DALAI LAMA'S REPRESENTATIVE PREDICTS CONTINUED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 000808

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2028
TAGS: PHUM PREL OVIP CH IN
SUBJECT: DALAI LAMA'S REPRESENTATIVE PREDICTS CONTINUED
UNREST IN TIBET


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Classified By: Ambassador David C. Mulford for reasons 1.4 (b and d)

1.(C) SUMMARY: In a March 17 meeting with Ambassador
Mulford, Representative of His Holiness The Dalai Lama Tempa
Tsering characterized the recent uprisings in China as

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Tibetans and monks &making a desperate move to preserve
their culture8 in the face of the massive
government-orchestrated migration of Han Chinese into the
Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). He worried that the movement
would continue to gain momentum and lead to further violence.
He also noted that the unrest differs from past skirmishes
with the authorities as it involved not only monks but also
Tibetan youth, specifically from Lhasa University. He said
that his discussions earlier in the day with the GOI focused
on the ongoing peace marches organized in India, and the
Ministry of External Affairs made no mention of Speaker of
the House Nancy Pelosi,s Dharamsala visit on March 21.
Tsering asked the Ambassador to urge the USG to continue to

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urge the Chinese government to exercise restraint, pressure
the Chinese for substantive talks with the Dalai Lama and to
support the Dalai Lama,s call for an international tribunal
to investigate China,s violent repression of Tibetans in
Lhasa. Tsering also handed the Ambassador a copy of a letter
to President Bush. END SUMMARY.

-------------- A desperate move to preserve Tibetan culture --------------


2. (C) At the Ambassador,s invitation, on 17 March
Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama Tempa Tsering
briefed Ambassador Mulford on the ongoing unrest in the TAR
and protests in India. He delivered a letter from the Dalai
Lama to President Bush (see para 7) and a letter from himself
to the Ambassador (para 8). Tsering explained that the riots
in Lhasa were the result of a pent-up and longstanding
frustration over the Chinese government,s policy of
promoting the migration of Han Chinese to the TAR. He noted
that the Tibetans no longer comprise the majority of the
population in Lhasa and worried that the Tibetan culture
would be erased through population dilution within a few
years. He stated that Tibetan youth and monks were &making
a desperate move to preserve their culture, highlighting that
the movement included the younger, secular segment of Tibetan
society for the first time.8 Tsering explained that the
Chinese authorities, imposition of martial law in Lhasa is
resulting in similar uprisings in neighboring provinces such
as Sichuan and Yunnan. He forecast that the movement &will
not die easily.8

-------------- Tibetans in India won't sit idly --------------


3. (C) Turning to recent protests and resulting arrests in
India, Tsering told the Ambassador that Tibetan marchers
arrested by Indian police in Kangra District last week were
being detained for fourteen days, as they declined to sign
statements that they would desist from future demonstrations.
Tsering lamented that the GOI,s response to the peaceful
marchers, commenting that it was an ironic reaction by a
government that prides itself on being the world,s largest
democracy. He remarked that MEA officials were &very
itchy8 about the ongoing peace march to Tibet and asked the
office of the Dalai Lama to control its people. Tsering said
he replied that the 100,000 Tibetans residing in India could
not sit by idly while their brethren were being massacred in
Tibet. He highlighted that the Dalai Lama publicly urged
Tibetans residing in India to abide by the law of the land
and avoid any activities that will embarrass India. Tsering
reported that the marchers in India were employing Gandhian
tactics and planned to replace any demonstrators arrested
with new recruits who will continue the march. He said that
sixty new marchers had resumed the peace march from Dehradun
on March 17.

-------------- Pelosi visit expected without incident --------------


4. (C) Tsering told the Ambassador that Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi,s scheduled March 21 visit to Dharamsala, the
home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile,
will not be marred by demonstrations, relating that
Dharmasala,s population of 12,000 Tibetans will celebrate
the Speaker,s visit. He recounted that the Ministry of
External Affairs did not give any indication that they were
displeased with the proposed Pelosi visit during his March 17
meeting.


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-------------- No refugee influx expected --------------


5. (C) In response the Ambassador,s question regarding
potential refugee influxes due to the crackdown in Lhasa,
Tsering postulated that martial law in Lhasa and similar

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crackdowns elsewhere severely restricted the freedom of
movement of the Tibetan people. Therefore, no influx into
India or neighboring Nepal is expected.


6. (SBU) Tempa completed his briefing by positing that the
GOI, as the world,s largest and flourishing democracy
&needs to stand up against the Government of China,8 permit
peaceful demonstrations, and urge the Chinese government to
enter into meaningful and substantive negotiations with the
Dalai Lama to address the legitimate grievances of the
Tibetan people. He also requested that the Ambassador urge
the USG to support the Dalai Lama,s idea of an international
tribunal to investigate the recent violent repression in
Tibet and pressure the Chinese to accept the process.

-------------- Indian Parliament, press critical of government --------------


7. (SBU) The Tibet question was addressed at length in the
March 17 session of the Indian Lok Sabha with External
Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee reiterating the GOI's March
15 press release that India was concerned over the unsettled
conditions, violence and deaths of innocent people in Tibet.
He proclaimed that India,s policy on Tibet and China, which
was formulated in 1959, remained the same and no government,
including the opposition when it had been in power, had
changed it. The opposition BJP asked the government to "raise
its voice" against the crackdown during the session with the
BJP's V K Malhotra criticizing the government, alleging that
Tibetans were being "massacred" in Lhasa and that China was
trying to "culturally finish Tibet." BJP member Adityanath
claimed that if China was not stopped now, it would "annex
Nepal and then the northeastern states. The Samajwadi
Party's Ramjilal Suman called for the government to inform
the House about its stand on the 'violation of human rights'
in Tibet while 48 members of the All-Party Indian
Parliamentary Forum called for the GOI to allow the Tibetans
to demonstrate peacefully. Minister of Parliament and
All-Party Indian Parliamentary Forum member Kiran Rijiju
announced that he will write a letter to the Home Minister
demanding the immediate release of all Tibetans arrested for
their peaceful demonstrations.


8. (SBU) The Asian Age, often a champion of the Left,
surprisingly characterized the Communist Party
India-Marxist's (CPI-M) comment on the uprising in Tibet as
"an internal matter," as hypocritical and "blatant escapism."
The March 18 Times of India reported China is pressuring the
GOI to remain neutral about the Tibetan situation and urging
the Indians to continue to restrain demonstrators in India.
The TOI cited an unnamed Chinese Embassy official as stating
that, "We realize India would not directly discuss this issue
with the Dalai Lama, but there are ways for India to persuade
him." The TOI also reported that officials in Beijing said
that India's help at this critical juncture would help boost
bilateral ties. Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yang
met with several select journalists on March 17 and said
that, "We hope that Indian friends can clearly see the nature
of those instigating and conspiring activities of the Dalai
clique which aims at splitting China and disrupting the
Olympics." Signaling China's satisfaction with India's
stance on the uprising in Tibet, Zhang added that, "The
Indian government has not fallen into the trap of western
nations that are condemning the Chinese government's actions
in Tibet."


9. (SBU) Begin text of Dalai Lama,s letter to the
President:

March 15, 2008

Your Excellency:

As you are aware, there have been demonstrations and peaceful
protests in many parts of Tibet, including Lhasa, in recent
days that have resulted in a number of deaths. I am very
disturbed and saddened by these developments. I have
appealed to the Chinese government to stop using force.

I would like to strongly urge Your Excellency to prevail upon

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the Chinese leadership to exercise utmost restraint in
dealing with these protests. Instead of addressing the
long-simmering resentment through dialogue with the Tibetan
people, the Chinese government accuses me of being behind
these protests. This is preposterous and completely
baseless. On the contrary we remain committed to the process
of dialogue with the Chinese government in order to seek a
mutually beneficial solution to the Tibetan Issue.

With my prayers and good wishes.

Yours sincerely,

/s/
Tenzin Gyatso

H.E. George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
The White House
Washington, DC
USA

End text of Dalai Lama,s letter to the President.


10. (SBU) Begin text of Tempa Tsering,s letter to Ambassador
Mulford:

BUREAU OF HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA

H.E. Mr. David C. Mulford
Ambassador
Embassy of United States of America Chanakyapuri
New Delhi 110021

17th March, 2008

Your Excellency,

As Your Excellency is aware, the developments in Tibet are
extremely disturbing and painful. These developments are the
consequences of Chinese Government's persistent and recently
intensified policies of repression, denying fundamental human
rights to the Tibetan people, massive Chinese population
transfer into Tibet thus making Tibetans insignificant
minorities and second class citizens in their own country,
systematic destruction of everything that represent Tibetans
as a distinct people, be it language, culture, religion and
the unprecedented and most derogatory criticisms against His
Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Despite China's claim of prosperity, happiness and
developments, the reality is that the vast majority of
Tibetan people in Tibet live in constant fear and anguish and
are opposed to the Chinese policies. Therefore, the ongoing
series of demonstrations taking place all over Tibet are a
spontaneous expression of Tibetan people's popular movement
to express their resentment and opposition against China's
rule and it's treatment of the Tibetan people. The Tibetan
people now seriously feel that their very existence and
survival is greatly threatened.

Though unconfirmed but according to reliable information we
have just received, about 80 people were killed and many more
were seriously wounded. Lhasa is now under virtual martial
law. The situation continue to remain extremely tense and it
is being reported that the demonstrations have quickly spread
to many other parts of Tibet particularly in those areas
incorporated into neighboring Chinese provinces of Qinghai,
Sichuan, Gansu & Yunnan.

The Tibetan population in Tibet is completely unarmed and
Tibetans are by nature non-violent and peace loving. It is a
common knowledge that Chinese authorities do not tolerate any
dissent or opposition, no matter how just or peaceful these
may be; the world has witnessed this at the Tiananmen Square
in Beijing in 1989.

We are now deeply concerned that the Chinese authorities will
resort to further use of brute force to suppress the
non-violent and peaceful demonstrations of the Tibetan
people. May we, therefore, request Your Excellency and
through you to your government:

1) To ask the Chinese Government to refrain from using brute

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force against the Tibetan demonstrators and to release all
those detained;

2) To ask the Chinese Government to restore fundamental
rights of the Tibetan people and respect their aspirations;

3) To ask the Chinese Government to make serious and
concerted efforts to find a peaceful and negotiated
resolution to the issue of Tibet; and

4) To ask the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner,
Amnesty International and any other independent international
organization to thoroughly investigate and monitor the human
rights situation in Tibet, particularly following the recent
protests.

I enclosed herewith some updates on the developments relating
to the recent demonstrations in Tibet for your kind
information.

With assurance of my highest esteem,

/s/
Tempa Tsering
Representive (sic) of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

End text of Tempa Tsering,s Letter to Ambassador Mulford.
MULFORD