China stresses opposition to Dalai Lama's travels

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu said he would boycott a conference for Nobel Prize laureates on Friday after South Africa denied a visa to the Buddhist monk China brands a separatist and calls a reactionary who seeks to split off nearly a quarter of the land mass of the People's Republic of China. South African media said the denial was due to Chinese pressure.

The Dalai Lama has been banned from entering South Africa to participate in a conference that was expected to use soccer as a way of fighting xenophobia and racism ahead of the 2010 World Cup

Dalai LamaChina said on Tuesday it will continue to oppose the Dalai Lama's trips to other countries after South Africa denied the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader entry, causing a stir among fellow Nobel Prize winners. China has been using its diplomatic clout to try to block the pro-Tibetan message.

"Regarding the Dalai Lama's overseas activities, we resolutely oppose any country's government having official contact with the Dalai Lama or enabling or offering a platform for his splittist activities," Qin Gang told reporters.

"We also resolutely oppose any foreign country using the Tibet issue to interfere in China's internal affairs ... We express our appreciation to any country that respects China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, supports the 'One China' principle and opposes Tibetan independence."

The Dalai Lama says he seeks greater rights, including religious freedom, and true autonomy for Tibetans. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

Taiwan's Minister of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs commission, Kao Su-po, told Taiwanese lawmakers that"the time is not opportune" for the Dalai Lama to visit the island, after the Association of Taiwan Journalists invited him, the mainland's state-run China Daily said on Tuesday.

In 1997 and 2001, the Dalai Lama visited self-ruled Taiwan, which China views as a breakaway province to be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Last week, the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Hong Kong said the Chinese Foreign Ministry had asked it to cancel a scheduled talk by a representative of the International Campaign for Tibet.

The talk was postponed so the Chinese government could find a speaker to represent its view, the FCC said in a note on its website.

China last year cancelled a summit with the European Union after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he planned to meet the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama, together with tens of thousands of exiled Tibetans, has lived in India since he fled Lhasa after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

Foto: Beat Pfändler

The 14th Dalai Lama – Biography

His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. Dalai Lama means Ocean of Wisdom and he is considered to be the manifestation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. The contemporary Dalai Lama was born Lhamo Dhondrub on 6 July 1935 in Takster, a small village in north eastern Tibet. Born to a peasant family, he was prophetically recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama and brought to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. On 22 February, 1940, age four and a half, his was enthroned and renamed Tenzin Gyatso.

Educated by monastic teachers, he began his exceedingly intensive monastic education at the age of six. He completed the Geshe Lharampa Degree (Doctorate of Buddist Philosophy) at the age of twenty-five.
In the summer of 1949, the Peoples Liberation Army invaded Tibet. Shortly afterwards on 17 November, 1950, the fifteen year old Dalai Lama was called upon to assume full political power of Tibet (head of State and Government). On 9 September 1951 the Chinese army marched into Lhasa and occupied it.
In 1954, His Holiness went to Beijing in an attempt to talk peace with Mao Tsetung. However, his efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to the conflict between Tibet and China, were thwarted by China’s ruthless policy in Eastern Tibet. This ignited a popular uprising, calling on China to leave Tibet. On 10. March, 1959 Lhasa exploded with the Tibetan National Uprising, the largest demonstration in Tibetan history. It was brutally crushed by the Chinese army and around 90 000 Tibetan lost their lives in this last rearing. In 1960, the Dalai Lama with some 80,000 Tibetan refugees escaped to India where they were given political asylum.
Since 1960, the Dalai Lama has resided in Dharamsala, North India, known as “Little Lhasa”, the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. In his early years of exile, His Holiness appealed to the United Nations on the question of Tibet. This resulted in three resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in 1959, 1961, and 1965. These resolutions called upon China to respect the human rights of the Tibetans and their desire for self-determination. With the newly constituted Tibetan Government-in-exile, His Holiness saw as his immediate task to save the Tibetan exiles and their culture. Tibetan refugees were rehabilitated in agricultural settlements, economic development was promoted and a Tibetan school and University system were created. Over 200 monasteries have been able to re-establish themselves in exile.

In 1963, His Holiness promulgated a democratic constitution based on Buddhist principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It serves as a model for a free Tibet in the future. He publicly declared that once Tibet regained her independence he would not hold political office. In 1988, he proposed a Five-Point Peace Plan with the eventual goal of a self-governing democratic Tibet “in association with the People’s Republic of China”.

On his travels through 46 countries and in his encounters with other religious leaders and politicians His Holiness has persistently pleaded for a peaceful solution to the Tibet question, as also peaceful solutions to other international conflicts, human rights issues and global environmental problems.

In recognition of his tireless commitment to a non-violent liberation of Tibet and the understanding between peoples and religions, His Holiness was awarded the Peace Prize on 10 December 1989, the highest of his numerous international awards.

Tibet (Tibet Autonomous Region) Destination Tibet, a virtual travel guide to the "Land of Snows". Tibet is located in Asia, north of India, on the Tibetan Plateau, the world's highest region. Since China's "Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" in 1949-50, Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China. This page aims to give you a broad overview on Tibet's art, culture, people, environment, geography, history, economy and government. Beside a country profile with facts and figures, the page contains links to sources which provide you with all the information you need to know about this nation, e.g.: official web sites of Tibet, Tibet issues, city- and country guides with travel and tourism information on accommodation, tourist attractions and more like weather information, maps, statistics and news from and about Tibet.

Tenzin Gyatso, Tibet's 14th Dalai Lama

	Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) | Xizang Zizhiqu	Country Profile
	Flag of Tibet Background: Tibet is comprised of the three provinces of Amdo (now split by China into the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu & Sichuan), Kham (largely incorporated into the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Qinghai), and U-Tsang (which, together with western Kham, is today referred to by China as the Tibet Autonomous Region). The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) comprises less than half of historic Tibet and was created by China in 1965 for administrative reasons. It is important to note that when Chinese officials and publications use the term "Tibet" they mean only the TAR. Tibetans use the term Tibet to mean the three provinces described above, i.e., the area traditionally known as Tibet before the 1949-50 invasion. (Source: The Office of Tibet)

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HE DALAI LAMA

(Born 1935)

The 14th Dalai Lama was born Lhamo Thondup on July 6th, 1935: to peasant farmers in Taktser, a poverty-stricken village above a wide valley in north-eastern Tibet. Buddhist priests from Lhasa, Tibet's capital were guided by omens to come for the boy when he was only 2 years old. The head of the 13th Dalai Lama had turned in his coffin towards the child's village. Another high priest had seen a vision of a house above a lake. The boy from Taktser was judged to be a reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama and an incarnation of Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion.

Renamed Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, the future Dalai Lama was reared by monks in the huge Potala Place in Lhasa. When 15 years old, having been tutored in Buddhist doctrine, he formally became head of Tibet, the political and spiritual leader of 6 million people. Almost simultaneously, neighbouring China attacked at six points along the border.

The Chinese Government says their system of government liberated the Tibetan people who had been down-trodden by a feudal theocracy of successive Dalai Lamas. On the other hand many Tibetans say communism was never their wish and they always considered the Dalai Lamas to be benevolent rulers. They claim the Chinese are now "re-educating" the overwhelmingly religious people to a Chinese way of thought and lifestyle.

In 1959 the Dalai Lama crossed the Himalayan passes and was granted political asylum in India. A humorous and accessible man, he has been followed into exile by well over a hundred thousand other Tibetans. In 1963, he drafted a democratic constitution under which they, and Tibetans anywhere in the world, could be elected representatives of the government-in-exile. This constitution is a blend of Buddhist teachings and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In 1989 the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize for his consistent opposition to the use of force in Tibet's struggle for freedom. The Nobel Committee remarked: "The Dalai Lama has developed his philosophy of peace from a great reverence for all things living and upon the concept of universal responsibility embracing all mankind." He himself says: "I am just a simple Buddhist monk -- no more, no less."

Dalai Lama

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is regarded by Tibetan Buddhists as one of a succession of incarnations of the Bodhisattva of compassion, Chenrezig ("the Seeing-Eye" Lord), who has long been considered to be the patron deity of Tibet.

The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the fourteenth and is both the head of state of Tibet and the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. He has lived in exile in Dharamsala, India, since 1959 due to the Chinese invasion of Tibet. Dharamsala is the current location of the Tibetan Government in Exile.

In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for leading the non-violent struggle for the liberation of Tibet from Chinese communist oppression. He has consistently advocated policies of non-violence, even in the face of extreme aggression. He also became the first Nobel Laureate to be recognized for his concern for global environmental problems.^[1]

In May of 1995, the Dalai Lama recognized six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. (Custom dictates that only the Dalai Lama can recognize the reincarnation of the next Panchen Lama, and vice versa.) Days later, the boy and his family were taken into custody by the Chinese government. In November, the government nominated its own puppet Panchen Lama. Despite appeals, the Chinese government has not allowed any outside contact with the kidnapped boy or his family.^[2]

"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions."

Dalai Lama on Abstinence

The Dalai Lama has proclaimed a firm position in favor of abstinence, showing that the wisdom of abstaining until marriage is central to many religions around the world. He said, "Sexual pressure, sexual desire, actually I think is short period satisfaction and often, that leads to more complication."

Dalai Lama to visit Derry 21.05.07

The Dalai Lama will be the keynote speaker at the Children in Crossfire 10th anniversary conference in Derry in July.
The two-day seminar titled 'A Promise for the Future' will be held on July 17th and July 18th in the City Hotel and Millennium Forum.

Children in Crossfire was founded in 1996 by Richard Moore who was shot and blinded in 1972 as he walked home from school at the age of 10. The charity aims, through a multi-agency approach, to eradicate child poverty throughout the world. A number of other speakers will also take part in the July event including Jane

Olson of Human Rights Watch, veteran journalist Fergal Keane and Irish Foreign Affairs Minister, Dermot Ahern. It will take the form of a variety of talks and workshops on children's rights with delegates getting the chance to exchange experiences and engage in critical dialogue. The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He was born into a peasant family and was recognised, at the age of two, in accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 13th Dalai Lama. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.