Yale Daily News

I am very surprised that as a Yale student, you apparently didn't bother to do any research before you made your claims.

(1) You said the Potala Palace fell into disuse and disrepair. About disrepair, that's not the truth. The Chinese government spent 55 million yuan (6.6 million U.S. dollars) repairing the palace between 1989 and 1994. The second phase of five-year repair work, involving 180 million yuan (22 million dollars), started in 2002. About disuse, that's not the truth either. Today Potala Palace is open to the public visitors, and well preserved just like any western museums. I am not sure whether you paid a visit there today, but I am very sure you won't be able to visit it during the old Dalai days when he was in Tibet.

(2) You said 200 million RMB (equivalent to approximately $28 million) paid by Chinese government to the Tibetan monasteries apparently was not enough to wipe away the Communist graffiti, that's a pretty cute argument, but it has no substance. You forgot to research to find out that Tibet as a whole also witnessed an average annual GDP growth of 12 percent between 2001 and 2005. Clearly people are enjoying a better life under Chinese government.

(3) No Chinese would defend the disaster the Cultural Revolution caused to their country, not just to Tibet. However, the last 30 years ever since China started to open the door to the world and started the reform, things became better and better. Anyone who denies such progress made and only looks at a few spots left with old ruins really should look in the mirror to see if you are perfect.

(4) Any loss of life is not acceptable to people with conscience. I also need to remind you other parts of China during the same period lost more lives because of some disastrous policies at the time. So when you talk about the loss of life during a historical period, at least you need to look at the overall situation across the China at the same period. The loss of life of those innocent Chinese people during the atrocious riot on March 14th caused by the Tibet monks is not any lighter. You should at least acknowledge the victims of this riot, which was not peaceful at all.

(5) Chinese government has stated many times that they would like to talk to Dalai and that process started before but interrupted, why? Because Dalai's concept of Tibet was much larger than the current one, it also includes some territories historically never under Tibet's control, which was not acceptable to Chinese government. Plus, Tibet exile groups under Dalai's leadership have become more and more radical, for example, the Tibetan Youth Congress, the radical group of Tibetan Exiles, has become so violence pron that they openly discuss and incite Tibetan people to resort for violence. All these could not be tolerated by any government let alone Chinese government.

Thanks,

I'm writing in support of the author, although I do not share every single point of his view.

The communist government is exceptionally manipulative in distorting facts and leveraging absurd logic to drag the international community. In the case of Tibet, it is not the first time of the Chinese government to frame the abhorrence of the communist rule among Tibetan people on the evil will of their spiritual leader Dalai Lama, which has long been proven to be malicious and ungrounded.

The state-controlled, highly biased media in China generates chauvinist people ignorant of the well-being of their fellow citizens in Tibet. Because China is not historically a liberal nation cherishing the value of respecting ethnic minorities, many a Chinese people takes it for granted that their government's everlasting efforts in denigrating someone that Tibetan people traditionally respect, trust and worship.

I suppose the political figures in the civilized world should continue to facilitate the peaceful dialog between Dalai Lama and the communist government, considering the fact that Tibet is legally a sovereign part of China. Rather than seizing an opportunity to strutting their advocate for democracy, the leaders in US,Europe or elsewhere should take concrete measures to help safeguard the Tibetans in exile and promote the regional stability in Tibet highland.