True North Perspective/Reuters
Until 1959 when the Chinese marched in and broke up their cozy little arrangement on “the roof of the world” Tibet clergy and their secular allies owned more than 700,000 serfs and slaves. This, out of an estimated total population of 1,250,000
Along with the upper clergy, secular leaders did well. A notable example was the commander-in-chief of the Tibetan army, who owned 4,000 square kilometers of land and 3,500 serfs. He also was a member of the Dalai Lama's lay Cabinet.
Tied to the land, the serfs were allotted only a small parcel to grow their own food. Serfs and other peasants generally went without schooling or medical care. They spent most of their time laboring for the monasteries and individual high-ranking lamas, or for a secular aristocracy that numbered not more than 200 families.
In effect, they were owned by their masters who told them what crops to grow and what animals to raise. They could not get married without the consent of their lord or lama. A serf might easily be separated from his family should the owner send him to work in a distant location. Serfs could be sold by their masters, or subjected to torture and death.
Tibet became a part of China in 1264 when the feudal lordship over Tibet was given to Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, fifth leader of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism by the Mongol emperor and conqueror of China, Kublai Khan.
In 1907, Britain and Russia agreed that in "conformity with the admitted principle of the suzerainty of China over Tibet"[96][97] both nations "engage not to enter into negotiations with Tibet except through the intermediary of the Chinese Government."[96]
In 1959 the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army marched in and broke up the feudal regime and turned the land over to those who worked it. The lamas and their secular allies were naturally immediately annoyed. And they have been annoyed ever since as they go about the world maqueraiding as peaceniks and bleating about their lost freedom.
In Tokyo on Wednesday Chinese President Hu Jintao urged the Dalai Lama and his supporters to show "sincerity" and blamed them for unrest across Tibet and trying to wreck the Beijing Olympics.
Hu, speaking after a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, said that China's recent talks with representatives of Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, had been "conscientious and serious" and that the two sides had agreed to continue contacts.
But Hu also blamed the Dalai's supporters for recent unrest across Tibet, saying they were trying to wreck Beijing's showcase Olympic Games in August.
"We hope that the Dalai's side will use its actions to show its sincerity," Hu told a press conference in Tokyo, urging the Dalai Lama's side to stop the trouble-making and efforts to split Tibet from China.
The Dalai Lama has said he wants autonomy, not full independence, for Tibet, supports the Beijing Games and rejects violence. China says he is not sincere.
"We hope that the Dalai's side will use actions to show its sincerity, and truly stop activities to split the motherland, stop planning and instigating violent activities, and stop activities to wreck the Beijing Olympic Games, creating conditions for the next discussions," Hu said. "We hope that the contacts will achieve positive results."
Earlier on Wednesday, a Chinese state newspaper said the Dalai Lama was trying to blacken China’s name by internationalizing the Tibet problem.
Japan's Fukuda told the same news conference he appreciated China's decision to hold talks with Tibet, and called for the dialogue to continue.
"I rate highly the president's decision to have a dialogue and the fact that talks were held," Fukuda said.
"I have high expectations that the dialogue will be held patiently and through that, for the situation to improve and the international community's concerns to be dispelled," he added.
Last month Fukuda told China's visiting foreign minister Yang Jiechi that he must face the fact that Tibet had become an international problem, contradicting the oft-stated Chinese view that it is a domestic dispute.
(Reporting by Chris Buckley, Yoko Kubota and Isabel Reynolds)
Reuters journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
______