提议会见一天后，中国质问达赖喇嘛

[美国《华盛顿邮报》网站4月26日文章]

题：提议会见一天后，中国质问达赖喇嘛

在中国提议会见达赖喇嘛特使后不到二十四小时里，中国国家控制的新闻媒体在周六继续对这位西藏精神领袖进行谴责。

“达赖集团的行为严重违反了佛教的基本教义和戒律，破坏了藏教的基本秩序，毁侮了它的名声，”《人民日报》报道说。

官方的英文报纸《中国日报》刊登了一篇对拉鲁·次旺多吉的采访。据该报报道，拉鲁·次旺多吉是一位藏人，在1959年西藏起义时曾支持达赖喇嘛，后成为中国西藏政府的高级政治顾问。该报援引他的话说，“我认为达赖喇嘛是我们的敌人，我们应该和他战斗到底”。

这些文章对中国准备同达赖就西藏稳定进行谈判的严肃性提出质疑。自从3月14日首府拉萨发生骚乱后，西藏处于政府封锁下。

中国一直在打击达赖集团煽动暴力，分裂祖国，破坏奥运的企图。“拉萨3·14事件是达赖集团精心策划寻求西藏独立的又一次丑恶表演，”另一份共产党报《西藏日报》报道。

国际压力一直迫使中国政府开始与达赖进行对话。达赖在西方以和平而受尊敬，他拒绝暴力，反对分裂国家和破坏北京奥运。如果北京拒绝与之对话，世界各国领导人将面对抵制8月8日北京奥运开幕式的呼吁。

几十年来双方的会谈一直断断续续地，最近一次是去年夏天，在主要问题上没有进展，包括达赖是否能返回西藏，一个新的西藏自治区将是什么样。星期五中国政府说，将会和达赖喇嘛的特使进行会面，以决定谈判的条件是否成熟。

官方新华社星期六报道，美国、法国、德国、日本、新加坡和欧盟首脑都对中国的提议表示赞赏。

位于华盛顿的国际西藏运动成员玛丽·贝斯说，“这次会见能否产生结果，或者仅仅是奥运前的一次公关意图，现在下结论还为时过早”。

星期五在对中国提议的正式回应中，位于印度达兰萨拉的达赖喇嘛流亡政府强调：在有意义会谈开始前，中国的人身攻击必须停止。星期六，发言人图腾桑波说，“持续对达赖的诽谤不能解决问题”，不能带给西藏地区和平和稳定。

“在改变西藏人对达赖的态度上，中国政府一直在浪费时间和努力”，他说。

对达赖喇嘛的攻击“不能看作谈判前的策略，这种策略在某种程度上支持了国内的民族主义，而同进削弱达赖在未来谈判中的地位”，哥伦比亚大学西藏学者罗宾·巴内特告诉路透社新闻部。

可能会谈的新闻在中国在线论坛中引起争论。

“这显示了政府的软弱，”一位网民写道。“这对外部世界发出了一个明确的信号，如果你在国外有能力，就能来中国策划一场骚乱。”

另一位网民说，这个举动是完全的实用主义。“现在我们不得不稳定形势。奥运会后，谁还在乎达赖喇嘛”。

The following is the original:

A Day After Offer to Meet, China Assails Dalai Lama

Less than 24 hours after China offered to meet with an envoy of the Dalai Lama, state-controlled news media on Saturday kept up their campaign of denunciations of the Tibetan spiritual leader.

"The behavior of the Dalai clique has seriously violated fundamental teaching and commandments of Buddhism, undermined the normal order of Tibetan Buddhism and ruined its reputation," the Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper reported.

China Daily, the official English-language newspaper, published an interview with Lahlu Tsewang Dorje, a Tibetan who fought on the Dalai Lama's side in a failed 1959 uprising, according to the paper, and later became a top political adviser to the Chinese Tibetan authorities. "I think the Dalai clique is our enemy and we should fight until the end," he was quoted as saying.

The tone of the articles raised questions about China's seriousness in preparing for negotiations with the Dalai Lama over restoring stability to Tibet, which has essentially been under government lockdown since deadly rioting in Lhasa, its capital, on March 14.

Rather than stepping back from its hammering of the "Dalai clique" for instigating the violence in an attempt to split the country and sabotage this summer's Olympic Games, China continued to hit hard. "The Lhasa March 14 incident is another ugly performance meticulously plotted by the Dalai clique to seek Tibet independence," said the Tibet Daily, another Communist Party newspaper.

The Chinese government has been under intense international pressure to begin talks with the Dalai Lama, who is honored in the West as a man of peace and who denies advocating violence or trying to divide the country or jeopardize the Beijing Games. Global leaders are facing growing calls to boycott the Games' opening ceremony on Aug. 8 if Beijing refuses.

The two sides have met off and on for decades, most recently last summer, without making progress on key issues, including whether the Dalai Lama can ever return to Tibet and what a new Tibetan autonomous region within China would look like. The Chinese government said Friday it would meet with an envoy of the Dalai Lama and determine whether conditions were ripe to begin talks.

The official New China News Agency reported Saturday that the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the head of the European Commission had all praised China's offer to meet.

"It's too early to tell if the meeting will produce results or is just for PR purposes in advance of the Olympics," said Mary Beth Markey of the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet.

In its formal response Friday to China's offer, the Dalai Lama's government in exile, in Dharmsala, India, stressed that China's personal attacks had to stop before meaningful dialogue could begin. On Saturday, spokesman Thubten Samphel said, "This continuing vilification of His Holiness does not resolve the issue" of bringing peace and stability to Tibetan regions.

"The Chinese authorities are really wasting their time and effort in terms of changing Tibetans' attitude toward the Dalai Lama," he added.

The attacks on the Dalai Lama "can be seen as pre-negotiation tactics designed in part to bolster domestic nationalism and at the same time to weaken his position in any future talks," Robbie Barnett, a Tibet scholar at Columbia University, told Reuters news service.

The news of possible talks sparked some debate in Chinese online discussion forums.

"This shows the government is soft," one person wrote. "It sends a very clear signal to the outside world that if you have power overseas, then you can come to China to mastermind a riot."

Another person said the move was simple pragmatism: "Now we have to stabilize the situation. After the Olympics, no one will care about the Dalai Lama."

“Join the Club"

I read a Caokao Xiaoxi article ( on caokao xiaoxi) about U.S. Rresidential Election "So Much for the conventional Wisdom"today. In the first paragraph there is a sentence,"If this most extraordinary US presidential election campaign has left you confused, join the club.", what does "join the club" mean?

Getting the best car deal beyond the price

Friday February 15, 10:57 am ET
By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com staff writer You can spend hours negotiating the price of a new car, but even after you shake hands, the wheeling and dealing is far from over.

Once you're ushered into the a back office to sign the paperwork, the finance manager can make a compelling pitch for a lot of add-ons like insurance and protection that can give back a lot of what you saved.

But it's his job to sell. It's your job to decide what's worth your money. Here's how to make the right choices.

The money deal

Dealerships can usually offer the best auto financing rates. Help yourself out, though, by checking your credit rating and arranging other financing before you go to the dealer. It gives you a fall-back plan and something to negotiate with. And remember, auto financing rates are not set in stone - you can bargain them down.

Don't take that car before you've got a signed financing deal in your hand. If the dealer says "Don't worry, we'll work out the details later," tell him you'll take the car later, too, and hold on to your trade-in. Otherwise, you could find yourself with a raw deal when it's too late to back out.

And read everything, word for word, before you sign.

"When you go to take delivery of a vehicle, take at least an hour out of your schedule," says Lauren Fix, author of the book "Lauren Fix's Guide to Loving Your Car."

If you don't have enough time to sit and read carefully, ask to take the papers home with you and come back later for the car, Fix advises. If the dealer says you have to sign and read the papers on the spot, take it as a bad sign and walk away.

What's worth it and what's not

Beyond financing, the finance manager will present various insurance, warranty and financial products.

"They all have value to the right person," insists Randy Brenckman, director of dealership operations for the National Automobile Dealer's Association. In particular, customers who plan keep a car for a an extremely long time may find value in some of these items.

But Lauren Fix and Phil Reed, consumer editor for the automotive Website Edmunds.com, are more doubtful about most of these offerings. Some may be worth it to a few customers, they agree, but very few.

Here's what they advise:

Protectants: These include rust-proofing, fabric protection and paint protection.

Rust isn't a big problem for most cars these days. Most vehicles already have long rust-through warranties.

Auto paint suppliers and car companies have teams of highly paid chemists working to make sure car colors last longer. If anything more could be done, it's probably been done before the car left the factory.

Finally, badly applied pant and rust protection can actually cause problems, so be careful.

Credit life insurance: Don't let a car dealer sell you life insurance just to cover your car loan. If you need life insurance, buy it from an insurance agent.

Gap insurance: Cars lose value fast, and insurance only pays what a car is worth, not what you paid for it. If your car is totaled or stolen while you still owe more money than it's worth, gap insurance pays the difference. If you've got a big car loan, it could be worth it, and it's often required when leasing a car.

But if your car loan's that big, that's a problem in itself. A smarter move is to pay as much as you can in cash - Reed advises at least 20 percent - to prevent this sort of situation from the get-go.

Extended warranties: This one's up to you, but make sure you know what you're buying and what you already have. Most cars today have long powertrain warranties. The powertrain - a car's engine and transmission - is where expensive problems would happen. But most powertrain warranties already last longer than most people own a new car.

Like everything else you buy, extended warranties are priced for profit. Odds are you'll end up spending more on the warranty than you would have spent on repairs. But some people just like knowing they have extra coverage.

Maintenance plans: Paying up front for a maintenance plan is a matter of personal choice. The biggest reason to get one is that an upfront payment gives you a give a big incentive to get that maintenance later, which could pay off in preserving the value of your car.

Theft protection products: Again, know what you already have. Most vehicles sold today have some sort of theft-protection system built in. Assuming the car is insured against theft, that's probably all you need.

Systems like LoJack, which use GPS to help locate your car after it's been stolen, may be worth it if you have a particularly valuable car, says Fix.

But it might only help you get back a trashed hulk when you would have been better off losing it and taking the insurance pay-out, says Reed.

Another hot seller is VIN etching. A technician etches your car's vehicle identification number into doors, windows, fenders and other parts that are commonly stripped from stolen cars and sold.

Decals let potential car thieves know the parts have been marked so they won't want to steal your car...in theory. But again - do you really want to get back the ripped-apart pieces of your car? Sometimes it's just better to say good-bye.

urban travel legends

by Joe Brancatelli Jan 15 2008

The myths and truths about hotels, key cards, and the secret airline code
Business travelers are a secretive, clannish lot, and we take perverse pride in knowing the picayune details of how life works on the road. If there’s an airline rule, we claim to know and maybe even understand it. A strange hotel policy? We feign indifference and insist we heard about it years ago.

Then there are those persistent factoids that can only be classified as Urban Travel Legends. They’re usually not true—or at least they haven’t been true for quite some time—yet they continue to clutter our database of travel knowledge. Here are several of the most enduring legends, along with some clear-eyed facts.

The Airline Secret Code
The hardest-to-kill legend is the claim that you’ll receive special treatment from an airline only if you utter the secret code “Rule 240.” Whenever your flight is canceled or seriously delayed, the story goes, simply ask the gate agent to Rule 240 you, and the airline will magically place you, at no additional cost, on the next available flight of any other carrier flying the route.

The problem? There is no Rule 240, at least not anymore. Rule 240 was shorthand for an old Civil Aeronautics Board regulation that required airlines to immediately place you on another flight, regardless of the fare you originally paid or the carrier you originally booked. But the C.A.B. and its rules disappeared after the airlines were deregulated in 1978.

Today, carriers set their own rules, and they’re laid out in the “contract of carriage” buried in the fine print on airline websites. You agree to the contract when you buy a ticket, and most carriers have terms similar to the jargon imposed by Delta Air Lines. Delta’s contract promises nothing; it even specifically disavows its responsibly to place you on the flight with the date, time, and destination printed on your ticket. As for getting help if your flight is grounded, lots of luck. According to Delta, any assistance is “at our sole discretion.”

Why does the myth of Rule 240—and the chimera of mandated federal travel assistance—persist? Airline legerdemain. At least three carriers—Delta, United, and Northwest—call their proprietary contract terms Rule 240. This must be some sort of inside joke that amuses airline-contract lawyers.

Dress Up and Get Upgraded
Dressing for success, at least for business travelers, is about snaring that elusive upgrade to first or business class. Far too many flyers cling to the belief that airlines give free upgrades to the folks who will look cool in a premium-class seat.

The truth, of course, is altogether different. For starters, airlines don’t give out free upgrades anymore. Thanks to frequent-flyer-program databases, carriers can easily identify their best, most profitable customers, and upgrades are awarded in fairly rigid compliance with the perks promised to that elite group. Plus, airlines have learned that upgrades to remaining premium-class seats can be sold at the gate moments before departure. (Depending on the route, upgrade fees range from $15 to $500 per flight.) So there’s no need for carriers to give seats away to anyone, let alone award them to flossy-looking budget flyers.
That being said, my friend Leonora was bumped up to business class last year because she had the right shoes. Leonora has a bad right hip and needs to fly in a coach seat with an aisle on her right. When she booked a flight to visit family in London, I called a friend at the airline and asked him to flag her request. He did—and also apparently marked her as a V.I.P. When Leonora appeared at the gate, the agent looked at her comfortable shoes and asked, “Do you have a pair of high heels?” Leonora produced a pair from her carry-on, slipped into them, and the gate agent proceeded to put her in the last available seat up front.

The Hacked Key Card
Hotels have switched from traditional metal room keys to computerized plastic key cards, giving rise to a weird urban-travel legend. Paranoid travelers are concerned that hotels encrypt credit-card details on the magnetic stripe of the key cards; then, once a guest checks out and returns the key card to the front desk, unscrupulous hotel clerks hack the credit-card number and go on spending sprees.

Pure fantasy. Although hotels can encrypt your key card with credit-card information, they almost never do. And despite an endless series of “tips” in the last year, I’ve never seen a police report or legal documents that prove a person’s financial details were lifted from a hotel key card.

Not convinced? Then do what I do: Take the key card with you when you leave. No hotel in the world requires you to turn it in when you check out. I’ve never even been asked to do so. If you really want to worry about hotel key cards, consider this: If there’s a power failure, and the hotel doesn’t have back-up power, those electronic locks won’t always work, and you may be locked out of your room for the duration of the blackout. Unlike the key-card scam, this has actually been known to happen over the years.

The Despicably Dirty Hotel
Of course, not every tale is a myth. Sadly, the one that claims hotel maids do terrible things while “cleaning” your room can be all too true. Hygiene standards at hotels are, frankly, in the toilet.

The exact shape of this rumor changes from time to time. One year, horrified guests whisper that maids are using water from the toilet to clean the mugs next to your in-room coffeemaker. Another year, someone will claim that black-light inspections of hotel duvets and bedspreads reveal colonies of germs and parasites. Travelers routinely swap tales of hotels plagued by bedbugs. Eventually some local television station, usually during a ratings period, will send its intrepid “investigative” team to uncover the despicable sanitary conditions at area hotels. (An Atlanta station’s recent exposé of how maids clean glassware is on YouTube.com.

Hotels in every price range underpay and overwork their housecleaning staff, who then take appalling, unsanitary shortcuts in order to get their work done. And that’s no surprise: Noted lodging consultant Michael Matthews once estimated that the average hotel maid “has just four seconds per square foot to clean a guest room and is paid half a cent per square foot for her labors.”

Makes you long for the days when hotels put cheap, disposable plastic glasses in your room, doesn’t it?

The Fine Print…
A followup to my column about the hidden fees on overseas A.T.M. transactions: Effective January 26, Citibank will now charge a 1 or 2 percent fee for using any overseas A.T.M., even those located in Citibank branches.... The British government has lifted the one-carry-on rule that hobbled travelers using London’s Heathrow Airport. The ban has also been lifted at London’s Stansted Airport and many other British airports. However, the one-bag rule remains in force at Gatwick and Luton, two other London-area airports.