Women wearing Burang clothes are seen in Burang County of Ali, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 28, 2020. Burang clothes, decorated with gold, silver, pearls and other jewels, has a history of more than 1,000 years. (Xinhua/Zhan Yan)

Foreign anti-China forces by no means care about the Tibetan people, nor are they really concerned about Tibetan Buddhism, the 11th Panchen Lama said on Wednesday, when he was participating in the two sessions. 

On the same day, the speaker of the US House of Representatives claimed that the US "will continue to stand with the Tibetan people."

Experts told the Global Times on Thursday that the Panchen Lama's words underlined the real problem - the anti-China forces did not care about Tibet but only wanted to play "the Tibet card" to contain China's development. 

"Foreign anti-China forces have been hyping Tibet issues and religious issues in China, and transforming the topics into political bargaining chips," 11th Panchen Lama Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, said in an interview with the China News Service on Wednesday.

"As long as a person has sanity and an objective stance, he would see the truth very clearly," he said. 

The Panchen's remarks came one day after a US State Department spokesperson claimed that "China shouldn't interfere with the succession process of the Dalai Lama." 

"What the Panchen Lama said represented the views of the Tibetan people, who recognize the government's work in bringing prosperity to Tibet. Tibetan people don't want to see chaos. And a strong China won't be impacted by the sharp practices of those malicious forces," Li Decheng, director of the Tibetology Research Center, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"We are well prepared, determined ... and the attempts of those foreign forces are doomed to fail," he said. 

Panchen noted on Wednesday that Tibet has transformed from "autocracy to democracy, from backwardness to progress, from poverty to wealth, from isolation to openness."

In 2020, all 74 counties and 628,000 poverty-stricken people in Tibet had shaken off poverty. The GDP of the Tibet Autonomous Region reached 190.2 billion yuan ($29.33 billion) in 2020, a 7.8 percent year-on-year increase. Meanwhile, the per capita disposable income of residents in Tibet was 21,744 yuan, media reported in January. 

Analysts pointed out that given the aging of the 14th Dalai Lama, the US is ramping up efforts to interfere in reincarnation affairs. In December 2020, the US passed the Tibetan Policy and Support Act in which it designated interference in the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama as a high priority.

Meanwhile, as the Democrats - who like to play the so-called "human rights" card and "Tibet card" - won the election, it's no surprise that they are putting more energy in meddling with Tibet-related affairs. 

Li stressed that the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is part of China's religious affairs. "We administer religious affairs according to the law. The US has no right to make irresponsible remarks."

"The US may think what it is doing could upset China, but the truth is the US' deeds have no influence on our practical work," Zhu Weiqun, former head of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC, told the Global times on Thursday.

Given the current situation in the US, which is mired in multiple crises, Zhu warned the US government it's no good to play the Tibet card, which would only bring the US harm.   

When US President Joe Biden was running as the Democratic presidential nominee, he said he would meet the Dalai Lama. 

It's unknown whether this meeting would happen. The Dalai Lama's last trip to the US was in 2017.

Zhu sent a stern warning to the Biden administration that they should take a look at a bigger picture, and developing good relations with China is beneficial for its own interests.  

"The flattery of the Dalai Lama won't do the US any good, nor will it do China any harm," he said. 

This year marks the 70th anniversary of Tibet's peaceful liberation as well as the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China. Experts noted that foreign forces won't give up stirring troubles at this time. 

For the upcoming March 14 (riot happened on this day in 2008 in Lhasa) and March 25 (Serfs Emancipation Day in Tibet), they noted that there is a possibility for these malicious forces to make waves. 

Li noted that it's important to prevent infiltration of external forces in Tibet. But both he and Zhu stressed that no matter what these foreign anti-China forces do, they have no market among the Tibetan people.