Yi's article said the Dalai Lama's demonstrations of democracy were done for show.

For instance, the Tibetans in exile were even allowed to set up a Tibetan Communist Party and run a number of unofficial newspapers, as part of the Dalai Lama's democratic test in the 1960s.

But once those organizations and newspapers hurt the interests of the old Tibetan aristocrats in exile, they received threats and were asked to shut down. As a result, the organizations and newspapers quickly disappeared.

In 1995, the fall edition of the group's magazine "Independence" carried a caricature on its front page entitled the "Current situation of the Tibetan democracy", which satirized the democracy of the Dalai Lama.

In its editorial, the magazine said the supervisory departments and check-balance mechanism in the current governing system of the Tibetan government-in-exile have failed to work.

In May 2007, Tibetans in Dharamsala and local residents were involved in a fist fight, which strained Tibetan-Indian relations. The Palyul Web site run by the Dalai clique published a series of articles criticizing India's policies towards Tibetans, furthering straining the relations.

To ease pressure from India, the Dalai clique forced the Web site to remove these reports and relevant commentaries, while issuing a letter of apology to local media. The issue showcased the tight grip on media by the Dalai clique, which often played up its democratic achievements.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2008)