Speech on the occasion of the Opening Ceremony of China¡¯s Tibet Cultual Week by Mr. LI Gang

Respected President Hans Van Duysen
Respected President Bernard Dewit
Excellency Mr. Ambassador GUAN Chengyun
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a matter of joy that the 2002 China Tibetan Cultural Week is held in Belgium, one of the birthplaces of the European Civilization. Here, I would like to extend, on behalf of the Chinese sponsors, our sincere thanks to relevant organizations and government agencies of Belgium for their efforts, including the organizers of the event, the Belgium-China Association and the Belgium-China Cultural Center, and to His Excellency Dr. Robert Denis, Vice-President of the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium and His Excellency Joan Colom I Naval, Vice-President of European Parliament, for their warm letters of congratulation to the cultural week, as well as to all the friends who have made contributions to the success of the China Tibetan Cultural Week.

The main players of the cultural week are the representatives of Tibetans from China from the roof of the world. They include famous living buddhas, performers, scholars and artists from various regions of Tibet. They have brought to the Belgian people Tibetan folk songs and dances, movies and TV programmes, Thangkas or Tibetan scroll paintings with rich Tibetan features, as well as the academic achievements of Tibetology research including that of Tibetan Buddhism. The cultural week will present you a colorful and unique Tibetan cultural, a new modern Tibet full of vigor and vitality, a vivid picture of how the brave, intelligent and diligent Tibetan people are creating a beautiful life.

To many foreigners, Tibet is a piece of remote land shrouded with mysteries, arousing people¡¯s curiosity and desire to visit. Regretfully, due to geographic conditions, transportation difficulties and tenuous air on the plateau, many researchers on Tibet are not able to make a trip there. And many people who have written about Tibet fail to have adequate knowledge about it. Once at a seminar on Tibetology, I did a survey of the over 100 people present. It turned out that, although over 80% knew that there is a Tibet in China, only less than 10% have ever been there, and over 90% acquired information about Tibet from books written by foreigners. So, how could it be possible for people to have a comprehensive and objective knowledge of the true conditions and social evolution of Tibet when they are at a distance from accurate information about Tibet?

The purpose of this cultural week is to convey the first-hand information about Tibet to friends who are interested to China¡¯s Tibet. Therefore, we warmly welcome all the friends to attend our China Tibetan Cultural Week. I believe, through the exhibition, performances, movies and TV programmes and by communicating with friend from Tibet, you will have a new understanding of Tibet.

As the Chinese proverb goes, seeing is believing. We sincerely welcome the Belgian friends to go to Tibet and see for yourselves what Tibet is like.

Thank you for your coming.