Tibetan 'government-in-exile' still a theocratic power
Updated: 2008-04-28 22:23
The "government-in-exile" wants to secede Tibet from China, aims to restore its rule with political and religious power under the Dalai Lama's control, she said.
Both the 1963 constitution and 1991 amendments admit the the supreme status of the Dalai Lama in the "government", said Zhu Xiaoming, a research fellow with China Tibetology Research Center.
The 1991 edition of the constitution merely added such words including "freedom", "democracy" and "peace" from its previous version, but in fact the two Constitutions are fundamentally the same as their spirit is to seek Tibetan independence, he said.
The Dalai Lama's backers' claim to reign over the "Greater Tibet", which covers an area of 2.4 million square kilometers and boasts Tibet, Qinghai and large areas in Sichuan, Xinjiang, Yunnan and Gansu, is groundless and seek the support of anti-China forces, he said.
As an important feature of theocracy, the Dalai Lama also practised cronyism when appointing officials, experts said.
The Dalai Lama's second eldest brother Gyalo Toinzhub held important posts in military, diplomatic and financial departments, Losang Samdain, the third eldest brother, now is in charge of health section, while his younger sister Jezuin Bai'ma is the chief of the education department. His brother-in-law was also "minister of security" 18 years since 1968. And many of relatives have held important posts in his "government."
As a result of theocratic rule, internal faction, religious persecution and assassinations have been rife in the history of his exiled "government." Many monks were expelled from monasteries just for believing in different gods.
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