot but have an impact on China.
Therefore, at the same time as pursuing these policies [tightening monetary
policy and prudential fiscal policy], we must pay close attention to
international economic developments and, based on changing trends, be flexible
and timely in adopting corresponding countermeasures."
His government's top priority was to bring inflation under control while at the
same time keep relatively high-speed economic growth, the Chinese premier said.
"Number one, we need to ensure fast yet steady economic development in the
country and at the same time we need to effectively hold down inflation."
China needs to keep its economy growing fast to curb unemployment. Wen said in
the next five years, China needed to create 50 million new jobs, so it could
not afford to let its economic growth slow too drastically.
China's gross domestic product grew 11.4% last year, the fifth straight year of
double-digit growth. Wen has set a target of 8% for 2008, but economists widely
expect this will be exceeded.
Wen said he was confident his government could keep inflation under the target
of 4.8% this year, through arduous efforts. "We hope to keep the consumer price
index [CPI] this year to 4.8%, though this is not an easy job." China's CPI hit
a near 12-year high of 8.7% in February, well above the target for the whole of
the year.
John Ng is a freelance journalist based in Hong Kong.
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