Dalai Lama's "greater Tibet" defies people's will - Xinhua
( 2002-08-21 08:44 ) (8 )

The Dalai Lama's proposal to form a so-called "greater Tibet" goes against the Tibetan people's will, and his real intention is to snatch back control of Tibet.

Legqog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, said this in Lhasa on Tuesday while meeting with Frank Jannuzi, an expert on East Asia from the foreign relations committee of the United States senate.

Legqog said since the democratic reforms of 1959, Tibet has implemented a highly autonomous system, and its people, freed from the bondage of serfdom, are living a happy life.

Currently 92 percent of officials in the region are Tibetans and they do not have the least desire to serve the Dalai Lama, he said.

The Chinese central government's policy toward the Dalai Lama is consistent and clear, Legqog said. It would talk with him once he relinquished the idea of "Tibetan independence."