XPost: alt.politics.religion, alt.religion.buddhism.tibetan, hk.politics   
   XPost: soc.culture.china, talk.politics.tibet   
   From: peter@dharma.dyn-o-saur.com   
      
   The Global Buddhist Congregation, China’s Unreasonable Demands and India’s   
   Stand   
      
   The four day long Global Buddhist Congregation meant to celebrate 2,600 years   
   since Siddhartha Gautama became Enlightened   
   turned into an unexpected, major obstacle for the entirely separate, 15th   
   round of Special Representative talks regarding matters   
   between the countries of India and China. The Global Buddhist Congregation is   
   scheduled to start festivities in New Delhi, a timing   
   which coincidentally coincided with the now cancelled 15th round of SR talks.   
   When the Chinese government got the news that the   
   Dalai Lama would be attending the Global Buddhist Congregation and giving an   
   address, it started demanding unreasonable things   
   from India.   
      
   Ever since the Chinese government marched into Tibet with its military in 1950   
   and effectively ended Tibet’s autonomy, the Dalai   
   Lama’s relationship with China has been sour and full of incredible,   
   one-sided hostility from the Chinese government.   
      
   After a failed uprising in 1959, the Dalai Lama was forced to flee Tibet and   
   set up a government-in-exile near India’s border with   
   China.   
      
   For decades, the Dalai Lama has been traveling around the world raising   
   awareness and support for what he calls “greater   
   autonomy” for Tibetans who are dissatisfied with Chinese rule.   
      
   Meanwhile the Chinese government has been venomously trying to stamp out the   
   Dalai Lama’s influence by forcing monks to live   
   in “reeducation” camps, refusing to deal with other governments who   
   invited the Dalai Lama to their countries or even “warning”   
   others of a strain in relations, like with the United States when President   
   Obama invited the Dalai Lama to the White House.   
      
   Many are outraged that the Chinese government has audaciously claimed the   
   right to choose the Panchen Lama, who is to be the   
   next Dalai Lama, as they see Tibet as just another province of China just as   
   the Chinese government sees the virtually   
   independent Taiwan as a Chinese province.   
      
   The Han Chinese ethnicity has also been recently clashing with other ethnic   
   groups, such as the Uighurs, who lament that their   
   cultures are being stifled by the overwhelming presence of Han Chinese.   
      
   Regarding the Dalai Lama’s presence in New Delhi, the Chinese government   
   demanded the India bar the Dalai Lama from giving   
   his address. The Indian government refused the demand saying that there is no   
   restriction on the freedom of speech in its   
   country.   
      
   After that demand failed to go through, China instead demanded that the Global   
   Buddhist Congregation be canceled. Of course   
   India refused this as well.   
      
   India also asserted that this event was religious and “not political” and   
   that the Indian External Affairs Ministry’s Publicity Division   
   is only co-sponsoring a book fair and a film festival that will play   
   Buddhism-themed films.   
      
   Chinese government officials still threw a tantrum and announced that the 15th   
   round of talks cannot be held while the Dalai   
   Lama is near them making this the first time that the talks have been   
   postponed.   
      
   http://inewp.com/?p=9862   
      
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