Special report: Tibet: Its Past and Present

    By Xinhua writer Wang Jiaquan     

    BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The Nobel laurel was tainted, and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal proved nothing but a fig leaf of the Dalai Lama when on Friday rioters, backed by the self-proclaimed peace preacher, turned the tranquil holy city of Lhasa into a land of terror.

    And the intention harbored behind the monk's claim of seeking "real or greater autonomy" of Tibet also proved hypocritical when hundreds of his followers yelled independence, attacked police, smashed windows, robbed shops, and set cars and a mosque ablaze.

    Yet, this impudent politician did not show any sign of shame when he disassociated himself from the conspiracy as an innocent monk, leaving his followers standing as cat's paws by persuading them, in a canting manner, "not to resort to violence" reportedly in a statement after the serene abode of the gods was disturbed.

    At least 10 people were confirmed dead in the rioting, while the number of injured and other losses kept rising.

    When a woman who dared not to step out of her office near a looted and burnt supermarket told me through mobile phone short messages that Lhasa was cloaked in an atmosphere of horror, I believed the hand behind the cat's paws was a master terror maker.

    But the monk in a crimson cassock has many tools for disguise to survive the international criticism against violence and terror: his preaching of peace, tolerance and benevolence to the Nobel honor and U.S. medal which added to his undeserved aura.

    Now the blaze and blood in Lhasa has unclad the nature of the Dalai Lama, and it's time for the international community to recheck their stance toward the group under the camouflage of non-violence, if they do not want to be willingly misled.

    The Dalai Lama and his clique have never for a day refrained from violence and terror. His childhood teacher, an Austrian, was a Nazi, and it's no secret that for quite a long time after he fled to India, he kept a force, armed by his western patron, for separatist activities. The peace advocator had also shown no interest in the global campaigns against U.S. wars on Afghanistan and Iraq.

    The international community, however, seems to have neglected, or, be unwilling, to face the facts. Continuous tolerance to violence undoubtedly means appeasement to terror, while offering platforms for the rhetoric lama to sell his deceitful philosophy will only encourage him to drift further away from the negotiation framework on the Tibet issue that the Chinese government has repeatedly promised to keep open.

    There are always countries, organizations and individuals who would like to act as moral defenders when anything they don't like to see happens. Now it's time again for them to stand out, but on whom their whip falls is a test to justice.

    As for the Dalai Lama, I never disbelieve the ability and power of the so-called "His Holiness" in praying for peace, but the violent scene in Lhasa has given me the very reason to doubt the always-smiling monk's sincerity.