The leader of Tibet’s exiled government yesterday accused China of blanket repression in his homeland and warned that resentment over its rule was growing as he launched a new campaign for autonomy.
Speaking as he and other senior exiles, including the Dalai Lama, renewed their push for a “Middle Way” of peaceful autonomy within China, Tibetan government-in-exile Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay called for more international help for the Tibetan cause.
The Dalai Lama said there was no shortage of commitment from the exiled leadership, but added that patience was needed to produce results.
Photo: AFP
“There is total repression and total discrimination” in Tibet, Sangay told reporters.
“All this repression is making Tibetans more resentful of the Chinese government’s policies and towards the Chinese government and various forms of protests are taking place,” he added at his government’s headquarters in the hill station of Dharamsala.
Sangay took over as the political leader of the Tibetan cause in 2011, when the Dalai Lama pared back his roles.
However, Beijing has continued to resist calls to resume talks with Tibetan officials on autonomy that broke down four years ago after nine rounds that began in 2002.
Rattled by a wave of self-immolations that have highlighted the sense of desperation among Tibetans, the exiled government has become increasingly exasperated by the impasse, which it sees as radicalizing its cause.
Sangay said that of the 130 Tibetans who had set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule, 112 had died.
“This is the most drastic form of protest,” he said.
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