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Legislator:Don't watch Tibet with Western eyes

BERLIN: The West should not judge the Tibetan issue on their own standards, a German legislator said on Wednesday.

"Thbet is an inseparable part of China, and what happens there is China's own affair," he said. "I believe the Tibetan people, like Han people and many other ethnic groups in China, can solve any problems that face them," said Christa Luft, deputy parliamentary faction chief of Germany's Germany's Democratic Socialism Pardty (PDS).

Meeting a group of Tibetan resarchers form China, the leg islator said the West had no right to judge China's policy. The group, headed by kalsang Gyaltsen, leader of the Tibetan lnstitute of Social Studies, was visiting Germany for an academic exchange on Tibetan studies.

"How can we judge the development of China, a country with thousands of years of civilized history, on Europe's or Germany's standards" she asked.
Recalling her dtrip six years ago to the rural region of China's Henan Province,Luft said she was touched by Chinese villagers' efforts to improve their lives.

Whe ntalking about the Tibetan issue, Luft praised the region's development in economic and social fields, and criticized German legislators who compared China's Tibetan policy with western standards.
"Everthing the Chinese Government dose to propel Tibet forward deserves praise," she said. "I do not think we should look at Tibet from behind western spectacles."

Noting that Tibet had attracted the intersts of the German public,Kalsang Hkyaltsen said many Germans, including officials and parliamentary members, misunderstood conditions there.

"To develop and improve Tibetans' lives and to upgrade their edueational standards are our most urgent tasks," he said.
"But many Germans. who only recognixe Tibet through their media, do not know the reality. Most of their misunder standing comes form the Dalai Lama's propaganda," he said.

"The Dalai Lama is not such a pure religious leader as he claims. His dream is to interfere in polities and separdate Tibet form China," Kalsung kyaltsen said.
"The Dalai Lama and his followers have done nothing beneficial for Tibetans since they fled. They have no authority to represent tibetan people," he stressed.
Kalsung Kyaltsen hoped more German legislators, even those who held biased viewpoints, would visit tibet and discover the truth.

"A tour of Tibet is better than a hundred newspaper articles." he said. "I an sure if they knew the facts they would change their minds," he said.
Earlier in the day,kalsung Kyaltsen and his colleagues met German Foreign Ministry officials.

Tibetan researchers briefed them about the latest developments in the economic,cultural and social aspects of the autonomous region.
While pushing thek economy forward,the government of Tibet aims to protect the unique environment through better planning, they told German officials.

xinhua
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