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Senior official: abolishment of serfdom Tibetan people's own choice

2009-03-25 20:00

Special Report: March 28 - Serfs Emancipation Day

  BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Former Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress Raidi has said the democratic reform to abolish serfdom in Tibet was the people's own historical choice.

  Raidi, a 71-year-old Tibetan who was once vice secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region's Party Committee, made the remark during an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Tuesday.

People of the Tibetan ethnic group hold a celebration for the upcoming Serfs Emancipation Day, at Jiaba Village of Nedong County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, March 23, 2009. (Xinhua/Gesang Dawa)
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  "The Dalai Lama clique's attempt to split the country and restore the serfdom did not, does not and will never succeed," Raidi said, adding that the Tibetan people could never enjoy human rights, freedom and democracy in a society under serfdom system.

  He stressed that the Serfs Emancipation Day which falls on March 28 is an event and celebration with extraordinary meanings for Tibetan people. The reform half a century ago was a milestone which distinguishes the new Tibet with the old one and also a milestone in the world's history to abolish slavery.

A resident of the Tibetan ethnic group dances in a celebration party for the upcoming Serfs Emancipation Day, at Jiaba Village of Nedong County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, March 23, 2009. (Xinhua/Gesang Dawa)
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  The Dalai Lama has pretended to be a pure religious figures in the past 50 years of exile but he had attacked the Party and central government and stirred unrest in Tibet by playing with outside forces, Raidi said.

  To achieve their goals, the Dalai clique had spread all sorts of lies to beautify the region's former theocracy. On the other hand, they claimed the alleged "middle way" and "meaningful autonomy" to divert people's attention to their real intention to seek independence, he added.

  "Recall the past 50 years of development in Tibet, I feel that Tibet could have a bright future and prosperity only under the leadership of Communist Party of China and in the family of socialist motherland," Raidi said.


 

Dalai Lama "chief representative" of Tibetan serfdom 

  BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Raidi, a former Tibetan serf and vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, has called the Dalai Lama and his political backers the "chief representatives" of the theocratic, feudal serfdom of the old Tibet.

   "They have confronted the fundamental interests of the mass of working people who make up the majority of the Tibetan population and they have irreconcilable contradictions with the requirements of social development and progress and the development trends of human society," said Raidi in an article.

Article sees "indissoluble bond between Dalai Lama, feudal serfdom"

   BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- An article to be published Wednesday in the People's Daily, the Guangming Daily and other Chinese newspapers under the byline of Yi Duo provides insight into the intricate relations between the Dalai Lama and feudal serfdom.

   This year marks the 50th anniversary of the emancipation of millions of serfs and slaves in old Tibet, and the Tibetan regional legislature has endorsed a bill making March 28 the annual Serfs Emancipation Day in the region.

Serfs emancipation in Tibet similar to U.S. abolition of slavery

   OTTAWA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A Tibetan living Buddha on Monday compared the emancipation of serfs in Tibet 50 years ago to the abolition of slavery in the United States in 1862, saying the two are of similar significance.

   "They are both milestones in the history of human rights," Shingtsa Tenzinchodrak, a living Buddha of the Kagyu sect, said when meeting with Peter Milliken, speaker of the Canadian House of Commons.

Chinese scholar: Dalai Lama's "genuine autonomy" means "Tibet independence"

  BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The "genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people" advocated by the Dalai Lama is another term for "Tibet independence," said a signed commentary published in Monday's Global Times, a major Chinese newspaper.

  The commentary, published under the byline Lin Feng, said the "genuine autonomy" in the "Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People" published in November 2008 ran counter to the Chinese Constitution and related laws.

Living Buddha: Dalai Lama's so-called "middle way" unacceptable

  TORONTO, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The Dalai Lama's so-called "middle way", which has the idea of "Greater Tibet" as one of its key contents, is not acceptable to the Chinese government, a living Buddha said here Friday.

  "The so-called 'middle way' rhetoric of the Dalai Lama sounds very attractive, but in fact it is problematic," Shingtsa Tenzinchodrak, a living Buddha told a press conference.

 

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