3rd WPCT, 23-24 April, 1997, Washington, D.C.
Since the Vilnius Convention, Tibet has seen a renewed campaign the characteristics of which are reminiscent of the "Cultural Revolution" era. In a total reversal of the policy of leniency introduced in the 1980s, Chinese authorities are not only restricting the Tibetan people's public activities, but more importantly to Tibetans, they are launching campaigns aimed at obstructing Tibetans from undertaking even their personal religious and cultural activities. These campaigns were all implementations of the decisions taken during the Third National Work Forum on Tibet attended by senior Chinese leaders.
The Forum, held from July 20 to 23, 1994 in Beijing, was purportedly to discuss economic development of Tibet, but its real task turned out to be political. It came out with a wide range of revision in China's policies on Tibet, all designed to strengthen political control. It suggested new policies aimed at stricter control of religious institutions, through governmental selection of monastic administrative officials, an ideological campaign to remove the influence of the Dalai Lama, and increased monitoring of cadres of Chinese Communist Party of Tibetan origin. Subsequent Chinese actions in Tibet (some of which continue even today) all corroborate this policy revision.
The continued detention of the 11th Panchen Lama by the Chinese authorities is a cruel reminder that China not only wishes political control, but is attempting to control the very process of Tibetan religious and cultural activities.
