Tibet in impasse

BEIJING, MARCH 10: Forty years after China's crushing of a Tibetan uprising, the impasse between Beijing and Tibet's exiled spiritual lea...

BEIJING, MARCH 10: Forty years after China8217;s crushing of a Tibetan uprising, the impasse between Beijing and Tibet8217;s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, remains total.

In stepped up propaganda in the days leading up to anniversary of the uprising today, the Chinese regime has sounded a triumphant note in vaunting its 8220;democratic reforms8221; ushered in after the Dalai Lama went into exile.

Although Chinese President Jiang Zemin told United States President Bill Clinton in June 1998 of 8220;communication channels8221; having been set up with the Dalai Lama, no concrete progress has been reported.

On the contrary, the Chinese media have kept up a diatribe against the Dalai Lama, calling him the stumbling block for seeking Tibet8217;s independence.

The Dalai Lama denies he is after total independence, saying he only wants genuine autonomy, but Beijing is unimpressed with this position.

He 8220;should stop his separatist activities, abandon his position for Tibet independance, recognise Tibet is an unalienablepart of Chinese territory,8221; said Raidi, a Beijing-appointed Tibetan official this week.

Tibet remains one of Beijing8217;s most sensitive issues, and its propaganda machine has gone into overdrive with the approach of the anniversary which will inevitably focus international attention on the region.

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The official Chinese news agency Xinhua yesterday put out a lengthy dispatch saying the question of Tibetan independence resulted from foreign aggression and was used by imperialists to divide China in the past to centuries.

Beijing8217;s claim to historical sovereignity over Tibet 8212; based on a map of China from the Yuan dynasty which lasted from 1271-1368 8212; is largely contested by the Tibetan movements in exile. They maintain that Tibet has been 8220;occupied8221; by China since Chinese troops marched into the Tibetan capital Lhasa in October 1950.

Nine years later on March 10, 1959, a fragile co-existence between the Tibetan god-king, the 14th Dalai Lama, and the Chinese authorities collapsed leading to an uprisingagainst Beijing8217;s rule.

The revolt was brutally suppressed by the Chinese troops ending in a bloodbath and forcing the Dalai Lama and his entourage to flee across the Himalayan mountains into exile in India.

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Tibet suffered fierce repression thereafter, especially during the chaotic Cultural Revolution 1966-76. A degree of relaxation followed in the 1980s, along with talk of exchanges of emissaries between the Dalai Lama and Beijing.

Fresh unrest on the streets of Lhasa 10 years ago led to renewed repression, leaving dozens dead and leading to Tibet being placed under strict surveillance.