The violent incident in Lhasa on March 14 -- including beating, smashing, looting and arson -- exposed the terrorist nature of "Tibetan Youth Congress" (TYC) as the direct planner of the riot. The crimes made the organization look like a kin member of Al-Qaida, Chechnyan armed terrorists and "East Turkistan" separatists.

Founded in 1970, the TYC advocates "complete independence of Tibet" and has fully integrated into the "Tibetan government-in-exile", entering the power core of the Dalai clique. It has long been involved in secessionist activities.

Speeches by some leading members of the organization and the Dalai clique revealed they would use terrorism to achieve their goals.

Gaisang Puncog, former chairman of the TYC, said, "We could use any methods to serve our cause, whether it is violent or non-violent."

Tendzin Choegyal, the Dalai Lama's younger brother and follower, said, "Terrorist activities could achieve the biggest effect at the lowest cost."

One of the Dalai Lama's most-trusted subordinates said in a speech to the Brookings Institution in Washington that a few desperate individuals and organizations could trigger instability on a large scale.

In a meeting of its "central executive committee" in Dharamsala, India, the TYC approved a decision to "found a guerrilla movement as soon as possible to secretly enter China and carry out armed struggles.

The organization also made preliminary plans to prepare personnel, funding and arms to steal into China through the China-Nepal border. Some ringleaders even claimed that they could sacrifice at least 100 Tibetans to achieve a "thorough victory".

It's not strange for a terrorist organization to plan killing, as the September 11 terrorist attacks have shown.

In January, the TYC announced it would implement the "Tibetan People's Uprising Movement" and established an organizing committee with Tsewang Rinzin, the "TYC president", acting as its top leader. It also ran several training courses to teach guerilla warfare and bombing technology.

In February, the TYC held campaigns in Dharamsala to recruit participants for the "Tibetan People's Uprising Movement" and trained key members for the activity.

What makes the TYC a terrorist organization is not only what it has said but what it has done. Police in Lhasa seized more than 100 guns, tens of thousands of bullets, several thousand kilograms of explosives and tens of thousands of detonators, acting on reports from lamas and ordinary people.

These figures, in addition to the deaths of more than a dozen ordinary people in the Lhasa riot, show that the TYC is no different from Al-Qaida, Chechnyan armed terrorists, "East Turkistan" separatists and any other terrorist organization.

Under Chinese law, terrorist organizations are those which use violence to threaten national security, sabotage social stability, harm people and damage their property, those which have leaders and assigned missions, and those which have organized, planned, instigated, implemented or participated in terrorist activities, or are carrying out such activities.

Such groups also include those having built bases for terrorist activities, systematically recruited and trained terrorists, collaborated with international terrorist organizations to sponsor, train and cultivate terrorists, and have participated in terrorist activities.

Judging by these criteria, the TYC is a terrorist organization in a pure sense.

(Xinhuanet.com April 10, originally published in Chinese at http://taikongren.home.news.cn)