For more than half a century, China’s brutal occupation of Tibet has made the majestic Himalayan heartland a “hellish” place. So says the Dalai Lama, the shackled nation’s exiled spiritual leader.

In fact, the 73-year-old Buddhist holy-man often understates his people’s grievances. Moderate and reasonable, he lives in Dharmsala, India, from where he urges Beijing to permit meaningful Tibetan autonomy complete with freedoms of expression and assembly.

This week, suppression in Tibet looms large as swarms of security forces waved weapons and patrolled there to prevent deeds to mark the 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against the Beijing-based bullies. Of course, protests and marches happened elsewhere, like New Delhi, Seoul, New York, London, Berlin, Vienna and Canberra.

In 1950, China annexed Tibet. Since then, the Chinese military has killed hundreds of thousands of people there (more each year). How many Tibetans have endured oppression? All of them!

“These years have brought untold suffering and destruction to the land and people of Tibet,” the Dalai Lama said. “Having occupied Tibet, the Chinese communist government carried out a series of repressive and violent campaigns. These thrust Tibetans into such depths of suffering and hardship that they literally experienced hell on earth.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry struggles to dismiss the Dalai Lama’s remarks as “lies”, even as President Hu Jintao demands a “strong Great Wall” of stability in Tibet.

Should the world believe the revered Dalai Lama or the reviled Chinese leadership? What a silly question!

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