The Dalai Lama has said he accepts Chinese sovereignty over Tibet and is no longer advocating independence for his homeland, but asserted that Tibet was "ruled by terror," an Indian media report said yesterday.
In an interview with the CNN-IBN TV network, the Tibetan spiritual leader claimed that the Chinese, among themselves, had different and contrasting views of Tibetan history, but added that regardless of the past he had accepted that Tibet was part of China.
"The past is past. When the People's Liberation Army came to Tibet, according to legal experts, Tibet was a de facto independent nation. Therefore, we consider it an occupied land. But that doesn't mean we are seeking independence," he said in the interview, which was published on the channel's Web site and is scheduled to be broadcast later.
"Tibet is a backward country, economically, materially. Therefore, for our own interest as far as material development is concerned, we want to remain within the People's Republic of China," he added.
The Dalai Lama's clarification comes after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's (
The Dalai Lama explained his idea of real autonomy for Tibet, mentioning that he wanted the Tibetans to control all aspects of their life, except foreign affairs and defense.
"I think many visitors to Tibet, including many Chinese, can see that Tibet is actually ruled by terror, the rule of terror. The Tibetans should have the final authority, except in foreign affairs and defense," the Dalai Lama told the channel.
"At present, on paper there's autonomy, but in reality every key position is occupied by Chinese, who have no idea of the past events, of Tibetan culture or Tibetan habits or mentality. Of course, there's no question [of understanding] the value of Tibetan spirituality," he added.
The Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers fled to India from his homeland in 1959 when Chinese communist troops cracked down on a Tibetan uprising against its occupation.
The 71-year-old leader has lived in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala with his government-in-exile since then. More than 70,000 Tibetan refugees are estimated to be living in India.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS