Dalai Lama should not push his luck too far

By China Watcher

The Dalai Lama should be thankful that he was offered the continuation of a dialogue, to be scheduled within the next few days, with the Chinese government over the Tibet issue arising from the many pleas and requests from foreign governments and his representatives for talks.

As a political figure more than a historical spiritual head, he warned that the talks would be pointless if Beijing was not “serious” in finding a solution to the demands of the Tibetan cliques and monks. He added that if the central government is only using the “talk” to placate world’s opinion without any commitment then there is no use of having a meeting.

There were six earlier rounds but it has resulted in a dead end over the Dalai Lama excessive demands of wanting Greater Tibet autonomy (partial Tibetan governing structure in Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan etc) as against the Tibet region alone. The diverging demands were the reason for the failure of the earlier talks.

First, it was the Dalai Lama who is requesting for a dialogue and not the Chinese government. He claimed that the Tibetan monks at the few monasteries inside Tibet have been oppressed and as such, he told the Western media that he is seeking for a dialogue to end the widespread discontentment and “killings” of Tibetans. So, why is he trying to play “politics” to warn the Chinese government on its commitment towards the “talk” when he was the one who asked for it in the first place? The Dalai Lama must understand that the dialogue is a given window of opportunity, however small it is, to make good whatever representations he has to make to the Chinese government and not to jeopardize it. There is a saying “Opportunity only knocks once or twice in many years”.

Second, the Chinese government felt that it should give the talk another chance since there were requests coming from certain world’s political figures and internal Chinese advisors, academicians and other appointees from the non Communist organizations in the ruling administration. I always believe that the Chinese government will listen to the voices in the political stratum of the Chinese governing structure more than the pressures from protests and disruptions launched by the Tibetan exiles and its mainly Western sympathizers and media.

Third, if there is no talk then there is only one other possibility, that is, the use of an armed rebellion to overthrow the governing Chinese Communist Party in Tibet. Do you think this is possible? The Dalai Lama is seen as a peaceful person in the eyes of a Westerner and one who purely advocates non violence, and what will then be his position if he does not agree in having a dialogue with the Chinese government?

Personally, I do not trust the Dalai Lama who is more a political than a religious figure. I have stated this many times in my earlier articles that if he is a genuine human rights fighter for his people, he should clearly make his declaration at the United Nation not to advocate or support independence and clarified that Tibet is an inalienable part of China.

Unfortunately, he has only mentioned his stance to the Western media and the political personalities he met which I am not mistaken is confined to not seeking independence but with “partial” autonomy within China. He has failed to declare that Tibet and Taiwan are an inalienable part as required by the Chinese government. His dwindling influence and his hold over the independence seeking Tibetan political organizations are matters which may influence the direction of the talk.