(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-29 07:31

Thumbing through the history of the Dalai group, one would see how good it is at adopting the tactic of exhibiting grief and pretending as the weak, says an article in People's Daily. The following is an excerpt:

Wherever the Dalai Lama goes, he always shows his grief, complaining about the unjust treatment of him and his followers and about the oppression they allegedly suffer.

This demonstration of grief is fully captured in the statements and announcements publicized by the Dalai group. Its followers themselves are "worried", "sympathetic", and "sorrowful," while the Chinese government is carrying out "severe punishment", "assaults" and "violent oppression".

If one only listens to their words, it would appear that the Dalai's supporters are the most helpless and innocent people in the world: that they did nothing related to March 14 riots, but were "condemned" by the Chinese government; that they have no intention of separating Tibet from China, but are criticized "groundlessly"; and that they have supported the Beijing Olympic Games "right from the outset", but are distrusted for no reason.

However, if they really did not mastermind the riots, why then did all those rioters who surrendered to the police confess that they acted at the instigation of the Dalai group? If they do not seek Tibet's independence, why do they continue to maintain their government-in-exile? If they wholeheartedly support the Beijing Olympic Games, why did those Tibetan separatists disturb the torch relay?

In fact, the purpose of the Dalai group is to demonstrate to the world through their demonstration of grief that the "Tibet issue" should not be ignored. They have their own aims: with the grief-showing card, they can shift the focus and shake off the responsibility. They can win over sympathy by pretending themselves to be the weak; they can add more pressures on the Chinese government with the help of the sympathy of the international community. They can create rifts and cause conflicts; they can be at the same time "the victim" and "the mouthpiece" of Tibet, stirring up conflicts between the Han people and Tibetans. By showing grief, they attempt to kill several birds with one stone.

The Dalai group has adopted this tactic of using their show of grief not just now, it has done so for many years. As early as the 1960s, the Dalai Lama tried his best to depict the Tibetan people as one deeply "oppressed by invaders" in the book titled, My Land and My People, co-authored with others. In 2007, a woman leader of the European division of the International Tibet Independence Movement also adopted the same tactic of using grief: she cried and complained in front of TV cameras at the International Tibet Support Groups Conference, while laughing and dancing after the meeting was over.

Their performance of showing grief also wins them support. Some Western media and politicians turned a blind eye to the violent actions and the separatist intention of the Dalai group; on the contrary, they portrayed the Dalai group into an image of "the weak" and "the oppressed" who are fighting for human rights and against oppression.

In fact, the people will judge the right or wrong of the issues in accordance with facts and truths, no matter how they show their grief and pretend to be the weak. As a Swedish analyst ever commented, compared with the powerful country of the United States, Osama Bin Laden, who plotted the 9/11 attack, also can be called "the weak". But who can say "the weak" always stand on the correct side?

Therefore, we would like to sincerely tell the Dalai group that it would be better to abandon plans to separate the motherland than to put on the mask of sorrow. Only this can help it win the respect of the people.

(China Daily 04/29/2008 page8)