soc.culture.asian.american

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080328.TIBETCANADA28/TPSt=
ory/National

Ottawa decries 'crackdown' in Tibet by China's military
'We've shown our support for the Dalai Lama, for the people of Tibet'
RH=C9AL S=C9GUIN AND CAMPBELL CLARK
March 28, 2008
QUEBEC, OTTAWA -- The Canadian government yesterday called China's
recent repression of the protest movement in Tibet a "military
crackdown" and took the Dalai Lama's side in some of the strongest
criticism any Western government has levelled at China so far.

Peter Van Loan, Government House Leader and Minister of Democratic
Reform, expressed concern yesterday that human rights are still being
violated in Tibet.

"We've shown our support for the Dalai Lama, for the people of Tibet.
We want to see human rights respected there. And we will continue to
do that," Mr. Van Loan said.

"Right now the priority has to be to see a return to peace in Tibet
and an end to the military crackdown that has taken place there and a
genuine respect for human rights."


When asked whether his government believes the Chinese authorities
have made the necessary efforts to "genuinely respect human rights" in
Tibet, Mr. Van Loan's response was categorical.

"Obviously we are concerned that it is not happening right now and we
want to see a return to that," the minister said.

While senior figures in Western governments have urged restraint and
warned China to respect human rights, they have generally avoided
terms like "military crackdown" to describe China's response to
protests that turned into violent confrontation on March 14.

A notable exception was Taiwan - claimed by China as part of its
territory - which referred to it as a "bloody crackdown."

Political leaders who are not government ministers have sometimes been
more sharp tongued, however, and this week European Parliament
President Hans-Gert Pottering warned of a possible Olympics boycott by
saying a "cultural genocide" in Tibet could not be condoned.

And while Western governments have called for Beijing to enter into
dialogue with the Dalai Lama, Mr. Van Loan's statement that Canada
supports him will also be viewed as confrontational by Chinese
officials.

Chinese leaders were livid when Prime Minister Stephen Harper met the
Buddhist leader last November, and they halted meetings between
Chinese and Canadian bureaucrats. A Canadian government minister
expressing "support" will likely be viewed as an expression of succour
for a leader they see as a subversive, separatist threat.

China has stepped up charges that the Dalai Lama is behind organized
violence in Lhasa. China's ambassador to Canada, Lu Shumin, said
Wednesday the Dalai Lama has falsely presented himself as an angel but
has "been lying for decades."

He warned against interfering in his country's internal affairs,
saying those who accuse Beijing of suppressing human rights are making
"irresponsible and inappropriate" comments.

The ambassador's rare public remarks in Ottawa on Wednesday regarding
the Tibetan protest did little to persuade the Canadian government to
tone down its criticism of the events. Mr. Van Loan urged the Chinese
government to exercise restraint, noting that the Summer Olympics in
Beijing will continue to draw attention to China's human-rights record
in Tibet.

"I certainly hope they will exercise restraint and that they will
respect human rights. And you know, obviously, there is a spotlight
this year perhaps because of the Olympics. I think the attention that
is drawn to the situation there is all to the positive and that is a
good thing for the future of human rights there," Mr. Van Loan said.

He made the comments to reporters while representing Foreign Affairs
Minister Maxime Bernier at an international conference on Myanmar's
repression of human rights under its military junta.

He condemned the regime in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, and its
"oppression of the people of Burma" in a speech to delegates from 15
countries attending the one-day conference.

The military junta repression of a peaceful protest by Buddhist monks
in Burma last September was denounced by Canada, which last December
imposed tough economic sanctions against Burma.

"The regime's actions undermine freedom. They undermine democracy.
They undermine human rights. And they undermine the rule of law," Mr.
Van Loan told the delegates. "We are gathered here today to explore
ways that the international community can best lend its support to the
UN."

Canada is calling on a United Nations Security Council to adopt a
binding resolution requiring Burma to allow international monitoring
of a referendum to be held in May to adopt a new constitution that
would lead to general elections in 2010.

"There must be authentic dialogue with members of both democratic
movement and ethnic minorities," he said.