Official Chinese Magazine Dismisses Dalai Lama's Call for "Real Autonomy"

The official PRC government magazine "China's Tibet" has published a vigorous rejection of the Dalai Lama's and Tibetan government-in-exile's views on an acceptable level of autonomy for Tibetan areas of China. Author Hua Zi defends China's system of ethnic autonomy and rejects the notion that "one country, two systems," "a high-level autonomy," or "real autonomy" merit discussion. Entitled "Who is Managing Tibet?", the article appears in the 2005, Number 2 edition. Published in Beijing, "China’s Tibet," which features stories that highlight state-sanctioned views on Tibetan politics, culture, and history, also published a similar commentary by Hua Zi in 2004.

The article appeared as the Dalai Lama's envoys await a fourth trip to Beijing. The Dalai Lama and Samdhong Rinpoche, the head of the exiled Tibetan government, have both made recent statements perceived as conciliatory toward China. In a March 14 interview in the South China Morning Post, the Dalai Lama said that he believes it is in the best interests of Tibetans to "be part of the People's Republic of China, to have it govern and guarantee to preserve our Tibetan culture, spirituality and our environment." Samdhong Rinpoche told Outlook India on March 19, "We have to accept ground realities of the new world order," and described "genuine autonomy" as "an achievable objective."

More information about the status of dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama is available in the CECC 2004 Annual Report.