(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-30 00:10

BEIJING - The People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has published a signed article that said the Dalai Lama has no right to talk about human rights issues.

The article, entitled "The 'Tibet Issue' has nothing to do with human rights," was written by the paper's columnist He Zhenhua, who has recently published numerous articles criticizing the Dalai Lama and supporting patriotism among Chinese readers.

According to He, the old Tibet, under the rule of the Dalai clique, practiced the notorious political system of slavery, by dividing Tibetans into different classes. There was a small group of slave owners, who accounted for merely 5 percent of the total Tibetan population at that time, reigning over the rest of the Tibetans.

In old Tibet, slave owners subjected slaves to economic exploitation, political oppression and spiritual control, according to the article. It quoted a French scholar on the study of Tibet as saying that there was absolutely no human freedom for Tibetan slaves in the past, and "the 1 million Tibetan slaves have enjoyed authentic democracy, freedom and human rights since the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet (in 1951)."

It advised the Dalai clique to take care of its own human rights problems, referring to the living conditions of exiled Tibetans in India.

Most exiled Tibetans live in the slums of Dharmsala, the "capital" of the "Tibetan government-in-exile," in India, and they have to hand over "independence donations" to the "government-in-exile," the article said, without elaborating.

The exiled Tibetans, who are suffering from linguistic and emotional barriers, enjoy no human rights at all, it claimed.

The article cited the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" to support its view, to deny the claims of the Dalai clique and assert that Tibetans have enjoyed their rights since the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet.

According to the article, the Tibet Autonomous Region has for years maintained an average of 12 percent annual growth, while the government has provided free medical services to rural people and free education and food to their children. Tibetan residents are now experiencing fast growth in private housing, it said.

In the early years of its exile, the Dalai clique disturbed the life of border residents in Tibet by force, the article said. In recent years, it tried to infiltrate or plot and stir up violence in Tibet, which has been detrimental to the lives and developing rights of Tibetans, the article said.

The article concluded by saying that the Dalai clique has tried to stimulate ethnic sentiments and win support from the West, so as to realize the "Independence of Tibet" and split China.