Political Quotes

“7 years ago I visited Tibet, a land of striking beauty whose people are among the most inspiring and interesting I have ever had the privilege to meet. Most of the photographs of Tibet, I had seen before my visit, were of the jagged Himalayan Mountains, Buddhist monks, and a sleepy, poor country of subsistence farmers and their herds of yaks. There is another Tibet, which many people may not be aware of. It was with great sadness that I and my wife Marcelle saw first hand the effects of China's ruthless, systematic campaign to obliterate Tibetan culture and Tibetan life. We met some of the Tibetans who had suffered under Chinese occupation, and saw the empty palace of the His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India and who I have had the honor of meeting several times. Since our visit, and despite international condemnation, China's campaign of cultural annihilation has steadily progressed. A recent article in Newsweek magazine describes the genocide. Tibet is being overrun by the Chinese. According to the article, Lhasa, Tibet's capital, is now at least 50-percent non-Tibetan. Buddhist monasteries have been destroyed, the Tibetan language is suppressed, and Tibet's natural resources have been plundered. There are 60,000 Chinese troops in Tibet, whose job is to instill fear and quell any dissent. Public gatherings are monitored with video cameras, and protesters are quickly arrested before they attract attention.”