| "We oppose using radical actions, such as self-immolation, to disturb and undermine social harmony. These young Tibetan monks are innocent, and we feel deeply distressed by their behavior," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at a news conference after the conclusion of the annual session of the National People's Congress of China on March 14, responding to questions about the self-immolation of Tibetan monks.
The premier's response reflected the Central Government's stance on this issue as well as the feelings of the Chinese public. It was shocking and sad to see these monks took to themselves such a tragic act, as most of them are young people of around 20 years old—right in the prime of their lives. Local authorities and residents tried their best to put out the blaze and save them, but some of them still passed away.
China's tremendous grief formed a sharp contrast with responses by overseas separatists and some Western media, who immediately took extreme actions to attack China. They published graphic photos of the self-immolators burning, their life photos and personal profiles. Some groups even released a list of cash compensation for deaths or injuries through self-immolation.
However, the Dalai Lama, who claims to advocate for nonviolence, said nothing to discourage the recurrence of self-immolation attempts. Instead, he held a prayer meeting in Dharamsala, India, and took the initiative to fast for one day to show his support for the self-immolators.
Some of Dalai's backers named those who set themselves on fire "heroes" and "fighters," and called for a monument to be erected for them. Others even wrote articles to cook up a religious rationale for self-immolation. In the spate of such unscrupulous instigation attempts, Lobsang Sangay, the new head of the so-called "Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)", sang high praise of the courage of self-immolators in a statement, saying that "their actions are the strong protest against the Chinese Government's vain promise to build a socialist paradise and retain Tibet's ethnic customs and features." Out of ulterior motives, he even linked the self-immolations by Tibetan monks to political issues including the so-called "racial oppression, religious persecution and cultural genocide."
Despite the vilification of the Dalai Lama and his backers, the fact remains that China always acts according to its fundamental system of regional autonomy in Tibet, as reiterated by Premier Wen at the press conference on March 14.
"Tibet still lags behind the central and eastern parts of the country, though significant progress has been made in its economic and social development. To change this situation and raise the living standards there, the Central Government has taken proactive measures, including the formulation and implementation of new plans," said Wen.
The premier also said that it's equally important to protect Tibet's eco-environment, culture and traditions while developing its economy.
"We fully respect Tibetan compatriots' freedom of religious belief and their religious belief is protected by law," Wen stressed. "We must treat all our Tibetan compatriots with equality and respect, and continue to improve our work in this respect."
China practices the same policies in Tibet as in other Tibetan-inhabited areas. In addition to protecting the Tibetan compatriots' religious belief, the Central Government has allocated a large amount of funds to restore and maintain ancient temples and monasteries, and taken steps to gradually increase the social welfare and healthcare coverage for the monks and nuns, so that they can practice Buddhism without any worries. There are many examples for these efforts.
In Aba Qiang and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in southwestern Sichuan Province, there are currently 5,226 monks in 42 Tibetan Buddhist monasteries well-preserved by the government. Different Buddhist sects also coexist in harmony with each other.
The separatists have once again fabricated such sensational stories as "religious persecution" by sacrificing young Tibetan people's lives, with the ultimate motive of attracting the attention of the international community and achieving their goal of "Tibet Independence." They believed that they could internationalize the Tibet issue, an attempt to move forward with their separatist plot by attacking the Chinese Government's ethnic and religious policies and denying the fact that Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas have achieved great social and economic development and great improvement to local people's living standards.
The self-immolations caused extraordinary concern from the pundits of Tibetan Buddhism. Living Buddha Gyalton, Vice President of the Buddhist Association of Sichuan Province, called for alertness against the religious extremism that Tibetan Buddhism might be cajoled into. Gyalton said the consecutive incidents of self-immolation have sparked great confusion and disapproval within a wide range of social sectors. Tibetan Buddhism could possibly lose its identity in modern society if it is manipulated by a minority for political schemes, neglecting its principles and abandoning its teachings in a changing society.
Some scholars define religious extremism as "religion related demands and requirements which are biased and extreme. It also includes the actions and measures which are adopted to achieve the goal." Religious extremism is a malignant tumor, and if uncontrolled, it can cause severe damage to both national security and social stability. For Tibetan Buddhism, extreme actions like self-immolation, whatever their purposes are, would likely exacerbate into religious extremism if not curtailed. Continued influence by the secessionists of the Dalai Lama clique would seriously distort the image of Tibetan Buddhism and disturb its social standing. Meanwhile, it will certainly disturb the harmonious bond between Tibetan Buddhism and modern social institutions and cause confusion among the monks, especially those who are still young, which could veer the religion off its normal course.
The Dalai Lama and his backers have long been involved in the manipulation of various violent riots in Tibet Autonomous Region and its neighbors. Their involvement is marked with terrorist tactics under the guise of preservation of Tibetan culture and religion.
On March 14, 2008, the criminal riot resulted in huge losses among innocents in Tibet and its neighboring regions, where people were attacked and robbed, and their possessions were set on fire.
Since 2009, religious instigators preached under the pretense of peaceful campaign and distorted Buddhist principles and rules, leading to the loss of numerous innocent lives. When self-immolation lost its shock factor as the public, comprising both religious and non-religious groups, began denouncing the acts, the religious instigators were worried they would lose the world's attention. In desperation, they initiated conflicts with the police—rushing to the police stations, beating officers on duty—during the Spring Festival this year in an attempt to pressure the Central Government by drawing public attention.
As the secessionists are at their wits' end, we couldn't help thinking that the Dalai Lama and the so-called "CTA" has decided to throw off their embellished veils of "middle-of-the-road" and "non-violence," now resorting to unmasked violence that has been constantly touted by the "Tibetan Youth Congress." No matter what they have said or done, we will unswervingly hold to the belief that Tibetan people are amiable, generous, peace-loving and outstanding. The pursuit for peace and development is true and heartfelt, voiced not only by Tibetan people, but also the rest of the country and the world. Therefore, the extremism and violence will not prevail and their causes are doomed to fail.
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