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Tibet China Dali Lama |
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Tibet China Dali Lama |
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TIBET |
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A
Journey into Tibet: the people, the Dalai Lama and China |
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| The 14th and Current Dalai Lama was
born in 1935 and has been greatly influenced by
Western contacts. He has expanded his
sympathizers for Chinas occupation of Tibet with each
new generation. With the 2008 Olympics quickly
approaching many have used the event to protest
China's refusal to recognize Tibet as self ruling. |
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 OF
ARTICLE |
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China
and Tibet's seventeen Point Agreement |
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| In 1950 The
Chinese Liberation Army entered into the eastern regions
of Tibet and quickly overtook the Tibetan soldiers in the
area by surprise. An agreement was accepted by China and Tibet known
as the "Seventeen Point Agreement For The Peaceful
Liberation of Tibet." In 1959 prior to fleeing to
neighboring India, the Dalai Lama repudiated the treaty based
on China's violation of many points within the agreement. |
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Text of the 'Seventeen Point Agreement' - 23rd May 1951
Agreement on Measures for the
Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. Signed and sealed in Beijing on
23 May 1951. The preamble to the agreement stressed that Tibet
had a "long history within the boundaries of China," outlined
the aggressive imperialist forces in Tibet that needed to be
"successfully eliminated" and claimed that both parties
(Tibetans and Chinese People's Government - CPG) had, as a
result of talks, agreed to "establish the agreement and ensure
that it be carried into effect."
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The Tibetan people
shall unite and drive out imperialist aggressive forces from
Tibet; the Tibetan people shall return to the big family of
the Motherland the People's Republic of China (PRC).
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The local government
of Tibet shall actively assist the PLA to enter Tibet and
consolidate the national defenses.
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In accordance with the
policy towards nationalities laid down in the Common
Programme of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Committee, the Tibetan people have the right of exercising
national regional autonomy under the unified leadership of
the CPG.
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The central
authorities will not alter the existing political system in
Tibet. The central authorities also will not alter the
established status, functions and powers of the Dalai Lama.
Officials of various ranks shall hold office as usual.
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The established
status, functions and powers of the Panchen Ngoerhtehni
shall be maintained.
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By the established
status, functions and powers of the Dalai Lama and of the
Panchen Ngoerhtehni are meant the status, functions and
powers of the thirteenth Dalai Lama and the ninth Panchen
Ngoerhtehni when they had friendly and amicable relations
with each other.
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The policy of freedom
of religious belief laid down in the common program of the
CPPCC shall be carried out. The religious beliefs, customs
and habits of the Tibetan people shall be respected and lama
monasteries shall be protected. The central authorities will
not effect a change in the income of the monasteries.
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Tibetan troops shall
be reorganized step by step into the PLA and become a part
of the defense force of the PRC.
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The spoken and written
language and school education of the Tibetan nationality
shall be developed step by step in accordance with the
actual conditions in Tibet.
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Tibetan agriculture,
livestock raising, industry and commerce shall be developed
step by step and the people's livelihood shall be improved
step by step in accordance with the actual conditions in
Tibet.
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In matters relating to
various reforms in Tibet, there will be no compulsion on the
part of the central authorities. The local government of
Tibet shall carry out reforms of its own accord, and, when
the people raise demands for reform, they shall be settled
by means of consultation with the leading personnel of
Tibet.
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In so far as former
pro-imperialists and pro-Kuomintang [Guomindang] officials
resolutely sever relations with imperialism and the
Kuomintang [Guomindang] and do not engage in sabotage or
resistance, they may continue to hold office irrespective of
their past.
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The PLA entering Tibet
shall abide by all the above-mentioned policies and shall
also be fair in all buying and selling and shall not
arbitrarily take a needle or thread from the people.
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The CPG shall have
centralized handling of all external affairs of the area of
Tibet; and there will be peaceful co-existence with
neighboring countries and establishment and development of
fair commercial and trading relations with them on the basis
of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect for territory
and sovereignty.
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In order to ensure the
implementation of this agreement, the CPG shall set up a
Military and Administrative Committee and a Military Area HQ
in Tibet and - apart from the personnel sent there by the
CPG - shall absorb as many local Tibetan personnel as
possible to take part in the work. Local Tibetan personnel
taking part in the Military and Administrative Committee may
include patriotic elements from the local government of
Tibet, various districts and various principal monasteries;
the name list shall be set forth after consultation between
the representatives designated by the CPG and various
quarters concerned and shall be submitted to the CPG for
appointment.
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Funds needed by the
military and Administrative Committee, the Military Area HQ
and the PLA entering Tibet shall be provided by the CPG. The
local government of Tibet should assist the PLA in the
purchase and transport of food, fodder and other daily
necessities.
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This agreement shall
come into force immediately after signature and seals are
affixed to it.
Signed and sealed by the
delegates of the CPG with full powers by Chief Delegate Li
Weihan (Chairman of the Commission of Nationalities Affairs)
and three delegates. Delegates with full powers of the local
government of Tibet by Chief Delegate Kaloon Ngabou Ngawang
Jigme (Ngabo Shape) and four delegates. |
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CONTINUE TO PAGE 3 of 3
of Article. |
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DALAI LAMA FACT FILE:
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Each Dalai Lama is
reincarnation of a previous Dalai Lama |
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His
Holiness the Dalai Lama is a man of peace. In 1989 he was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent struggle for
the liberation of Tibet.
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In September 1987 His
Holiness proposed the Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet as the
first step towards a peaceful solution to the worsening
situation in Tibet. He envisaged that Tibet would become a
sanctuary; a zone of peace at the heart of Asia, where all
sentient beings can exist in harmony and the delicate
environment can be preserved |
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The
Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of
Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion
and patron saint of Tibet
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In 1959, with the
brutal suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa
by Chinese troops, His Holiness was forced to escape into
exile. Since then he has been living in Dharamsala, northern
India, the seat of the Tibetan political administration in
exile. |
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His
Holiness the Dalai Lama was recognized at the age of two as
the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama.
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China has occupied Tibet since the communist nation laid claim
to the historically sovereign state in 1950. Prior to
this event China had not had a delegation consistently there
since 1911. |
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In
1950, at 16, His Holiness was called upon to assume full
political power as Head of State and Government when Tibet was
threatened by the might of China
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The Dalai Lama entered
political exile in 1959 and fled to his peaceful neighbor
India. |
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Jiang Zemin, when he
was in command of China, complained that he could not
understand why the West, where "education in science and
technology has developed to a very high level . . . enjoying
modern civilization," could have any truck with backward and
superstitious Tibet. |
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In 1963, His Holiness
promulgated a democratic constitution, based on Buddhist
principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a
model for a future free Tibet. |
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