Chinese Tibetologists urge Swiss media to report on real Tibet

Source: Xinhua | 03-29-2009 09:04

BERN, Switzerland, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Tibetologists have called on the Swiss media to tell the public about the real Tibet.

A Chinese delegation of Tibetologists, led by Zheng Dui, director of the Religious Study Institute under the China Tibetology Research Center, talked Friday with representatives of the local media on topics including Tibet.

Some foreigners tend to mysticize Tibet but the region is actually neither a "paradise" nor a "hell," Zheng told Swiss reporters.

In response to a question from the "Le Temp" newspaper that the Dalai Lama has called Tibet "hell," Zheng said the word in Tibetan culture refers to an extremely terrible place, far worse than any war or disaster in the present world.

If the present Tibet was compared to "hell," then "hell" was a very happy land, Zheng said.

Zheng said Tibet is not in a utopia and is part of the global village. Tibet also faces problems and challenges in its process of development, notably its low jumping-off point and the disturbances of splitting attempts, he said.

Tibet has advantages in such areas as ecological and environmental conservation and the protection of its traditional culture, he said.