INTERVIEW WITH HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA

An article titled "INTERVIEW WITH HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA", by Ewa Kedzierska, appeared recently on the Phayul.com web site. A portion of that interview appears below.

Ewa Kedzierska: Your Holiness, before the Chinese invasion in 1949 Tibet was an independent country, with more than thousand years of history. We have eye-witnesses saying how much it has suffered under the Chinese occupation. Many Tibetans, as Tibetan Youth Congress, and also those from Tibet, want independence back. Your Holiness, why are You seeking only autonomy, and not independence? Do you believe that the policy of Tibetan Government in Exile (TGIE) really represents views of the Tibetans in Tibet? What is Your approach to the more radical Tibetans?

H.H. the Dalai Lama : - Our administration (TGIE) here is in a free country, and therefore I think, it can act as a representative of the majority of the Tibetans in Tibet. But those in Tibet who think realistically, most of them, agree with our approach, the policy of Middle Way, and support it ... The main reason why we are seeking the solution within the Chinese constitutional framework is that Tibet, as a vast land, rich of the natural resources in the past completely neglected modern education, technology etc… and was materially completely backward. Yet every Tibetan wants modernisation. So therefore it is our only interest to remain within the PRC. If they give us the meaningful self rule or autonomy, so then we can realise the material development with their help, while, at the same time, preserving our spiritual and cultural heritage and language. So there will be a mutual benefit, mutual interest. Of course, when more time pass without any concrete result in talks with the Chinese, it engenders more criticism and the frustration increases, so - we will see what will happen… (laughs).

Read the entire article at the Phayul.com web site.