EDITORIAL : THE GLOBAL TIMES, CHINA

Confrontation under religious auspices

Recently, the Dalai Lama accused the central government over an incident at the Aba Gulden Temple in Sichuan. The Chinese police intervened to control lamas that had stirred up trouble. Last week, the US State Department echoed the Dalai Lama and declared that the current situation in the temple "does not meet internationally accepted standards of religious freedom and human rights."

Since the  "3.14 incident" in 2008 in Tibet, "religion" and "human rights"  have returned to the political fore in the spats over Tibet between the West and China. The reason lies in the existence of the Dalai clique, which has maintained some influence through Tibetan Buddhism in Tibetan areas and turned this influence into political confrontation.

Therefore, it is difficult to completely snuff out political stories in which some lamas cause trouble which the Chinese government attempts to stop while the Dalai clique and the West throw accusations. In order to maintain stability, China must develop a better capacity to handle these incidents.

Tibet's so-called "religious freedom" has long been politicized by the Dalai clique and the West. The so-called "religious freedom "and "human rights" are nothing but slogans to deceive people in Tibet and take over global opinion.

Religious affairs have also encountered friction, which is inevitable internationally. Each country handles religious friction very carefully, trying to avoid expanded social influence, especially when this can spill over into political events. US activists and US military troops overseas have desecrated the Koran many times, the impact of which has been suppressed by the US.

It is impossible for China to be free of religious problems. At first, we felt nervous when hearing a few religious people had caused trouble. But after such several incidents, society has adapted to it. Foreign intervention cannot influence the attitude of Chinese society.

The troublemakers and their foreign supporters must be aware that the involvement of religious people in secular politics is not welcome. They have destroyed local stability, which is against the wishes of local residents. So far, there has been no collective political unrest in minority areas with most of the population involved since 1949. In the "3.14" and "7.5" events, the real trouble-makers numbered but few.

Political confrontation with "religious freedom" as its disguise has no future in China. Of this, both the West and the Dalai clique are aware; however, troublemakers in China are often deceived. No Western country has supported "Tibet independence" in public and merely seek for Tibet to be in chaos, so that China can be contained.

Every problem in Tibet is caused by a few lamas, who have betrayed and stained the Buddhist concept of peace. However, they seem to have forgotten that they are still citizens of the People's Republic of China. The law will not make concessions to them.