...in the New Worker
The Dalai Lama, former priest-king of feudal Tibet, is stepping up his campaign against Peking. And in his exile centre of Dharmsala, in India, he warned that unless Peking accepts his terms he will withdraw his offer to compromise.
In 1988, the Buddhist leader offered to accept Chinese control of Tibet’s foreign and defence policy in return for the restoration of his priestly autocracy in Tibet. The offer was ignored by Peking, which never recognised that Tibet has ever been sovereign, a position held by the former Kuomintang Government of Chiang Kai-Chek as well.
The restoration of his backward, feudal rule is out of the question as far as People’s China is concerned.
The Dalai Lama is in Britain this week to drum up support for his cause but Prime Minister John Major has rejected some Tory calls for a meeting as this would jeopardise relations with China.
Three quarters of all children with jobs are employed illegally according to a survey of 2,000 children by the Low Pay Unit and Birmingham City Council published last week.
About two million children work in their spare time, most of them illegally and some for as little as seven pence an hour.
Furthermore over 600,000 are likely to have had an accident at work.
The survey found that 43 per cent of children have a job other than baby-sitting, washing cars or running errands.
A quarter are under 13 and not supposed to work at all. Fewer than a tenth were registered as the law requires.
Many are employed in work prohibited to children, for example in pubs and on building sites.
One 11 year old worked cleaning a pub and off-licence for 55p a hour and a 12 year old boy worked 18 hours a week in a sweetshop for 44p an hour.
