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As China arrests monk, praises Tibet’s “progress”, Dalai Lama dismisses “ridiculous” policies
A monk arrested for honouring the Dalai Lama’s birthday day with well-wishing white scarves disappears. Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping praises Tibet’s progress during a visit to Lhasa. He also pledges to “smash” the Dalai Lama. The latter calls the Communist regime’s religious policies as “ridiculous”. He also ends discussion over his succession. “It’s my business,” he says.
Lhasa (AsiaNews) – Chinese police arrested a Buddhist monk on 6 July in the Tibetan county of Nagchu for wishing the Dalai Lama long life on his 76th birthday. In Lhasa, visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping praised Tibet’s “great progress”, vowing to crush “separatist activities” in the region. The Dalai Lama, for his part, announced that the succession question would be settled when he recognises his own rebirth.
Communist authorities detained Dorgay, a monk from Shabten Monastery. At 5 am on 5 July, he had started to walk around the county tying ‘khataks’, white scarves, on trees, electric poles and other such places. They inform the populace of coming religious festivities. The young monk, 22, wanted to honour the birthday of his religious leader.
On his way return to his monastery, he found Chinese police waiting for him. He confessed and was taken away. His whereabouts remain unknown.
Even though arrests are daily occurrences in Tibet, China’s Communist authorities do not appear to be too concerned. Speaking not far from the Potala Palace, the iconic building of Tibetan Buddhism and historic home of the Dalai Lama, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is on a visit to Tibet, praised the region’s great “progress”. At the same time, he pledged to “smash any attempt to undermine stability in Tibet”.
Speaking about the 60th anniversary of the invasion of the mountain nation by Mao Zedong’s Communist armies, Xi pointed the finger at the Dalai Lama, who just returned home in India after a visit to the United States where he met President Obama, accusing him of being a separatist. “We should fight against separatist activities by the Dalai group [. . .] and take measures to address [separatism’s] root causes,” he said.
One of the measures Beijing plans for Tibet’s future is directing the selection of the next Dalai Lama. Breaking with age-old traditions, the Communist regime has in fact imposed stringent political criteria for the recognition of “living Buddhas” who are part of Tibet’s ancestral religion, Buddhism. This way, Beijing hopes to put a faithful servant on the Tibetan throne following the death of the current Dalai Lama.
The latter has rejected such a possibility, calling it “ridiculous”. For the Nobel Prize winner, “The Dalai Lama's rebirth or next life logically, finally, [. . .] is my business, not others' business.”
Referring to Chinese leaders, he said, “Recently, they have some kind of policy [. . .], but that is quite ridiculous.”