Beijing: In a rare personal attack on the
Dalai Lama, Chinese President Hu Jintao has accused him of
engaging in "Tibet independence" activities and "sabotaging"
social stability in the strategic Himalayan region.
Criticising the 74-year-old exiled Tibetan spiritual
leader, Hu, also general secretary of the ruling Communist
Party of China (CPC), said the government would take
substantial measures to ensure "normal order" of Tibetan
Buddhism in Tibet.
Hu acknowledged that Tibet faced a "special
contradiction" between people of all ethnic groups and the
separatist forces led by the Dalai clique.
"These contradictions had made leapfrog development and
lasting stability major themes of the work of Tibet," Hu said.
The awareness of being part of the Chinese nation and
being law-abiding citizens must be constantly enhanced among
cadre and the masses in Tibet, the official Xinhua news agency
citied Hu as saying at a meeting of senior Chinese leaders
here earlier in the week.
Hu also asked the Tibetan government to prevent and
strike "penetration and sabotage" by "Tibet independence"
separatists to safeguard social stability, socialist legal
system, national unity, and ethnic solidarity.
The meeting was the first of its kind since the deadly
riots in Tibet's capital Lhasa in March 2008, the largest
uprising against Chinese rule since 1986. Beijing, which
blames the Dalai Lama for the riots, says at least 22 people
were killed.
At the meeting, Hu said the government has made plans
to achieve leapfrog development and lasting stability in Tibet
to ensure that China's development as a whole.
"Leapfrog development of Tibet actually means the
combination of economic growth, well-off life, a healthy eco-
environment, and social stability and progress," he said.
He highlighted Tibet's significance in ensuring China's
national security, and efforts in building the region into a
strategic reserve of natural resources, an agricultural base,
a land with unique culture and a world-class tourism spot.
The CPC Central Committee's policies towards Tibet in
the new era were "totally correct, suiting to national
condition, Tibet's actual conditions and the fundamental
interests of people of all ethnic groups in Tibet, the
meeting, held for the first time since 2001, said.
During the meeting, senior leaders also discussed plans
to develop Tibetan-inhabited areas in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu
and Qinghai.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said his government would
preserve the consistency and stability of favourable policies
towards Tibet and further improve policy support and financial
investment in the region.
Tibet's GDP is expected to reach 43.7 billion yuan (USD
6.4 billion) in 2009, an annual growth of 12.3 percent over
the past nine years, Xinhua said.
Beijing, which sent troops to occupy Tibet in 1957
insists it has been part of Chinese territory for centuries,
has stepped up its drive to develop the remote Himalayan
region's economy since the 2008 violence there.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, January 24, 2010, 20:25