Tibetan graduates need to ‘expose and criticise Dalai Lama’ for Chinese government jobs
The new requirements for Tibetan graduates go beyond what is in the list of qualifications for graduates from other parts of the country, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said in a statement Thursday.
New qualifications required of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) graduates applying for government jobs include criticism of the Dalai Lama and “firm” pro-Communist Party of China (CPC) political principles, a rights group has said in a statement.
The new requirements for Tibetan graduates go beyond what is in the list of qualifications for graduates from other parts of the country, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said in a statement Thursday.
Quoting an announcement from the TAR government’s online education platform, the ICT said these conditions were specifically for Tibetan graduates from the region.
“Support the (Communist) Party’s leadership, resolutely implement the [Chinese Communist] Party’s line, line of approach, policies, and the guiding ideology of Tibet work in the new era; align ideologically, politically, and in action with the Party Central Committee; oppose any splittist tendencies; expose and criticise the Dalai Lama; safeguard the unity of the motherland and ethnic unity and take a firm stand on political issues, taking a clear and distinct stand,” the Washington-based rights group said in the statement.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not directly respond to a question from HT on the development but said the Dalai Lama and anti-China forces were trying to separate Tibet from the mainland.
“Some anti-China hostile forces often spread anti-China remarks for their ulterior political purposes, which are not worth refuting,” the foreign ministry said in statement to the HT.
“China’s policies and positions on Tibet-related issues are consistent and clear.
The 14th Dalai Lama is a political exile who, under the guise of religion, has been engaged in anti-China separatist activities for a long time, and intends to separate Tibet from China,” the statement said.
“The people of all ethnic groups in Tibet have clear understanding of this,” it added.
Critics of China’s policies in Tibet point out that the Dalai Lama is only seeking greater autonomy for Tibet, and not a separate country.
The policies, they say, are alienating the Tibetans.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a question from HT asking for a comment on the development.
“These new requirements underscore how Tibetans are being forced to perform visible acts of loyalty to the Chinese state and to disavow any allegiance to the Dalai Lama, whom China forced into exile 60 years ago and who has not been allowed to return to Tibet ever since,” the ICT statement said.
International rights groups and critics say Beijing rules TAR with an iron fist, accuse the Chinese government of widespread rights abuses in the mountainous region and say the distinct culture, language and traditions of Tibetans is being gradually eroded.
Beijing refers to the Dharamshala-based Dalai Lama as a “dangerous splittist” and says it has made enormous efforts and spent billions of dollars to bring the remote region into the modern era, abolishing feudal practices and protected its Buddhist people’s right to freely practise their religion and maintain their culture.
Critics, however, say the rights of Tibetans are suppressed.
“The tightened rules give reason for concern, as they apply to applicants of Tibetan origin only and amount to racial profiling. Moreover, the requirements to reveal and denounce a certain political opinion violate the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, as protected in Article 18 Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Matteo Mecacci, the ICT president, said in the statement.
