Dalai Lama May Return to Tibet

A delegation from the Dalai Lama, the Tibetian religiousleader who escaped to India and now lives in exile there, isdiscussing his return with the Chinese government.

Jasper Becker writes in The Independent that Lodi Gyari, theDalai Lama’s representative in Washington, D.C., is hopefulthe Dalai Lama may be able to return, now that Hu Jintao ishead of the Chinese Communist Party. Jintao was partysecretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region from 1988 to 1992.One diplomat says, “For the first time you have a Chineseleader who knows Tibet.”

Mary Beth Markey, of the International Campaign for Tibet,says, “Considering Beijing’s timeline for exhibiting itselfas a world leader at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, initialsteps must be taken now to reach a solution for Tibet.”Progress on Tibet is also necessary for a European Unionarms embargo to be lifted.

The Dalai Lama wants full control over the publication andediting of all religious texts and undisputed authority toappoint the heads of monasteries and supervise the choice ofthe reincarnations of all living Buddhas. What is consideredto be a false incarnation was recently forced on theTibetian people by the Chinese, while the “real” little boydisappeared. The Dalai Lama also wants freedom to leave thecountry and the right to travel to all regions of Chinainhabited by Tibetans. He abandoned his goal of fullindependence for Tibet at the end of the 1980s and is nowasking for what he calls the “middle way.” If he does returnto Tibet, he will have to acknowledge China’s politicalsovereignty over the country.

There are many mysterious that need to beuncovered.

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