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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Tommy Koh went against Lau Cheebye</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">1:17 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 1) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>11152.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Tussling over Tibet issue
THE issue of Tibet, which is claimed by China, became a bone of contention between Ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh, who chaired yesterday's dialogue, and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew yesterday. An edited extract of the exchange:
MM Lee: I don't see the Chinese giving one inch away. During the Olympics they said: 'Yes, let's begin talking.' I was absolutely confident that you will never shift them from their basic position, which is, Tibet is ours, let's not argue about it, it's off the table.
Prof Koh: So you're very pessimistic about the possibility of arriving at a negotiated settlement.
MM Lee: This is their unshakeable and immoveable position. Whether it's a communist or a KMT government, (they will say): 'Tibet belongs to us and it is going to be part of our western border. That's that.'
Prof Koh: The Dalai Lama does not question that.
MM Lee: But they say that's not his true position...(The Chinese) are long-term players. They've outlasted the ups and downs for thousands of years and they write their own history. They always write up the history of the last era. So they're doing things in order that the next dynasty that takes over from them will write that they are Chinese patriots...
No Singaporean Chinese is going to say that Tibet is not a part of China. We've never said so. We've never received the Dalai Lama. We know that this is going to be a bone of contention.
Prof Koh: The Dalai Lama has been here in his private capacity.
MM Lee: Anybody can come here who has a visa.
Prof Koh: But I fear that when His Holiness passes on, the Chinese may not find a better interlocutor.
MM Lee: They need no interlocutors. They need time to bring up a new generation (of Tibetans) speaking Chinese and thinking like them.
Prof Koh: I think that will never happen. MM Lee: They're prepared to wait.
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THE issue of Tibet, which is claimed by China, became a bone of contention between Ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh, who chaired yesterday's dialogue, and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew yesterday. An edited extract of the exchange:
MM Lee: I don't see the Chinese giving one inch away. During the Olympics they said: 'Yes, let's begin talking.' I was absolutely confident that you will never shift them from their basic position, which is, Tibet is ours, let's not argue about it, it's off the table.
Prof Koh: So you're very pessimistic about the possibility of arriving at a negotiated settlement.
MM Lee: This is their unshakeable and immoveable position. Whether it's a communist or a KMT government, (they will say): 'Tibet belongs to us and it is going to be part of our western border. That's that.'
Prof Koh: The Dalai Lama does not question that.
MM Lee: But they say that's not his true position...(The Chinese) are long-term players. They've outlasted the ups and downs for thousands of years and they write their own history. They always write up the history of the last era. So they're doing things in order that the next dynasty that takes over from them will write that they are Chinese patriots...
No Singaporean Chinese is going to say that Tibet is not a part of China. We've never said so. We've never received the Dalai Lama. We know that this is going to be a bone of contention.
Prof Koh: The Dalai Lama has been here in his private capacity.
MM Lee: Anybody can come here who has a visa.
Prof Koh: But I fear that when His Holiness passes on, the Chinese may not find a better interlocutor.
MM Lee: They need no interlocutors. They need time to bring up a new generation (of Tibetans) speaking Chinese and thinking like them.
Prof Koh: I think that will never happen. MM Lee: They're prepared to wait.
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