Buddhist precepts tell followers to be good to their word and never lie. The Buddhist Dalai Lama clique, however, seem to have never quite followed these teachings.

On March 14, violence of riotous beating, looting and arson erupted in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China. The following day, the Dalai Lama said in Dharamshala that "these protests are a manifestation of the deep-rooted resentment of the Tibetan people under the present governance."

On March 28, he wrote in a lenthy statement, "Chinese brothers and sisters, I assure you I have no desire to seek Tibet's separation. Nor do I have any wish to drive a wedge between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples."

However, the past decades have seen the Dalai Lama clique, a real trouble maker, constantly break its words.

First, examine what the Dalai Lama clique has said and what it has actually done since the 1950s.

In May 1951, representatives of the central government and the Tibet local government signed an agreement on the region's peaceful liberation, widely known as the 17 Pacts.

On Oct. 24, the Dalai Lama telegraphed Chairman Mao Zedong, saying the agreement had won unanimous support from the Tibet local government and the Tibetan people, including monks and civilians.

Besides, the telegraph said, under the leadership of Chairman Mao and the central government, the Tibet local government and people would actively assist the People's Liberation Army in Tibetto consolidate national defense and banish imperialist forces from the region to safeguard the motherland's unity in territory and sovereignty.

In March 1955, the Dalai Lama attended the first session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing and was elected vice chairman of the NPC standing committee.

Before leaving Beijing, he presented to Chairman Mao a gilded dharma and a gilded picture frame with Mao's picture in it. The bottom part of the frame was engraved in both Tibetan and Chinese with such words as "Beloved Chairman Mao, we will follow you forever in building a new Tibet and building the great motherland."

On Oct. 1, 1958, the Dalai Lama published an article in the People's Daily, saying: "The Tibetans are one of the ethnic groups with a long history within the Chinese territory. Since returning to the big family of the motherland, the Tibetan people, together with other ethnic brothers, have fully enjoyed the rights of freedom and equality."

However, merely months later, the Dalai Lama and his backers tore up the agreement on Tibet's peaceful liberation and backed the armed rebellion of the secessionist forces. They fled abroad to form a "Tibetan government-in-exile".

The Dalai Lama has been trying to build an image that he is eager to talk with the Chinese government but was turned down by the latter. Whether this is the truth or not, we need to revisit the more recent record.

On March 1979, China's late state leader, Deng Xiaoping, met with a private envoy of the Dalai Lama in person. Deng told him: "Tibet is part of China. This is the basic principle and criteria to judge whether the behavior is right or not."

In the following years, the Chinese government received a number of delegations sent by the Dalai Lama, including most of his family members who fled abroad, according to a government source.

Those people spread the word on "Tibet independence" during their journeys to Tibet, undertaken in the name of touring and visiting people.

In the 1980s, the Dalai Lama put forth his "middle course" on Tibet: greater autonomy in so-called "Greater Tibet," which coversa much larger area than the present Tibet.

The two schemes featuring this topic, the "five-point peace plan" he presented to the U.S. Congress in 1987 and the "new seven-point proposal" presented in the hall of the European Parliament in Strasbourg in 1988, did not stray from "Tibet independence" and still advocated that Tibet was an "independent country" in history.

While sparing no effort to mislead the international community,he and his supporters masterminded riots in Lhasa in 1989, joininghands with foreign forces.

In early 1989 when the 10th Panchen Lama, another grand living Buddha of Tibet, passed away, then Chairman of the Buddhist Association of China Zhao Puchu personally handed a letter to the Dalai Lama's private envoy in which he invited the Dalai Lama to return to China for mourning ceremonies.

However, he refused the invitation and missed a valuable chanceto talk with the Chinese government face to face, despite having frequently said he was homesick.

During an anti-China whirlwind in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Dalai Lama and his followers immediately tuned their attitude towards "negotiations with China" -- he was in no hurry to talk with the Chinese government that he thought would "collapse" soon.

Dealing with such a person, who can blow hot and cold, the Chinese government has shown the greatest patience.

At this year's legislative season, Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated that the door of dialogue remains open to the Dalai Lama, so long as he gives up "Tibet independence", stops splitting and sabotaging activities, and recognizes Tibet and Taiwan as inalienable parts of the Chinese territory.

This week, the Dalai Lama told U.S. media: "The Chinese government wants me to say that for many centuries Tibet has been part of China. Even if I make that statement, many people would just laugh. And my statement will not change past history. History is history."

Yes, history is history. Judging from the history of the 14th Dalai Lama, he just did not act as he said. It was the Dalai Lama clique that closed the door of dialogue.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2008)