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Lodi Gyari Rinpoche, Special Envoy of H.H. the Dalai lama,
attended the World Movement for Democracy conference in Durban on 1- 2 February.
From 3 - 6 February Rinpoche visited the Johannesburg / Pretoria region and
attended a number of TV and press interviews. Rinpoche also met with Mr.N. Scholz,
Director of East Asian Affairs of the Dept. of Foreign Affairs.
Rinpoche said that he considered his visit a ' pilgrimage to
South Africa, a country which had allowed wisdom to prevail in achieving a negotiated
and peaceful solution to its problems.' He added that South Africa could play
a useful role in persuading the PRC to enter into negotiations with the TGIE.
Rinpoche also met with senior management of Gold Fields, the
4th largest bullion producer in the world, to discuss the sensitive issue of
mining in Tibet. Gold Fields has a 10% stake in Sino Gold, the Australian Mining
Junior which has been at the centre of a campaign by the Australia Tibet Council
to stop mining activities in Jinkang, Tibet. Rinpoche expressed positive sentiments
towards the responsible attitude of Gold Fields regarding the issue of extracting
non-renewable resources such as gold from Tibet, while Tibetans enjoy no real
benefit from such ventures. Gold Fields has stated that work on the Jinkang
site has been halted.
Rinpoche gave a public address at the Lam Rim Buddhist centre
in Johannesburg, using the opportunity to clarify the TGIE stance towards the
PRC and outlining the progress of talks to date.He re- confirmed the strictly
non-violent basis of the Tibetan struggle for genuine autonomy, and stressed
the ethical nature of the TGIE struggle methodology.
Rinpoche returned to Washington D.C. on the 6th Feb. |
