“The Chinese first called the cultural revolution a great achievement.. then said there was some achievement and some destruction and now finally admit that there was total destruction during that period... You cannot change history on the basis of political necessity... the Chinese create certain positions, no matter whether they are based on reality or not,” he said.

Giving details of his government’s dialogue with the Chinese government, the Dalai Lama said Beijing’s position had hardened in the last round, the sixth, in which they made it clear there was “no Tibet issue” and the “only issue was Dalai Lama.”

He said except for a brief period of hope in the late 1970s when Hua Guofeng was at the helm of affairs in Beijing, the Chinese position over Tibetan autonomy had hardened during the six rounds of dialogue. “In the 3rd meeting, the Chinese gave some 30 points against us, which we responded to in the next round... in the 5th round (February 2006), they accused the Dalai Lama of seeking independence for Tibet... this was followed by my intensive criticism and suppression in Tibet... and in the last round, nothing was discussed,” the Dalai Lama said.

While he maintains that the Tibetan spirit for freedom will remain indomitable, he fears that time is running out for a just resolution of the Tibetan issue with the huge influx of the Han Chinese from the mainland with official support.

According to him, the Han Chinese make 200,000 out of Lhasa’s total population of 300,000 and the figures are constantly rising. “If Tibet becomes a land of Han Chinese, then even autonomy will be meaningless,” the Dalai Lama said.