China to build first Chinese monument in Tibet's Potala Palace (AFP)

China to build first Chinese monument in Tibet's Potala Palace (AFP)


BEIJING, July 23, 2001 (AFP) - China said Monday it was planning to build a large monument to mark the 50th anniversary of its takeover of Tibet in the Potala Palace -- the former winter residence of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
The 35-meter high monument, the first to be built in the political significant building, will be dedicated to China's People's Liberation Army and will "manifest the sublime spirit of the People's Liberation Army and their great contribution to the peaceful liberation of Tibet," the official Xinhua news agency said.
Thubten Samphel, a spokesman for the Tibetan government exiled in Dharamsala, India, said the monument would be an insult to Tibetans as the so called "liberation" was an invasion to Tibetans.
"That's not appropriate because the Potala Palace has special meaning for Tibetan people. For the Chinese government to install a monument in the Potala Palace will not go down well with the Tibetan people," Samphel told AFP by telephone.
I"They may see this as bringing liberation for Tibet but from Tibetan people's perspective, it's been 50 years of untold suffering for Tibetan people. To have this humiliation enshrined in the Potala Palace is a daily reminder of the humiliation for Tibetan people."
The report did not say where exactly the monument will stand, but a Potala management office employee said it will be placed on a square in front of the palace building.
The large, white-walled Potala Palace -- one of the most well-known symbols of Tibet for foreigners -- is the second most important building to Tibetans, after the Jokhang Temple, Samphel said.
The temple is the most important spiritual site, whereas the palace has political significance because it is associated with the old Tibetan government and the Dalai Lama.
Samphel said Beijing probably chose the palace as the site for the monument because it used to be the winter residence and private monastery for the Dalai Lama, the most revered spiritual leader for Tibetans.
Beijing considers the Dalai Lama, who fled to India following a failed uprising against Chinese rule, a dangerous separatist intent on restoring independence for Tibet.
The Potala, which also used to be the Tibetan government's treasury, is now a museum.
Samphel said the monument will be the first structure of the Chinese government at the palace, other than the Chinese flags that are hoisted during important Chinese holidays.
Xinhua said the monument was designed by Qikang, a professor of the Southeast University in eastern China, and is expected to be completed in November.
China seized control of Tibet in 1950 in what it considered a "peaceful liberation" and tried to legitimize its rule in 1951 with an agreement which the exiled Tibetan government does not accept because it was signed by Tibetan leaders under duress.
Beijing has ruled the Himalayan region with an iron fist since, with human rights groups alleging widespread human rights abuses and attempts to destroy Tibetan culture.