By Penpa Dolma,
Special to WTN News
DHARAMSALA, February 2 – Prof. Samthong Rinpoche, the Prime Minister of Exile Government said that the Exile government has nothing to do with the founding of Taiwan Tibet Exchange Foundation .
Taiwan Tibet Exchange Foundation is founded by purely a Taiwanese Non Governmental Organization and we have nothing to do with it the Foundation… he said.
With the founding of Taiwan Tibet Exchange Foundation, it hopes to strengthen and improve the ties between common Taiwanese people and Tibetan people of their daily religious and cultural life.
Until now, there was no such agency who particularly looks for Tibetans and for Tibet issue. And through this foundation Tibetans might be able to reach to the Taiwanese people and to have easy access to Taiwan for relations and various purposes, he added.
Taiwanese leaders are all to discuss His Holiness s third visit soon to Taiwan after the first and second visit in 1997 and 2001 respectively .Dalia Lama s government has been trying to solve Tibet issue encouraging China to re-open dialogue which was broken off in 1993 and later picked up in September last year.
Setting up this foundation and His Holiness s visit there might halt the hopeful ongoing peaceful dialogue. The exile government thinks that founding of Taiwan-Tibet Exchange Foundation will not act as hindrance to the dialogue.
The foundation wasn t set up by our initiation but by Taiwanese people. The negotiation with the mainland China is purely about the future of 6 million Tibetan people. That 6 million people has nothing to do with Taiwan and Taiwanese people, he said.
He emphasized that nobody should mix up the relation between His Holiness with Taiwan issue and that China should sought out their problem with Taiwan through negotiation and other appropriate means since the problem between them was not created by Tibetans.
Problem with Mainland China and Taiwan wasn t created by Tibetans and Tibetan issue has nothing to do with Taiwan therefore in future also Tibet and Taiwan issue will remain complete different, both has nothing to do with the other, says Prof. Samthong.
With six months to go for the new leadership of China to come forward for dialogue on Tibet issue, he said that exile government has given it s fullest co operation to create the most congenial atmosphere for China to start a meaningful dialogue.
Six month duration for the new leadership would be an adequate time to take decision and by the time if we are convinced that China is not going to start a meaningful dialogue , then we shall review whole situation.
By that he mean to launch peaceful protest(Sathagraha) as Mahatma Gandhi did incase China fails to show interest in keeping the dialogue open.
we cannot wait indefinitely because time is not enough to wait and situation in Tibet is deteriorating day by day so we will take action after the set date, he said.
Exile government is hopeful that China s leadership will start dialogue and resolve this Tibet issue to bring stability, peace and prosperity in People Republic of China (PRC), particularly in Asia. And the best time for them to resolve the problem is now, when His Holiness is present.
They have to resolve this problem impeccably with a lasting solution only with the leadership of present 14th His Holiness. Non-availability of H.H in future means this problem couldn t be tackled and this fact is acknowledge openly or not by China s leadership.
Thus he says that China has to come negotiate when His Holiness is there and added that he is confident that China will come around for negotiation how hard task it might turn out to be.
Dalai Lama is currently residing exile in Dharamsala after the occupation of Tibet by China in 1959.
