Interview: "What I see and hear in Tibet differs from Dalai Lama´s propaganda": Spanish Tibetologist

Source: Xinhua | 03-07-2009 20:27

MADRID, March 7 (Xinhua) -- "What I have seen and heard in Tibet completely differed from the distorted propaganda by the Dalai Lama," a renowned Spanish Tibetologist has said.

The March 14 riot in Lhasa in 2008, involving violent crimes against people and property, was premeditated and masterminded by followers of the Dalai Lama, Inaki Preciado Idoeta told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"But the Dalai Lama neither made an apology for the riot nor condemned those who perpetrated the violence," said Precidao Idoeta, one of the first Spanish diplomats to China and also a famous sinologist in Spain.

He has visited Tibet several times since the 1990s and also temporarily lived there for his research.

"I can speak Chinese and the Tibetan language and communicate well with the local people, so I can get first-hand materials about the region," he said.

Commenting on Dalai Lama's accusation that the Chinese government has destroyed the Tibetan culture and language and the Tibetan people have no freedom of religion, he said that was an excuse used by the Dalai Lama to split the country.

"Under the current education system in the autonomous region, all the Tibetan students are required to learn the Tibetan language during the nine-year period of compulsory education," he said.