China slams illegal Tibetan government

Beijing, April 28: As expected, China on April 28, launched a scathing attack on the newly elected prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile and termed it 'illegal'.

Hong Lei, the foreign ministry spokesman of China told reporters, "The so-called Tibetan government-in-exile is an illegal political organisation established by the Dalai Lama to engage in independence and separatist activities."

When asked about the election of Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay, he retorted back, "No country in the world recognises it."

Lobsang Sangay, a Harvard law scholar was on April 27 elected as the new prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile. The 42-year old polled nearly 55 percent of the total eligible votes to beat the other two candidates in the fray.

The elections are the first since Dalai Lama moved to devolve power and could mark the beginning of a more radical Tibetan government-in-exile. Analysts say that the handover of power will give more importance to the prime minister's office in the attempts to seek autonomy from China and avoid a possible vacuum in leadership in the event of Dalai Lama's death.

The newly-elected prime minister was born in a refugee settlement in India in 1968 and as a student in New Delhi was the leader of the Tibetan Youth Congress which demands complete independence from the Chinese occupation.

Sangay, won a Fulbright scholarship to Harvard where he earned a doctorate in law and has often engaged with Chinese scholars. He has even organised two meetings between Dalai Lama and the Chinese scholars.

In March 2011, Dalai Lama said that he would relinquish the four-century old tradition of power for a leader popularly elected by the Tibetan diaspora. However, he will continue as a spiritual leader to his people.

OneIndia News