阿沛·阿旺晋美（1910- ），全国政协副主席，曾任全国人大常委会副委员长。
一篇访谈，中英文两个版本，编写者的立场、修辞和采用的体例大相径庭──不妨称为《阿沛·阿旺晋美访谈的A面与B面》。
Seven Years in Tibet (SYIT)
Directed by: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Written by: Heinrich Harrer (book)
Starring: Brad Pitt
Music by: John Williams
Release date: October 8, 1997 (USA)
来源：中国西藏信息中心
http://www.tibet.cn/periodical/zgxz/1998/03/200512/t20051219_79303.htm
《中国西藏》（双月刊）1998年第3期
[字数：约5700字]
【编者按：1998年3月23日上午9时30分至11时30分，全国政协副主席阿沛·阿旺晋美接受了《南华早报》【博主按：香港销量第一的英文报纸】驻京记者白克尔（Jasper Becker）先生的采访，就美国电影《SYIT》以及其他内容广泛的问题发表了谈话，现将这次谈话内容刊载于下】
白克尔：（以下简称白）您在北京居住多少年了？
阿沛·阿旺晋美副主席（以下简称阿）1991年之后，我就没有再去过西藏了。在此之前，我有时住在北京，有时住在西藏，因为我在西藏有工作，1967年在北京安的家。
白：您在昌都有家吗？
阿：没有，在昌都工作时住的是政府提供的房子，没有私人住宅。
白：您曾经是昌都的王吗？
阿：不是王，在一段时间曾经是西藏地方政府驻昌都总管。
白：您年轻时一直住在拉萨吗？住了多少年？
阿：我一直住在拉萨，我生在拉萨，长在拉萨，工作在拉萨。
白：您在拉萨见过海因利希·哈勒（《SYIT》一书的作者）吗？
阿：见过一两次。初次见面是在1948年藏历五月十五日，这一天是西藏民间一个很重要的节日，叫做“瞻部林吉桑”，当时我们在公园举办朋友聚会，雪康·土登尼玛带他来，介绍我们认识，这以后他到过我家一两次。
白：您对他的印象如何？
阿：我们见面时只谈了一些琐事，未深谈，也未涉及政治问题，他这个人很爱玩，爱打麻将。
白：他在拉萨有什么样的名气？
阿：哈勒在拉萨没有多大的名气。他有个朋友叫奥夫斯内特，懂得建筑，为拉萨办几件实事，比如说，修水渠，将拉萨河上游的水引到罗布林卡；在拉萨市里修下水道；当时要在纳金修建小电厂，已修起了一些职工住房，他进行了勘测、设计，但没有建成。因此，在拉萨知道他的人很多。哈勒是个到处游荡的人，没办什么实事，也没有显示出有多大的能耐，没什么名气，影响也不大。
白：哈勒写了一本书《SYIT》，您是否读过？
阿：我听说过，没看过。
白：哈勒离开西藏后您再没有见过他吗？
阿：没有。他是1951年3、4月间离开拉萨的，那时我不在拉萨，在北京进行和平协议的谈判工作。我1951年8、9月间回到拉萨，他已经走了，从此再未见过他。
白：您看过美国电影《SYIT》吗？
阿：我最近才看到。
白：有什么印象、看法？
阿：除了有的小问题可能接近事实，例如影片中有教达赖喇嘛学习英语的情节，其余全部都不符合事实。
白：影片中有个叫阿旺的，好象是演的您？
阿：我可以这样说，完全是捏造。影片中有个情节，描述我派一位妇女送藏袍给哈勒，根本就没有这回事，我从来没有想到送衣服给他，我仅仅是认识他，他只是到过我家一两次。
白：影片给观众的印象您不是一个爱国者，而是卖国者，影片特别批评了您做的事情，对此您有什么看法？
阿：我看了之后认为，哈勒本人不可能在书中写下这样的情节，这是电影的炮制者编造的。我和哈勒没有那样的交往和关系，所以他不可能在书中写这样的东西，尽管我没看过这本书。这部片子是在美国拍摄的，我认为这是美国电影作者编造的。
白：我注意到了，很多事情书中没有，电影中有，二者不一样，有很大的区别。1951年达赖喇嘛和西藏政府要您领导西藏军抵抗解放军进入昌都，您没完成您的任务，电影就此批评了您，您对此有什么看法？
阿：我可以详细地介绍这段历史的情况。西藏地方政府有个规定，凡西藏地方政府的官员、贵族在他为政府服务期间必须去昌都工作，任期4年。 1950年初，西藏地方政府委派我去接任昌都总管，我明确提出不去，因为我20多岁时就在昌都的总管府做过粮官，服务了4年，我的任务已经完成。第二个原因，西藏当时还有个规定，贵族家庭如果没有了长辈，而本人又是家中的长者，就可以不去昌都，我正好符合这个规定。当时解放军已临近昌都，西藏地方政府正与中央政府进行和平谈判，我说我不做昌都总管，如果要进行和平谈判我可以去。我提出这个意见后，西藏地方政府就召开了各级官员代表会议讨论，他们认为我以噶伦的身份去进行和平谈判，规格太高，下一轮需要噶伦出面，你再去。他们要我必须去昌都任总管，根据这个决定我只好去上任。我到那里时情况很糟，很危险。已有6个团3千多人的藏军调到前线，还动员了1万多民兵。而军粮、生活用品全都要老百姓运输，当时西藏的交通十分落后，要先将各地的物资集中起来，再运到前线，老百姓苦不堪言，很多人都断了粮，大家怨声载道。在这种情况下，不要说同解放军打仗，恐怕要发生内乱，形势很严重。我当时着手遣散了5、6个县的民兵，这当口昌都解放了。
白：很多康巴战士是不是想和解放军打仗？并作了准备？
阿：不存在这样的事，这是乱说的。
白：解放后康巴战士和义民进行了多次起义，反抗土地改革，是吗？
阿：情况不是这样的。西藏和平解放之后，是按照和平协议进行工作的。1956年，在青海甘肃、云南、四川藏族聚集区进行了民主改革，引起了一些人的反对，搞了叛乱，叛乱平息后这些人跑到了西藏，有人就认为是西藏搞了叛乱。
白：西藏解放之前您和解放军有联系吗？
阿：解放军到西藏之前我与他们没有任何联系，见都没见过。
白：您了解共产主义吗？
阿：西藏解放之前我和共产党没有任何联系，也不懂共产主义，但通过对西藏历史的研究我很清楚，西藏是中国领土不可分割的一部分，西藏在中国中央政权管辖下已有700多年的历史。1911年中国内地发生了辛亥革命，推翻了清王朝的中央政府，国民党掌握了政权，在这一过程中，对西藏的管理有些顾不上，不是那么紧密、严格，在形式上有脱离中国的现象，但实际上西藏从未实现过独立，对于这一点我心里有数，很清楚。另一点是，我认为不能与共产党打仗，只能和谈。国民党号称有800万军队，有美国的支持，与共产党打仗的结果还是失败。如果西藏男女老幼全都上阵打仗，那时西藏不足100万人口，没经过训练，没有武器，怎么和解放军打？怎么取得胜利？我一直主张和谈。这些主张，在当时噶厦召开的官员会议上讨论打还是和谈问题时，我几次明确讲过。这并不是我对共产党有所了解，或是和解放军有什么联系，而是从西藏的历史和现实出发考虑的。
白：您是如何理解共产党对西藏的政策？比如对土地改革、佛教、和尚、西藏的传统等。
阿：1949年，中华人民共和国成立后，当时在拉萨有很多谣言，说共产党杀和尚、烧寺庙、抢财产、强奸妇女，甚至吃人肉。我个人认为非常明显，这是外国人造谣。但确有不少人相信，他们想共产党既然如此，就没有了活头，还不如拼个你死我活。对于是和谈还是打仗，我当时谈了我的意见，国民党时期中国有4亿人口，中国共产党掌管了政权之后，这些人都能活下去，我们西藏不到100万人口，有什么不能活下去？如果共产党确如谣言所说，那4亿中国人也不会老老实实地受共产党的欺负吧？我的话有人认为有道理，有的人听信谣言，还是要与共产党打仗。
白：您加入共产党吗？
阿：没有。
白：最近在英国有一篇关于十世班禅“七万言书”的报道，您看过了吗？
阿：这件事我清楚，十世班禅写“七万言书”时征求过我的意见，我们讨论过。我劝他你对西藏工作有什么意见可以口头提出，最好不要写成书面的，这样会当成把你打倒的一个根据。我很坦率地提出了，他不听。“七万言书”的内容我看了。
白：十世班禅的“七万言书”中谈到共产党毁了很多寺庙，杀了很多和尚，有很多人饿死，他害怕藏民族消亡，文化失传，他说得很严重，您觉得他说的有道理吗？3年困难时期您在干什么？
阿：西藏在1959年发生叛乱，之后进行了民主改革、土地改革、发展生产，总的来看是好的，中央对西藏的政策是正确的、一贯的，但西藏干部的水平不一样，对中央政策的理解程度不一样，这就出现了差别，有的地方政策执行得好，有的地方执行得不好。班禅大师看到了个别地方，未从全局看这些问题。他的 “七万言书”有对的地方，也有不对的地方。
白：您估计当时有多少人饿死或死于监狱？
阿：我可以肯定地讲，当时在西藏没有饿死一个人。但听说青海有人饿死，至于多少人，我没去过青海，无法统计。班禅大师讲青海的情况是这样的，那时我们都在北京开会，之后我和帕巴拉·格列郎杰去东北参观，班禅大师去青海，走之前还没有什么问题，但他从青海了解情况回来后很生气，向西南局作了汇报，之后他在返回北京的路上开始写“七万言书”。
白：据说他因此而受到批评和斗争，入狱15年？
阿：在他写了“七万言书”之后，对他进行了严厉的批评，他担任的西藏自治区筹备委员会主任职务被撤销，送到北京，保留了全国政协委员，长住北京。1967年，“文化大革命”期间，中央民族学院的一批红卫兵翻墙到班禅大师家，把他抓到民族学院进行批斗。周恩来总理知道此事后马上派秘书童小鹏将他接了出来。当时情况很乱，无法无天，周总理把他送到一个地方保护起来，那里也保护着许多共产党的高级干部、部队的高级将领。这件事从头到尾我很清楚。
白：十世班禅说您参与了六十年代初批评他的事，对此他一直耿耿于怀。你们的关系不太好是吗？
阿：我没有批评过班禅大师，原因很简单，我没有材料和根据。1964年，在西藏自治区筹备委员会第七次会议上作出决议，撤销他西藏自治区筹备委员会代主任的职务，由我担任这个职务。征求我的意见时，我明确地说他有错误，可在内部进行批评，甚至是严厉的批评，但不能撤销他的职务，改由我去担任，我不同意。我很明确地对当时的负责人表达了我的意见。当时他是被批评的对象，这些事他不可能知道。后来我们都当了全国人大常委会的副委员长，在一次会上，我当着许多人，将这件事向他讲了。我们一直保持着友好的关系。我没批评过他，他也没批评过我，你们听到的可能是谣言。
白：80年代，十世班禅多次提意见，说1979年以前西藏的宗教政策没有搞好。有时他在公开场合发表的意见与他内心的想法不一致。他说提意见是一件很痛苦的事情，您同意他的看法吗？
阿：这些方面肯定有不同的看法，有时确实班禅大师讲了错话，讲的很厉害，在现场当着他的面不好讲他说错了话，会后我们内部个别交谈时，我都会指出来哪些话说错了，有时他也承认自己错了。我们无论谁到谁家，都会明确提出意见，我们之间没有矛盾。他常说，他说错了什么，做错了什么都要我告诉他，反之我也一样。
白：80年代班禅活着的时候，中国政府的政策是和达赖谈判，并通过班禅和达赖的亲戚好像有过接触，班禅死了以后，这一过程好像中断了。您怎么看？
阿：您刚才的说法是错误的，中央对达赖的政策是一贯的，谈判的条件只有一个，就是达赖放弃西藏独立的主张，停止进行分裂祖国的活动。过去一直有过接触，当然还不是正式谈判。后来这种接触、联系中断了，是达赖中断的，不是中央中断的，而且这与班禅大师在世、去世没有任何关系，这点我特别清楚。班禅大师去世后，中央对他的后事处理十分重视，要在北京举行隆重的追悼大会。当时我们向中央建议，这是与达赖接触的好机会，可以以适当的方式邀请达赖参加班禅大师的追悼大会，他就此可与中央政府进行接触，中央接受了这个意见，商量由中国佛教协会的会长赵朴初居士出面，写了一封亲笔信给达赖喇嘛，邀请他出席班禅大师的追悼会。当时达赖的二哥嘉乐顿珠就在北京，他到我家做客，我向他谈及此事，讲明这是达赖和中央政府亲自接触的难得的好机会。请他转告达赖，我希望他务必来，不要错过这个机会。嘉乐顿珠也认为是个好机会，表示要亲自带信到印度当面交给达赖，并说服达赖一定来北京。后来这封信由嘉乐顿珠亲自面交了达赖，但达赖拒绝了。这方面的接触是达赖中断的，而不是中央中央政府中断的。这和班禅大师的去世没有关系。
白：有件事我不太了解，就是恰扎与达赖换信被抓的情况。
阿：这件事详细谈会很长，简单介绍达赖和班禅转世灵童认定问题。从八世达赖时期，清朝中央政府确定了金瓶掣签制度，从九世达赖开始实行，用这种办法来确定灵童转世的正身。金瓶掣签之前，按规定要选出几位候选灵童。认定达赖的转世灵童可由在世班禅打卦，挑选几名候选者。认定班禅的灵童，可由在世的达赖打卦认定几名候选者。如果达赖和班禅都不在世，可由一位有威望的大活佛打卦认定候选灵童。这种认定仅仅是候选灵童，而不是灵童的正身。正身必须在大昭寺的释迦牟尼像前进行金瓶掣签认定，最后报请中央政府批准。在认定十世班禅灵童的问题上，我对中央政府提出过建议，为了将这件事办得圆满，可由扎什伦布寺的民主管理委员会出面给达赖写信，让达赖打卦认定一个候选灵童，这个灵童可与国内其他候选灵童一起进行金瓶掣签。后来达赖突然宣布，就认定他候选的那个小孩为班禅大师转世灵童的正身。这根本就不符合规矩，不要说达赖在国外，就是在国内也无权最后认定灵童。这件事是达赖和恰扎私下里做的，恰扎要求达赖这样做，达赖也特别愿意这么干，这完全违背了传统的做法，恰扎当然就被关起来了。
白：恰扎现在在哪里？
阿：肯定关起来了，在哪里我不知道。
白：他犯了什么罪？按法律是什么罪名？
阿：这件事恰扎有很严重的错误。如果你写信给达赖，请他选出一位候选灵童，那我看就没有问题。而恰扎不是这么做的，他报过一个名单去，说就请你认定这个小孩为转世灵童正身，这就违反了定制。这样做法在法律上定什么罪，我不清楚。但这是一个很严重的问题。
白：达赖选的灵童在哪里？
阿：在一个地方学习。
白：从长远看，您对与达赖的谈判有什么看法？为什么不继续这种谈判？为何要中断这种接触？
阿：这个问题刚才讲得很清楚了，是达赖中断接触的，不是中央政府停止接触的。
白：那您为何不到印度与达赖谈谈？你们彼此都认识。
阿：在这个问题上我出了很大的力量，但是毫无结果。何必再费心呢。请你考虑一个问题，《SYIT》这部电影从头到尾都是捏造，如果不是达赖他们出的主意，怎么会有这个东西。在这种情况下与达赖谈什么呢？这部电影对我进行了恶毒的攻击，我不在乎。毛泽东有个观点，被敌人反对是件好事，凡是敌人反对的我们就要拥护，越骂我，我越高兴。
白：现在班禅很年轻，达赖已经老了，他死了以后，西藏人民怎么办？
阿：这一点请你放心，西藏的社会已经发生了变化，西藏人民的生活越来越好。这一点是肯定的。
[Ngawang Jigme (1910- ) was a Tibetan aristocrat and politician, portrayed in Seven Years in Tibet (1997) as the traitor who surrendered Tibet to the People's Liberation Army. He studied in Britain in his youth. He served as the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), and is the Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).]
World Tibet Network News
4. Interview with Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme (SCMP)
FROM JASPER BECKER IN BEIJING
South China Morning Post - Hong Kong
4 April 1998
[word count: around 2,100]
Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme is the great survivor, the only Tibetan to have flourished equally under the Dalai Lama as under the Gang of Four. Decades of revolution and rebellion have torn apart most Tibetan families yet nothing has touched Jigme. Now 88 he is the patriarch of a clan with 60 members.
Tall and thin with thick glasses, Jigme still looks the Tibetan aristocrat even in a western suit. Yet after a lifetime of service to the Chinese state, mostly in Beijing, Jigme prefers speaking Tibetan rather than Chinese.
Jigme has rarely spoken to the press but stung by being cast as the villain in "Seven Years in Tibet", he gave in his version of his events in a lengthy interview.
It is a very long one. In 1950, the Dalai Lama appointed him governor of Eastern Tibet to take command of the front line against the invading People's Liberation Army. In May 1951, he led the delegation that went to Beijing to sign the 17 point agreement which laid out the conditions for China's annexation of Tibet. During the rebellion of 1959, he was in the camp of the Chinese garrison advising them as the Dalai Lama fled to India.
"Most Tibetans in Tibet despise him as a traitor," says historian Tsering Shakya, fellow in Tibetan studies at the School of African and Oriental Studies in London. "The Chinese use him to legitimise their rule. He is the man who signed the 17 point Agreement and that is very important to them."
In the early 1960s, it was also Jigme who counseled the young Panchen Lama against writing his damning indictment of Communist policies in Tibet. In 1965, Jigme was made the first chairman of the newly-established Tibet Autonomous Region and later figurehead to the revolutionary committee which ruled during the Cultural Revolution. In the 1980s, he went on to be made a Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress and is remains a vice chairman of the lesser body, the CPPCC.
"They need him because he is the only link with the Dalai Lama's old government. He represents continuity and shows how the old has been integrated into the new China," Shakya said.
Jigme has not been back to Tibet since 1991 and has lived in Beijing since 1967 when Zhou Enlai had lifted out after he was beaten up by Red Guards. Most of his 12 children live in the capital and many hold high positions. One was formerly in charge of tourism in Tibet, another works in the State Council while Jigme's wife was a vice chair of the All China Women's Federation.
His third son, Ngapo Jigme, defected 13 years ago and now lives in Washington where he worked for the Free Tibet Campaign and now heads the Tibet section of Radio Free Asia.
"In fact the Chinese government has never trusted him. My father has been a figurehead. He never really had any power," Ngapo Jigme said and he adds that despite their differences, his father has tried his best for Tibet.
"When things go wrong, people always look for a scapegoat but it is more complicated than that," the son said.
In the film, Jigme is shown deliberately conspiring with the Chinese generals and sabotaging the resistance effort in 1950. Both he and his son agree that the events portrayed in the film are completely fictitious and bare no resemblance the book by Heinrich Harrer.
"I don’t think all this comes from Harrer's book. It was made up by the producers in America," Jigme said. "Apart from trivial particulars, from beginning to end, none of the stories in the movie tally with the facts. Only one of the details is close to the truth - that Harrer taught the Dalai Lama English."
His son is far blunter. "It is like a very bad Chinese propaganda movie. A lot of things are completely inaccurate. For instance, Harrer never saw the Chinese troops, he left Tibet long before the PLA entered."
Yet Jigme does not deny that he undermined the Tibetan army's resistance but he insists there was no collusion.
"I had never set eyes on a Communist Party member before the PLA arrived, let alone had any contacts. I didn’t know anything about Communism," he said.
This is challenged by Tsering Shakya who is bringing out a new and thorough history of modern Tibet; "Lhasa was full of refugees from Mongolia and Buryiatia who had witnessed what happened when Communists came to power. People knew."
Jigme insists that knew history and that it proves that Tibet has been a part of China since the Mongols invaded and conquered China 700 years ago. When the Manchu empire collapsed in 1911 Beijing's control only loosened temporarily.
"The 1911 revolution toppled the Qing and the Nationalists came to power. During this process the KMT's administration was not so tight and there appeared certain phenomena which looked like separation from China," Jigme said. Others disagree with this interpretation.
"Tibet declared independence in1911 and after that the Chinese never exercised any control," Shakya said, also pointing out that the Qing empire also claimed control over other states like Korea, Mongolia and Vietnam which are now independent.
Jigme's main defence is that in 1950 resistance to the Chinese Communists was futile.
"Before I was sent to Kamdo (Eastern Tibet), I told that I would only go there for peaceful negotiations since fighting the Communist Party is in vain. It is impossible to fight. The Nationalists had an eight million strong army with the full backing of America. It was still defeated," Jigme said. The Tibetan population only numbered one million and he insists that he even had the backing of Lhasa to open negotiations.
"We had neither weapons nor training. How could we fight against the PLA? It was impossible!" he said. Many agree.
"It was totally hopeless," said Ngapo Jigme.
"This is true. The British radio operator Robert Ford mocked the Tibetan army as Drury Lane," Shakya said.
Jigme described how when he arrived at the front he found chaos. There were six regiments of troops, each with 300 soldiers, more than 10,000 militia and no food supplies.
"Local people lived in unbearable bitterness and many had run out of food," Jigme recalled and said that is why he decided to commanded the militia troops to disband.
In his autobiography, "Freedom in Exile" the Dalai Lama is particularly critical of Jigme's actions during the rebellion. After a failed uprising in eastern Tibet, Lhasa was full of rebels who surrounded the Dalai Lama. At this critical moment, Jigme remained in the Chinese garrison's camp, dressed in a Chinese uniform and sending letters to persuade the Dalai Lama to come over and give himself up. As Chinese troops prepared to shell the rebel camp, he wrote to the Dalai Lama asking him to identify his residence.
Later when the Dalai Lama had fled, the Tibetans were represented only by the young Panchen Lama and Jigme. It is the contrast between their two attitudes which for many Tibetans now distinguishes the two men.
"The Panchen Lama often spoke out in defence of Tibet. People respected him for that," Shakya notes. As China crushed the 1959 rebellion imprisoning tens of thousands, elsewhere the Great Leap Forward was in full swing, temples were smashed, monasteries dissolved, peasants and nomads were herded into communes. In many places up to 30 percent of the population starved to death.
The 10th Panchen Lama wrote a 70,000 word report after going to see the misery for himself in Qinghai and Sichuan provinces, parts of Tibet, now incorporated into Chinese provinces.
Jigme also wanted to defend his role at this time, perhaps the darkest in entire history of the Tibetan people.
Jigme recalled what he said when the Panchen Lama, then just 24, consulted him.
"I said if he had any complaints on the work in Tibet, he should go straight to central government leaders and make an oral report. I warned him not to write the report as it could provide grounds for them to attack you but he turned a death [deaf?] ear."
Some claim Jigme enlarged the report adding a long prologue praising the Communist Party's reforms in Tibet. Yet his fears were justified. In 1962, Mao swept back into power, and was infuriated by the report calling it a "poisoned arrow" and the Panchen Lama was arrested and struggled against. He was not freed for 16 years and was not fully rehabilitated until 1988, just before his death.
Jigme now denies taking part in the violent struggle sessions against the Panchen and says the charges in the 70,000 word report are not true. The Panchen Lama found that up to 15 percent of the population had been thrown into camps where half the inmates had died from hunger.
Due to starvation, the report warns that "there is an evident and severe reduction in the present-day population of Tibet" and it complains that 97 percent of the temples and monasteries and shrines had been destroyed.
Jigme denies all this. "Some cadres may have violated policies but this was not common in the whole of Tibet. Panchen only noticed individual cases he failed to see the good overall situation. There were mistakes in his report. Of course, some of his complaints were right but there were largely mistakes," he said.
"I can tell you for sure that not a single man died of hunger in Tibet...But I heard some people died in Qinghai but don't know how many," Jigme said who recalled that he never went to investigate himself. Instead Jigme and others were taken to the other end of the country, on a tour of Manchuria and Guangdong.
"This is just a lie. A lot of people died of starvation inside the Tibet Autonomous Region," Shakya says. Jigme's son agrees.
"Even Chinese population statistics clearly show a lot of people died in the famine," Ngapo Jigme said.
His father even denied that the Panchen was ever imprisoned, saying he was merely criticised and demoted.
"I appealed resolutely that he should not be dismissed and I clearly said I could not replace him," Jigme recalled.
"In early 1967, Red Guards from the Central Nationalities College climbed over the wall and took him away. They put him in custody and struggled him. Premier Zhou heard about this and despatched his secretary to save him. To ensure his protection, the Panchen Lama was placed under house arrest as were many other senior leaders."
In fact, the Panchen Lama would spent nine years in prison, sometimes in solitary confinement and was regularly taken out and beaten.
"From time to time, he was regularly taken out for massive struggle sessions in sports stadia in Beijing where he would be publicly humiliated before thousands of people. On one infamous occasion in 1996 [year apparently wrong], his sister in law was persuaded to accuse him from the podium of having raped her, and his younger brother beat on the stage," said a recent report from the Tibet Information Network.
Following his release, the Panchen Lama became increasingly outspoken of Chinese policies in Tibet. Jigme said they had strong but amicable differences of opinion. "We always talked frankly instead of being polite," he said.
Yet some claim that behind the scenes Jigme has continued trying to modify Chinese policies. The Tibet Information Network has an internal speech made in 1988 in which called on Beijing leaders to honour the terms of the 17 point agreement by which China promised to give Tibet complete autonomy.
"We must give Tibet more autonomous power than other minority regions. In my view, at present, the Tibet Autonomous Region has less autonomy than other autonomous regions, let alone compared with any provinces. Tibet must have some special treatment and have more autonomy like those special economic zones," Jigme said.
In another speech made in 1991, he reminded Chinese leaders that clauses 4 and 5 of the agreement bind Beijing "not to change the existing political system in Tibet."
Inside accounts, also claim that Jigme tried to stop Beijing from holding the golden urn divination ceremony to discover the 11th Panchen Lama reincarnation. He reportedly went to government archives to show that the central government had not used the urn before nor had it been involved in the selection of the 10th Panchen.
Yet, much to the anger of his family, Hollywood is likely to ensure that Jigme could go down in history as a self-serving turncoat.
"This film cannot define a person's role in history. We ought to wait many years to see what emerges," his son said.
Jigme himself alleges that the film is just another plot by the "Dalai Lama clique" and professes to be indifferent to its contents.
"Although the film mounts vicious attacks against me, I do not care. Instead I am happy. As the late Chairman Mao once said: "We support those who are opposed by our enemies.""
Amid a busy schedule of official meetings and speed-tours through famous sites in Beijing, Barack Obama also had a chance to meet with his half-brother Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo.
- Associated Press
- Mark Ndesandjo in Guangzhou
The brothers– who share the same Kenyan father, the late Barack Obama Sr.—met for about five minutes on Monday evening in Beijing, a White House official told Reuters. Not long, even by Obama’s standards on this trip (he had a full 30 minutes to visit the Forbidden City on Tuesday, and roughly the same amount of time in his schedule for the Great Wall Wednesday).
Ndesandjo has lived in the south China city of Shenzhen since 2002, and earlier this year he married a Chinese woman. But he had been reticent about speaking to the media until a few weeks ago, when he appeared in Guangzhou to promote his first book, a semi-autobiographical novel that detailed a painful childhood under an abusive father.
At the time, Ndesandjo said he hoped to introduce his new wife, a native of China’s Henan province, to the U.S. president during his China trip, but it wasn’t immediately clear if she was part of Monday’s family reunion.
UPDATE: In an interview with CNN, Ndesandjo said his wife also had an opportunity to meet the U.S. president. “My wife and he had a big, big hug.” Ndesandjo said, adding that they talked “about family.”
–Sky Canaves
Posts
