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INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR TIBET
Ye Xiaowen has had a long professional involvement in
Tibet which includes his involvement in a “lot-drawing”
ceremony in 1995 to determine the Chinese government’s
choice of Panchen Lama, a role he performed when he was
a Deputy Director of the United Front Work Department.
His main role as Director of SARA with regard to Tibet has
been to provide the legislation that the government and
Party have used in an attempt to legitimize their control and
manipulation of the practice and institutions of Tibetan
Buddhism.
Director of the SARA,
Ye Xiaowen’s office is responsible for the controversial “Management
Measures for the Reincarnation of ‘Living Buddhas’
Ye Xiaowen
in Tibetan Buddhism”, which gives the atheist Chinese government the sole authority
to recognize and install reincarnate lamas. When the measures were introduced,
Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, Special Envoy of the Dalai Lama, said that the measures “strike
at the heart of Tibetan religious identity,” and added “they will only create further resentment
among the Tibetan people and cannot override the Party's lack of legitimacy
in the sphere of religion.” 29 A national seminar on implementing the measures,
co-chaired by Ye, reportedly stressed the dictum “our own comes first”, and warned
against “interference” in the recognition process by “the Dalai Lama clique in exile.” 30
Ye Xiaowen’s public response to the protests in Tibet appears to be limited to a series
of commentary articles in the English language version of the People’s Daily. Chinese
observers have frequently remarked that Ye prides himself on a mastery of literary
Mandarin; in his English language commentaries, in which he levels the standard accusations
against the “Dalai clique”, he uses a highly ambitious and occasionally unintelligible
literary style, which is possibly an attempt to translate directly from the
Chinese. For instance, when attempting to reprimand the Dalai Lama for his alleged
involvement in the March 2008 protests, he writes: “Buddhism has all along emphasizes
the ‘awakening to truth’ and the ability for ponderation. Think thrice when the
dust is settled and forever keep in mind the admonishment of Zongkapa, the tour
of the first Dalai Lama not out for killing (lives) and evaluate and treasure all living
creatures.” 31
Minister of Public Security, Meng Jianzhu
Meng Jianzhu was installed as Minister for Public Security in 2007, replacing Zhou
Yongkang and inheriting too Zhou’s position on the Central Tibet Work Coordina-
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