Special report: Tibet: Its Past and Present

    BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), though seemingly a civil organization, is a radical spearhead of violence supported and employed by the Dalai Lama clique, according to a Chinese Tibetologist.

    The TYC was set up in 1970 at the direct incitement of the Dalai Lama, said Xie Gangzheng, a research fellow at the Sichuang Tibetology Research Center in southwestern China's Sichuan Province.

    The organization was set up with the aim of colluding with "pro-independence" Tibetan youths "in-exile" to carry out secessionist activities, according to Xie.

    Although ostensibly a civil organization, the TYC has been the backbone of the Tibetan "government-in-exile" since 1990, as currently 90 percent of the "government-in-exile" personnel were TYC members, according to Xie.

    Since 1992, all the Kalon Tribas, or "prime ministers," of the Tibetan "government-in-exile," including the current Kalon Triba Samdom Rinpoche, were also TYC members, Xie said.

    "The TYC are no different from the Tibetan 'government-in-exile' in their pursuit of 'Tibet independence' and internationalizing the Tibet issue," Xie said.

    VIOLENT ACTIVITIES

    According to Xie, the TYC has since its founding been a radical organization that aims to split China through violence.

    Xie said the current president of the TYC, Cewang Rigzin, has refused to make any guarantees against violence since he was elected in August 2007.

    Instead, Cewang Rigzin has focused on launching the "Tibetan People's Uprising Movement" and a series of extreme activities in March and sabotaging the Beijing Olympics.

    To implement the "Tibetan People's Uprising Movement," the TYC held training in guerrilla warfare and explosives use.

    After the March 14 riot in Lhasa, M. K. Bhadrakumar, an Indian diplomat and former Indian ambassador to Turkey and Uzbekistan, said in an article titled "India Wakes to a Tibetan Headache" that” Tibetan activists ... darkly hinted they were indeed expecting the disturbances".

    Xie Gangzheng said the Dalai Lama's backers and especially the TYC remote-controlled the March 14 riot and made elaborate plans for their activities after the riot.

    On March 15, the TYC approved a decision to "found a guerrilla movement as soon as possible to secretly enter China and carry out armed struggles" at a meeting of its "central executive committee” in Dharmsala, the location of the Dalai Lama's "government-in-exile" in India.

    They made detailed plans for personnel, funding and armament purchases, and planned to sneak into China via the border with Nepal, which they had carefully surveyed, Xie said.

    Five days later, Cewang Rigzin on March 20 announced that violence has "reached its goal to awaken resistance forces among people in Tibet and attract high-profile international attention to the Tibet issue."

    He added: "The struggle will not stop and this incident is just the prelude of this year's fight," adding that they might use suicide attacks.

    According to Xie, the TYC has also been actively training an armed force at a military base in Dharmsala while inciting common people to commit violence.

    "The TYC is still a stubborn advocacy group for 'Tibet independence' supported by the Tibetan 'government-in-exile,' which upholds complete violence and has become an armed spearhead of the Dalai clique," he said.