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UPDATED: September 22, 2008 No.39 SEP.25, 2008
Facts Speak Louder Than Words
Is the Western world ignoring the real truth about Tibet?
By XU MINGXU
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In order to separate Tibet from China, the Dalai Lama has always severely criticized China's Tibet policy and his words have been echoed by some Western media and politicians. But facts prove that these criticisms are totally groundless.

As the Tibetan language does not have scientific or technological terms, the Chinese Government has to teach mathematics, physics and chemistry in schools in Tibet. But in the schools of exiled Tibetans in India that are run by the Dalai Lama clique, the science courses are taught in English. However, the Dalai Lama says that to use Chinese in science courses is the Chinese Government's plan to destroy the ancient, unique and beautiful Tibetan language.

In order to preserve and develop the Tibetan language, the Chinese Government has set up special institutions to create a glossary of science and technology in the Tibetan language. In 1994, the first science and technology dictionary in the three languages of Chinese, Tibetan and English was published, which is divided into three books of mathematics, physics and chemistry. Yet the Dalai Lama clique is unable to compile a Tibetan language science dictionary. Who pays more attention to the Tibetan language?

In old Tibet, monks accounted for a quarter of the region's males, while nuns in Tibet made up a small number. According to Buddhism, monks are forbidden to get married or take part in any non-religious work, which meant a quarter of Tibetan females had to remain single throughout their lives and took over the heavy physical work usually carried out by males. Tibetans practiced polygamy at that time, but due to economic reasons, it was not widely followed. In order to protect the human rights of women, the Chinese Government has set quotas on monks in temples. Despite this policy, today monks and nuns make up for 2 percent of Tibet's total population, much higher than the 0.7 percent proportion in a Buddhist country like Thailand. The Dalai Lama criticizes the quota on monks saying it will "destroy Tibet's religion," but he is actually trampling on the Tibetan women's human rights.

It is practiced in democratic countries all over the world that politics should be separated from religion. France and Japan even have this written into their constitutions, while the United States has articles of the same meaning in its constitution. The Dalai Lama spreads the concept of "Tibet independence" in the name of Buddha, calling on the Tibetan people to overthrow the Chinese Government, which is obviously interfering politics with religion. Some monks in Tibet have taken advantage of the power of religion to gather Tibetans to protest while holding "snow lion flags" that represent "Tibet independence," and even conducted beating, smashing, looting, burning and killing. When the Chinese Government tried to restore order after the riots, the Dalai Lama criticized the Chinese Government for "violating religious freedom." The riots are not religious activities. They are politically plotted to split the country, which violates the principle of the separation of politics and religion. No democratic government would tolerate this, let alone the violent crimes of beating, smashing, looting, burning and killing.

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