Brussels (AsiaNews/Agencies) – China lacks the moral authority of a real super-power: the Dalai Lama told the European Parliament Assembly in Brussels yesterday. The Tibetan leader affirmed that Beijing deserves to be a super-power, given the dimensions of its population, its military and economic strength, but “one important factor is moral authority and that is lacking”.
The Dalai Lama quoted “its very poor record on human rights and religious freedom and freedom of expression and freedom of the press” adding that because of “too much censorship …the image of China in the field of moral authority is very, very poor,”.
According to the Nobel Laureate, this moral authority should be expressed in terms of resolving the issues of Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The Dalai Lama’s arrival at the European Parliament was greeted with applause; some parliamentarians even waved Tibetan flags.
Hans-Gert Pöttering, Parliament President, assured him that Europe will continue to “defend the rights of the Tibetan people to their cultural and religious identity.”
“If we give up the battle for these principals – he said – we are living up on ourselves”. He went on to ask Chinese authorities to “give proof” of their real commitment to dialogue with Tibetans. That will lead to concrete results.
Following the repression in Lhasa last March, French President Nicolas Sarkozy – who currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union – had threatened to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games if Beijing failed to return to dialogue with the exiled Tibetan government that had been stalled for years. Ahead of the Olympics China restarted talks, but that have proved fruitless because China continues to accuse the Dalia Lama o aiming to divide “the Chinese nation”.
The Dalai Lama repeated before the European Parliament that he does not want Tibetan independence, but Tibetan autonomy to save it from the “cultural genocide” currently taking place under Chinese occupation.
The Tibetan leader is due today in Gdansk, Poland to celebrate together with other Noble Laureates the 25th anniversary of the Nobel Peace prize given to Lech Walesa. There he will also meet with French President Sarkozy.
The open support of the Tibetan cause – just as the Sakharov prize awarded to democratic dissident Hu Jia – show a change in the EU’s tone towards Beijing. Because of this China has threatened economic consequences, but a French representative has downplayed the threats, underlining that “the Chinese need Western investments”, above all during the current economic crises.
In China the Sarkozy’s decision to meet with the Dalai Lama has provoked strong criticism against France and nationalists’ blogs are demanding a boycott of French products. Liu Jianchao, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, while ex pressing is “dissatisfaction” at the French and European position, has asked the Chinese public to behave “calmly and rationally”.
