China Under Hu Jintao May Get More Tough On Tibet
(AFP | Beijing | November 3, 2002)
China's policies towards Tibet may become more aggressive if, as expected, Vice President Hu Jintao becomes the next leader in Beijing, a rights group warned Sunday. Hu headed the Communist Party in Tibet from 1988 to 1992 and his policies there, including the imposition of martial law, leaves little room for optimism, said the London-based Free Tibet Campaign.
"We have concluded that Hu's attitude towards Tibet is not indicative of a man who will show concern for the welfare of the Tibetan people," said Alison Reynolds of Free Tibet Campaign. "Depending on Hu Jintao's ability to build up his power base, we may even see a more aggressive approach to assimilating Tibet," Reynolds said. Hu is expected to take over the party leadership from Jiang Zemin at a congress which begins in Beijing on Friday.
The London-based group said Hu does not deserve his reputation as a moderate and cautious leader, arguing that his hardline policies while in Tibet and afterwards went "beyond his political imperatives". Free Tibet Campaign issued the warning as it published a report on Hu's stint in Tibet, arguing that his legacy is felt to this day in the Himalayan region.
According to that report, Hu combined tough policies of control with efforts to promote economic development and administrative interference in cultural and religious affairs.
Free Tibet Campaign urged Hu to take up an initiative by current President Jiang to develop contacts with the exiled Tibetan government. "The real test to China's sincerity in moving this dialogue with the Tibetan government will come when the leadership changes are complete," said Reynolds.
Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, the Dalai Lama's envoy to the US, and four other envoys of the Tibetan spiritual leader, reached Tibet in September in what China termed a private visit to see relatives. But the trip raised hope that Beijing wished to reopen dialogue with the Dalai Lama, which was broken off in 1993. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet after an abortive uprising in 1959 and established a government-in-exile in India. China, which has ruled Tibet since 1951, has been accused of trying to wipe out its Buddhist-based culture through political and religious repression and a flood of ethnic Chinese immigration. Western governments, particularly the European Parliament and US Congress, have urged Beijing to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama in an effort to return him to his homeland.
Friends of Tibet (INDIA),
PO Box 16674, Bombay 400050
www.friendsoftibet.org