Correction of a Mis-Quote by The Daily Mail

22 Apr 2008 01:18 Africa/Lagos


Correction of a Mis-Quote by The Daily Mail

LONDON, April 21 /PRNewswire/ --

In the Daily Mail on Friday 18 April 2008, Louise Blouin MacBain, Chairman of Louise Blouin Media and the Louise T. Blouin Foundation, was erroneously misquoted as stating that: "His Holiness is trying to win cultural independence for an area that is the size of the UK, Germany and Portugal lumped together and in that aim he is deluded." This statement as published by the Daily Mail, reprinted in the National Post is categorically incorrect.


In her two-part piece on the Tibet Issue and the recent crisis surrounding the riots in Lhasa and the Beijing Olympics published by Forbes.com -- 11/14 April-- Ms Blouin MacBain stated that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is seeking "political" independence beyond the Tibetan Autonomous Region to include two adjoining provinces, Amdo (Qinghai) and eastern Kham (western Sichuan) -- a geography that represents approximately one quarter of China.


This argument of "political" independence is further reinforced by Blouin MacBain who quotes a statement made by His Holiness on April 10 to Reuters claiming that "meaningful autonomy" for Tibetans must include control over foreign affairs and military defense: "Tibet must have real autonomy. That means deciding defense and foreign affairs and maybe some others, but those themes that Tibetans can work [with] better."


Further, Ms Blouin MacBain did not tell the Daily Mail that His Holiness the Dalai Lama was "deluded" for making these political demands. To say otherwise is a gross misrepresentation and not consistent with the facts at hand. When asked for a quote by the Daily Mail Blouin MacBain told the newspaper to refer to her Forbes.com piece due of the complexity of the issue. In this piece Blouin MacBain clearly states that His Holiness needs to be "pragmatic" and "realistic" in his demands. Furthermore Blouin MacBain argues that if His Holiness was willing to re-start negotiations with the Chinese he would find a willing partner that would work towards the cultural protection of Tibet.


To read her piece, visit Forbes.com:

Facing the Facts on Tibet -- by Louise Blouin MacBain

A Message for Western Leaders -- by Louise Blouin MacBain


Source: Louise T. Blouin Foundation

CONTACT: Mathew Kabatoff of Louise Blouin Media, +44-20-7985-9600,
mathew.kabatoff@ltbfoundation.org


Web site: Forbes