Dalai Lama reflects on deaths in Tibet

The Dalai Lama marked the 50 year anniversary of Tibetan uprising against Chinese control with a solemn speech from his base in Dharamsala, India. The Tibetan spiritual leader stated that his people live in ‘constant fear’ of the ‘suspicious’ Chinese authorities, with Tibetan culture and identity under great threat of extinction. He reflected on, and paid tribute to, the hundreds of thousands of Tibetan people who have lost their lives since the Chinese communist troops took control of Tibet in 1950. He urged his people that justice will prevail if they to continue to follow the ‘The Middle Way’ and seek political autonomy through non-violent protest, negotiation and other peaceful means.
The Dalai Lama has been considered something of a ‘dangerous separatist obsessed with independence’ by Beijing- with only yesterday the Chinese President Hu Jinatao making a reference to the political issues in Tibet, calling for a “sturdy Great Wall against separatism”.