(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-17 07:22

Every rational person should reflect on the chaos surrounding recent events in Tibet, a senior Chinese religious official said in his essay in People's Daily. The following is an excerpt:

Ye Xiaowen, head of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, raised three problems he himself had considered.

First, what will a boycott to the Olympic Games bring? Did those trying to grab the Olympic torch during the relay realize they were harming the feelings and dignity of 1.3 billion Chinese? Did those trying to boycott the Olympic Games realize they were boycotting the Olympic spirit of peace, harmony and friendship recognized by 6 billion people of the world?

Second, what will a connivance with violence bring? Terrorism, which has been a disaster for all humanity and is an extreme form of violence, is often linked in today's world to ultra-nationalism and religious extremism.

The United States, for example, indulged in military actions in the Middle East for years to suit its political strategies, but they backfired.

I have noticed a tendency among supporters of "Tibetan independence" to mix ultra-nationalism and religious extremism.

Didn't the Tibet Youth Congress say openly that it did not rule out gaining independence through suicide bombing?

If it encouraged such tendency, the world will soon see a group of terrorists "fighting for Tibet independence" and it will be a disaster, and not only for China.

Third, what will theocracy bring?

Tibetan people tried very hard to get rid of a theocratic, feudal serfdom half a century ago and are moving into a modern social system.

Tibetans are living a better life than five decades ago.

On the contrary, the Dalai Lama who had sat at the top of the old hierarchy in Tibet still sticks to theocracy. The "constitution" of his "government-in-exile" holds that Tibet is a theocratic "country".

(China Daily 04/17/2008 page8)