The Tibet Post

Dharamshala: Despite heavy international criticism that the ancient Tibetan cultural heritage has faced serious danger since the Chinese occupation, a top Chinese political advisor, Jia Qinglin, on Wednesday insincerely claimed that "the preservation and development of Tibetan culture bears on the inheritance of the centuries-old Tibetan history."

According to the Chinese state controlled media, Xinhua's report, further quoting Jia Qinglin, the preservation of Tibetan culture impinges also on "the advancement of social and economic development in Tibet, and the unity of the nation". So Jia said at a meeting with so called representatives of the second congress of the China Association for the Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture in Beijing.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, has occasionally condemned China's "rule of terror" in Tibet and criticized it as "cultural genocide".

"Some respected international organization can investigate the situation is in Tibet and the underlying cause," the Tibetan leader told reporters in Dharamshala, after deadly crackdowns taking place in all parts of Tibet in 2008 caused the deaths of more than 200 Tibetans.

Whether the Chinese government admits it or not, there is a problem in Tibet, said His Holiness the Dalai Lama. "Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place."

Between 1949-1959 more than 1.2 millions Tibetans, including women and children, were killed or murdered in Tibet, particularly during the so called 10 year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), which saw the mass destruction of Tibetan buildings and religious artifacts. More than 6,000 monasteries were destroyed, many of them used as target practice by Chinese artillery. A thousand years' worth of priceless Buddhist literature, religious paintings and artifacts were either destroyed, burnt and stolen.