“I would say I’m being a little selfish when I’m in it, because I’m a Tibetan, but when I saw people who are not Tibetans also in the movement, I know they’re showing the bright side of human beings,” Tenzin added.
MA COMMENT
When asked to comment on President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) recent remark that the timing is not appropriate for the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan at the moment, Tenzin said he felt sad.
“I don’t feel sad for the Dalai Lama, but I feel sad for my friends in Taiwan — it deprives them of the freedom of religion, and their right to learn from the Dalai Lama,” he said. “I’m a Buddhist, and I know how it feels.”
Tenzin then added that the incident shows that “the dictatorship in China not only undermines the freedom for Tibetans in Tibet, but also freedom in other countries.”
He also warned the Taiwanese to be cautious when developing a relationship with China.
He said that while many Tibetans insisted on resisting Chinese invasion in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Tibetan government at the time tried to convince the people that “if we’re nice to the Chinese, they would be nice to us as well” and some even suggested that working with the Chinese could improve the economy in Tibet.
“For a little gain, we’ve lost the entire economy; to appease the powerful neighbor, we’ve plunged into the greatest tragedy,” Tenzin said.
“We learned a bitter and harsh lesson. We don’t want our tragedy to happen to anyone else. We don’t want that to happen to the Taiwanese people,” he said. “Absolutely do not trust [the Chinese].”
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