Dalai Lama Says China Has Turned Tibet Into a ‘Hell on Earth’

BEIJING — The Dalai Lama delivered one of his harshest attacks on the Chinese government in recent times on Tuesday, saying that the Chinese Communist Party had transformed Tibet into a “hell on earth” and that the Chinese authorities regarded Tibetans as “criminals deserving to be put to death.”

“Today, the religion, culture, language and identity, which successive generations of Tibetans have considered more precious than their lives, are nearing extinction,” said the Dalai Lama, 73, the spiritual leader of Tibetans.

He spoke in Dharamsala, India, the Himalayan town that is the seat of the Tibetan government in exile. Tibetans outside of China and their supporters held rallies around the world on Tuesday to mark the 50th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. China crushed the rebellion, forcing the Dalai Lama to flee to India.

The furious tone of the speech may have been in reaction to a new clampdown by China on the Tibetan regions. The Dalai Lama may also have adopted an angry approach to placate younger Tibetans who have accused him of being too conciliatory toward China. He advocates genuine autonomy for Tibet and not secession, while more radical Tibetans are urging him to support outright independence.

In the rugged Tibetan regions of China, where there is widespread resentment at Chinese rule, no reports emerged Tuesday of any large-scale protests. The Chinese government, fearing civil unrest among six million Tibetans, has locked down the vast areas, which make up a quarter of Chinese territory, by sending in thousands of troops in the past few weeks and cutting off cellphone and Internet services in some locations. An unofficial state of martial law now exists, with soldiers and police officers operating checkpoints, marching through streets and checking people for identification cards.

President Hu Jintao called this week for the building of a “Great Wall” of stability in Tibet.

“We must reinforce the solid Great Wall for combating separatism and safeguarding national unity, so that Tibet, now basically stable, will enjoy lasting peace and stability,” Mr. Hu said while meeting with Tibetan officials in Beijing on Monday, according to Xinhua, the state news agency.

Across Tibet, monks at large monasteries have been ordered to stay indoors.

In the town of Tongren, in Qinghai Province, monks at the Rongwo Monastery, where protests erupted last year, were told that they could not leave the compound from March 6 to March 16, said two monks reached by telephone. Security forces in riot gear have encircled the monastery. No classes or prayer gatherings were held Tuesday, and one monk said he and his peers were reading scriptures in their rooms.

“This morning, I cried,” he said.

The monk declined to give his name for fear of government retribution. A year ago this month, he was studying in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, and taking part in protests to mark the 49th anniversary of the failed uprising. When security forces suppressed those protests, Tibetans began rioting in the streets, attacking ethnic Han Chinese civilians and burning shops and vehicles.

The uprising quickly spread to Tibetan areas in other provinces, becoming the largest rebellion against Chinese rule in decades. At least 19 people were killed in Lhasa, most of them Han Chinese civilians, according to the Chinese government. In the violent repression that followed, 220 Tibetans were killed, nearly 1,300 were injured and nearly 7,000 were detained or imprisoned, according to the Tibetan government in exile. More than 1,000 Tibetans are still missing.

In a report released Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said that official Chinese accounts of last year’s uprising and its aftermath showed that “there have been thousands of arbitrary arrests, and more than 100 trials pushed through the judicial system.”

Officials from Lhasa said last week that 953 people were detained after the riots and that 76 of them were sentenced on charges of robbery, arson and attacking government institutions. The others have all been released, the officials said.

The Chinese government has accused the Dalai Lama of fomenting separatist violence; he says he is pushing only for autonomous powers that are outlined in the Chinese Constitution.

In his speech, the Dalai Lama reiterated that such autonomy had been promised to Tibet by Mao and other senior Chinese leaders whom he met in Beijing in 1954 and 1955. The Dalai Lama began negotiations over the future of Tibet after Chinese troops invaded the Tibetan plateau and seized full control of Tibet in 1951.

Despite the promises from Mao, he said, the Chinese government carried out “a series of repressive and violent campaigns” through the decades, including what the Chinese called “patriotic re-education” and “strike hard” campaigns after the protests last year.

“These thrust Tibetans into such depths of suffering and hardship that they literally experienced hell on earth,” the Dalai Lama said.

China has defended its policies in Tibet by saying that it abolished a feudal slave-holding system overseen by the Dalai Lama and poured vast sums of money into building roads, railroads and other infrastructure projects.

Despite his harsh words, the Dalai Lama reaffirmed his commitment to trying to maintain a dialogue with China.

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