Dalai Lama Speaks of Abandoning Quest for Tibetan Self-Governance

March 14, 2005

Source: Beliefnet/BBC

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/162/story_16246_1.html

On March 14, 2005 the BBC reported, "The Dalai Lama has extended an olive branch to Beijing in a bid to resolve the decades-old political conflict over Tibetan independence. The exiled spiritual leader appears to have given up any demand for Tibetan self-governance and is willing to accept Chinese rule so long as Tibet's culture, spirituality and environment are preserved.

In an interview published exclusively in the South China Morning Post today, the Dalai Lama indicates he is relinquishing his half-a-century struggle for Tibet's sovereignty in order to realize what he calls 'broader interest' to allow his people to savour the success of China's rapid economic growth and accomplishments...

The Dalai Lama said that by dropping the sovereignty claim for Tibet, his people would be able to benefit from China's economic achievements. This was in stark contrast to his previous stand, that Tibet should be a self-governing domestic and political entity under a type of 'one country, two systems' arrangement."