China yesterday accused the Dalai Lama of trying to “create chaos” in Tibet, on the eve of the sensitive anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule that drove the Buddhist monk into exile.
Two years ago, protests in Lhasa to mark the anniversary of the March 10, 1959, uprising descended into violence, prompting a massive security clampdown in the region that is ongoing.
“If there were no anti-China forces or no Dalai to destroy and create chaos, Tibet would be better off than it is today,” Tibet’s Chinese Communist Party secretary Zhang Qingli (張慶黎) said in an interview posted on a government Web site. “Although anti-China forces and the Dalai clique are trying to ... destroy our harmony and stability, they can never shake our heartfelt belief that China cannot live without Tibet and Tibet cannot live without China.”
China would continue to pour investment into Tibet in an effort to develop the economy of the region and raise the living standards of its people, Zhang said.
“Tibet has witnessed the fastest-ever development in its history [under China’s rule],” Qiangba Puncog, head of Tibet’s legislature, said on Sunday.
Over the last eight years, Tibet has witnessed more than 12 percent economic growth annually as 180 billion yuan (US$26 billion) was poured into infrastructure in the region, mostly by the central government, he said.
Zhang said such investment would continue in the coming years and would remain the bedrock of Beijing’s efforts to ensure “socialism with Chinese characteristics” in Tibet.
Zhang insisted that Tibetans enjoyed full freedom of religion, but that police crackdowns in the region were largely due to “anti-China and separatist forces inciting monks into doing bad things.”
Meanwhile, Indian police said yesterday they had detained nearly two dozen Tibetan exiles outside the Chinese embassy in New Dehli.
Chanting “Free Tibet,” the protesters had tried to rush the embassy gate but were blocked by police.
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