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German Lawmaker: Don't Watch Tibet Behind Western Glasses
The West should not judge the Tibetan issue with its own standards, and the Tibetans will create their future together with other nationalities in China, a German legislator said Wednesday in Berlin.
"Tibet is an inseparable part of China, and what happens in Tibet is China's interior affair. I believe the Tibetan people, together with Han people and other nationalities in China, can solve problems facing them," said Christa Luft, deputy parliamentary faction chief of Germany's Democratic Socialism Party (PDS).
Meeting a group of Tibetan researchers from China, the lawmaker said the West had no authority to judge China's policy. The group headed by Kalsang Gyaltsen, leader of the Tibetan Institute of Social Studies, was visiting Germany for academic exchange on Tibetan studies.
"How can we judge the development of China, a country with thousands of years of civilized history, with Europe's or tiny Germany's standards?" she asked.
Recalling her trip six years ago to the rural region of China's Henan province, Luft said she was touched by Chinese villagers' endeavor to improve their life with their own hands.
"As a country with more than 1.2 billion people, China has made great achievements," she said.
On the Tibetan issue, Luft praised Tibet's development in the economic and social fields, and criticized German legislators who evaluated China's Tibetan policy with western standards.
"All those the Chinese government does to propel Tibet forward deserve praise," she said, adding, "I think we should not watch Tibet behind western glasses."
Noting that Tibet has attracted the interests of the German public, Kalsang Kyaltsen said many Germans, including officials and parliamentary members, misunderstood Tibet's conditions.
"To develop, to improve Tibetans' life, and to upgrade their educational level are our most urgent tasks," he said.
"But many Germans, who recognize Tibet only through their media, do not know the reality. Most of their misunderstandings come from the propaganda of Dalai Lama," he said.
"I must say Dalai Lama is not such a pure religious leader as he is claiming to be. His dream is to interfere in the politics and separate Tibet from China," Kalsung Kyaltsen said.
"Dalai Lama and his group have done nothing beneficial to Tibetans since they fled away. They have no authority to represent Tibetan people," he stressed.
Kalsung Kyaltsen hoped more German lawmakers, even those who hold biased viewpoints, would visit Tibet and find out the fact.
"A tour of Tibet is better than a hundred newspaper articles. I am sure the facts will change their view," he said.
Earlier in the day, Kalsung Kyaltsen and his colleagues met German Foreign Ministry officials responsible for China policy.
Tibetan researchers briefed them on the latest development in the economic, cultural and social fields in their autonomous region.
While pushing the economy forward, the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region has been making great efforts to protect the unique culture, religion and natural environment in Tibet through better planning, they told German officials.
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