Dalai Lama says Tibetan culture at risk/ENG

2012. április 28./Vancouver Sun/Tibet Sun/TibetPress

By Jeff Davis and Peter Henderson

Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said during a visit to Ottawa Friday that his people remain hopeful in the face of increasing oppression by Chinese authorities.

“Don’t feel hopeless or feel discouraged,” he said. “The more suppression, the stronger the Tibetan spirit.”

Addressing a group of MPs and senators from around the world at the 6th World Parliamentarians’ Convention on Tibet, he said Tibetan culture is at risk of cultural extinction at the hands of the Chinese.

“In our own area, there are tremendous difficulties,” he said. “The situation locally is one ancient nation, with very rich ancient cultural heritage, is actually dying.”

Nearly three dozen Tibetans have set themselves on fire in the last year as an act of protest against China, which has ruled Tibet for 60 years.

The Dalai Lama’s comments come at a time when Canada is striving to forge stronger economic ties with China, which has demonized the Dalai Lama as a separatist rebel and even compared him to the Nazis.

No official word was given as to whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper would meet the 76-year-old Buddhist monk until Friday morning. After his speech to the convention, the Dalai Lama was brought to the Prime Minister’s Office for a “private courtesy meeting” with Harper.

In 2006, the federal Conservative government angered the Communist regime by awarding the exiled spiritual leader honorary Canadian citizenship. When Harper and the Dalai Lama met in 2007, the Chinese Embassy warned Canada to “stop interfering with China’s internal affairs.”

Two years later, Harper chose not to meet with the Nobel Peace Prize winner while he was visiting Canada. Later in 2009, the prime minister received an invitation to Beijing.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, speaking at the convention, said Canada continues to encourage Chinese authorities to resume direct talks with the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in Dharamshala, India.

“Kundun, we are delighted to have you back,” Kenney said, using the name Tibetans often call him by, which means The Presence.

He said the government has responded to the Dalai Lama’s request to allow 1,000 Tibetans to immigrate to Canada.

Senior members of Tibet’s government in exile also visited, and said China should take heed of Canada’s federalist model that allows Quebec and Nunavut a degree of autonomy.

“There are many lessons to be learned from Canada by China about multiculturalism, trusting each other and living peacefully,” said Tibet’s parliamentary speaker, Penpa Tsering.

The Dalai Lama said China is sowing the seeds of dissent by oppressing ethnic minorities, evidenced by the increasing ethnic unrest in the Chinese province of East Turkistan (Ch: Xinjiang) and the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia.