Official: the Chinese people never allow other countries to interfere with internal affairs (6)
Official: the Chinese people never allow other countries to interfere with internal affairs (6)
10:13, October 17, 2009 
Email | Print | Subscribe | Comments | Forum 
All ethnic groups living in Tibet enjoy full freedom of religious belief and rights to criticism.
Focus: During our visit to Tibet, we also talked with some young people there who appreciated the great improvement in their lives and the rapid development in Tibet. But they felt that the progress of modernization was too fast and the promotion of religion, including Buddhism, was mostly limited in monasteries. The people was afraid to be punished if they preach religion in public.
Zhu: It is a strange idea to blame that the progress of modernization in Tibet was too fast. Although Tibet has made rapid progress in recent years, it has lagged far behind the country's east and central regions. We think modernization in Tibet should be even faster other than too fast. As far as religion is concerned, we implement the same policy of freedom of religious belief in Tibet and the rest of the country. The freedom of religious belief is fully respected and protected in China, and there are no obstacles. Currently, there are 1,787 monasteries and 46,000 monks in Tibet. Compared with the total 2.8 million population in the region, the proportion of monks is quite high. There is not the problem that anyone who criticizes Tibet's reality would face punishment.
Focus: I don't have any doubt about China's policy on the freedom of religious belief. What I want to ask is if there is any freedom of the expression of views or making criticism. Another question is about religious lessons or Buddhist lessons, as most religious teachers are in monasteries. If anybody is unsatisfied about something and making criticism loudly, he might be in great danger, as there are many soldiers and policemen in Tibet, and people might feel threatened.
Zhu: Throughout China, of course including Tibet, citizens have freedom to make criticism on our work and the problems that emerge during development. Such criticisms exist in various meetings, in newspapers and on TV, and there have been especially many more criticisms on our work with the boom of the Internet in our country. Such criticisms are protected. However, it is not allowed if somebody, in the name of freedom of speech, violates laws, harms others' benefits, undermines ethnic unity or tries to overthrow the government. We will absolutely never let any incident like the March-14 Lhasa riot happen again.
Surely there are soldiers and policemen in Tibet. Tibet is an inalienable part of our country, and thus it is quite natural for the country's army and policemen to station in Tibet. The soldiers and policemen are there to safeguard the security of the country, the unity of all ethnic groups and the legal rights of citizens. Most people don't feel uncomfortable about the presence of the army and police. It is those who always want to make troubles and induce tension that would feel uncomfortable or pressured. The Dalai Lama's so-called "middle way" required the central government to withdraw the troops from Tibet, making Tibet a so-called "international peace zone". Afterward, they said they had made some changes to the contents of the "middle way" and would no longer mention the troop issue. They even rebuked us for overlooking this change. However, on Oct. 27 last year during the third meeting between the private representatives of the Dalai Lama and the central government, Samdhong Rinpoche, the so-called Kalon Tripa of the "Tibetan government-in-exile", reiterated to a reporter from the so-called "Independent Chinese PEN Center" that "in the autonomous region no troops should be allowed, and the troop issue is always our core concern." Therefore, only the Dalai Lama clique, and only those who seek "Tibet independence", "indirect independence" or "semi-independence" will regard the presence of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Tibet as something intolerable.
As for the question on Buddhism teachers, I'm not quite clear about your intention. Like many other countries in the world, China has the policy of separating politics and religions. In other words, a government and the education system must be separated from religion. Under the policy, our country's education for citizens, including primary, middle schools and colleges, doesn't allow any activities of religious propaganda. However, lessons in monasteries enjoy complete freedom as long as they don't violate related laws and regulations on the country's management of religious affairs.
【1】 【2】 【3】 【4】 【5】 【6】 【7】
Focus: During our visit to Tibet, we also talked with some young people there who appreciated the great improvement in their lives and the rapid development in Tibet. But they felt that the progress of modernization was too fast and the promotion of religion, including Buddhism, was mostly limited in monasteries. The people was afraid to be punished if they preach religion in public.
Zhu: It is a strange idea to blame that the progress of modernization in Tibet was too fast. Although Tibet has made rapid progress in recent years, it has lagged far behind the country's east and central regions. We think modernization in Tibet should be even faster other than too fast. As far as religion is concerned, we implement the same policy of freedom of religious belief in Tibet and the rest of the country. The freedom of religious belief is fully respected and protected in China, and there are no obstacles. Currently, there are 1,787 monasteries and 46,000 monks in Tibet. Compared with the total 2.8 million population in the region, the proportion of monks is quite high. There is not the problem that anyone who criticizes Tibet's reality would face punishment.
Focus: I don't have any doubt about China's policy on the freedom of religious belief. What I want to ask is if there is any freedom of the expression of views or making criticism. Another question is about religious lessons or Buddhist lessons, as most religious teachers are in monasteries. If anybody is unsatisfied about something and making criticism loudly, he might be in great danger, as there are many soldiers and policemen in Tibet, and people might feel threatened.
Zhu: Throughout China, of course including Tibet, citizens have freedom to make criticism on our work and the problems that emerge during development. Such criticisms exist in various meetings, in newspapers and on TV, and there have been especially many more criticisms on our work with the boom of the Internet in our country. Such criticisms are protected. However, it is not allowed if somebody, in the name of freedom of speech, violates laws, harms others' benefits, undermines ethnic unity or tries to overthrow the government. We will absolutely never let any incident like the March-14 Lhasa riot happen again.
Surely there are soldiers and policemen in Tibet. Tibet is an inalienable part of our country, and thus it is quite natural for the country's army and policemen to station in Tibet. The soldiers and policemen are there to safeguard the security of the country, the unity of all ethnic groups and the legal rights of citizens. Most people don't feel uncomfortable about the presence of the army and police. It is those who always want to make troubles and induce tension that would feel uncomfortable or pressured. The Dalai Lama's so-called "middle way" required the central government to withdraw the troops from Tibet, making Tibet a so-called "international peace zone". Afterward, they said they had made some changes to the contents of the "middle way" and would no longer mention the troop issue. They even rebuked us for overlooking this change. However, on Oct. 27 last year during the third meeting between the private representatives of the Dalai Lama and the central government, Samdhong Rinpoche, the so-called Kalon Tripa of the "Tibetan government-in-exile", reiterated to a reporter from the so-called "Independent Chinese PEN Center" that "in the autonomous region no troops should be allowed, and the troop issue is always our core concern." Therefore, only the Dalai Lama clique, and only those who seek "Tibet independence", "indirect independence" or "semi-independence" will regard the presence of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Tibet as something intolerable.
As for the question on Buddhism teachers, I'm not quite clear about your intention. Like many other countries in the world, China has the policy of separating politics and religions. In other words, a government and the education system must be separated from religion. Under the policy, our country's education for citizens, including primary, middle schools and colleges, doesn't allow any activities of religious propaganda. However, lessons in monasteries enjoy complete freedom as long as they don't violate related laws and regulations on the country's management of religious affairs.
 |  |
Special Coverage
60th anniversary of founding of PRC
Major headlines
Editor's Pick
Most Popular
Hot Forum Dicussion
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/6785855.pdf