May 24, 2008
Tibetans offer Solace to China Quake Victims through Prayers
Monday, 19 May 2008, 2:46 p.m.
The Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration organised a special prayer session for the victims of the powerful earthquake that rocked southwestern parts of China, at the main Buddhist temple in Dharamshala, India, on 14 May 2008/File Photo
Dharamshala: Thousands of Tibetan people congregated at the Tsuglagkhang (main temple) here Monday to offer their deep sympathy and prayers to the families of those thousands of people killed and injured in the two recent natural calamities - cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and the earthquake that struck southwestern parts of China.
Similar prayer sessions are also held simultaneously in all the Tibetan settlements across India, Nepal and Bhutan under the aegis of local Tibetan solidarity committees.
According to official Xinhua news agency, the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that jolted Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province in southwest China on 12 May, has caused deaths over 22,000 and 4.8 million people have lost their homes.
In his address, Karma Chophel, speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile in his address said: "The Central Tibetan Administration and all the Tibetan people in exile convey their heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the devastating earthquake and stands in solidarity with the Chinese people in this hour of grief and sadness."
As a mark of respect, the speaker appealed to all Tibetans to put off protests in front of Chinese embassies until the end of May.
Speaker Karma Chophel addressing a press conference after a special congregation organised at the main Buddhists temple in Dharamshala, India, on 19 May 2008/Photo: Bangchen
He said: "We welcome Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the affected areas to bring solace and take stock of the situation in a time of such disaster."
The speaker, however, condemned the Chinese government's double standard attitude towards handling of crisis in China and that of Tibet. He said the earthquake in China drew immediate attention of the highest echelons of the communist party, with both the Premier Wen Jiaboa and President Hu Jintao visiting the affected areas and mobilising troops to expedite saving human lives. On the contrary, in Tibet, hundreds of Tibetans have lost their lives and injured and thousands have been as a result of the Chinese military crackdown on peaceful protesters.
He expressed concern that Tibetans might have affected by the earthquake, since the largely hit areas by the powerful quake also include Tibetan inhabited Lungu county (Ch: Wen Chuang), Tashi Ling county (Ch; Lixian), Sungchu county (Ch:Song Pan), Trochu county (Ch: Xiao Jing) and Maowen county (Ch: Mao Wen) under Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (TAP) in Sichuan Province.
"In this hour of tragedy, we hope and appeal to the Central Government of the People's Republic of China to deliver timely rescue and relief to all the affected areas, without any distinction of people and place," he added.
He also urged the Chinese government to halt all repressive measures in Tibet and to respect Tibetan people's sentiment by adopting a realistic approach of reviewing its policies in Tibet.
In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake hit China, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration extended deep sympathy, heartfelt condolences and prayers to those affected families.
On 14 May, a special prayer congregation was organised by the Department of Religion and Culture at the main temple here, led by monks of the Namgyal Monastery.
http://www.tibet.net/en/flash/2008/0508/190508.html
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Dalai Lama In Germany, "Sad" About China Quake
Published: Friday, 16 May, 2008
The Dalai Lama (L) and President of the German lower house of parliament Bundestag, Norbert Lammert answer reporter's questions during a news conference at a hotel in Bochum, May 15, 2008. REUTERS/Volker Hartmann/Pool (GERMANY)
Frankfurt, Germany, 15 May 2008 (by Madeline Chambers, Reuters) - The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, on Thursday expressed sadness at the deaths of at least 20,000 Chinese in an earthquake and announced a prayer meeting for the victims. He arrived in Frankfurt to begin a five-day tour of Germany, his first visit to Europe since unrest in Tibetan areas of China in March triggered riots, killings, mass arrests and accusations by Beijing that the Dalai Lama was responsible for the uprising. "(The Chinese earthquake victims are) also human beings, (they suffer) the same pain so as soon as we heard that and also saw pictures ... in Dharamsala, we really felt very, very sad," he said at an impromptu news conference shortly after landing.
"And we are going to organise a prayer meeting, I think today or tomorrow, in Dharamsala," he said.
Chinese troops marched into Tibet in 1950. The Dalai Lama fled the region in 1959 after a failed uprising against communist rule and is now based in Dharamsala in India. He calls for more autonomy for Tibet rather than full independence.
Representatives of the Dalai Lama held talks with Chinese officials this month. The exiled Tibetan leader said on Thursday he hoped Chinese President Hu Jintao would show "more seriousness" about the meetings.
"Hopefully, eventually, some genuine constructive understanding of the discussion can take place," he said.
A political row has erupted in Germany over the visit as senior figures including Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and President Horst Koehler have declined to meet the Dalai Lama.
They may have been put off by the storm which erupted last year when Chancellor Angela Merkel received him in Berlin and soured relations with China for months.
Merkel will not meet the Dalai Lama this time as she is travelling to Latin America. However, the government has announced that cabinet minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, responsible for development issues, will meet him on Monday.
The news drew criticism from the Chinese embassy in Berlin.
"The Dalai Lama is a political griper who has been engaged in separatist activities for a long time," said an embassy spokesman, adding any meeting with a member of the German government would be a "wrong signal".
http://www.dalailama.com/news.249.htm
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Dalai Lama offers help to the Chinese
Sara Hashash
THE Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, has made a gesture of goodwill to China by announcing that he wants to donate to the Chinese earthquake fund, despite Beijing’s denunciations of the “Dalai clique” and its description of him as “a demon”.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, he said he was worried that a gift to the victims would be misunderstood by China, which accuses him of helping to foment the riots that struck Tibet in March.
The Dalai Lama, who is due to meet Gordon Brown in London this week, adopted a conciliatory tone in his remarks on China, giving strong backing for the Olympics and expressing his desire to become a fully fledged Chinese citizen. “At the moment I am a refugee. But I would like to return to Tibet as a member of China’s Tibetan minority,” he said.
Although many of his supporters have called for a boycott of the Olympics, the Dalai Lama said he would have liked to attend them. “It is right that China should have been awarded them,” he said. “It has the world’s largest population and a great and ancient culture. In normal circumstances I would very much like to have gone to Beijing as a spectator.”
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The Dalai Lama also showed a deep-rooted desire to return to Tibet and begin a new life as a monk in a monastery. Aged 72, he predicted that he would retire to a life of tranquillity by the time he was 80: “As soon as the situation does improve and I am able to return to Tibet, I will immediately renounce all legitimate authority.”
However, he made it clear that he could not go home before China granted Tibet access to the world’s media, medical aid from overseas, the release of all political prisoners and the exercise of human rights.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/china/article3953902.ece
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