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Dalai should seize chance provided by talks

After the 14th Dalai Lama fled China in 1959, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai sent a secret envoy with a message to him saying, “Inside the temple, you are a god. Outside the temple, you are just a man. And the whole motherland, including Tibet, is your temple.”

It is said that the message still strikes a chord in the Dalai Lama.

Now, at the age of 75, time is not on the side of the Dalai Lama. Though the 14 March riots in Tibet in 2008, plotted by the Dalai clique, caught the world’s attention for a while, it is always the progress of China, including Tibet, which has impressed the world.

For his own sake, the Dalai Lama needs to make the most of the opportunity provided by the current round of talks with the central government.

As the ninth round of talks in eight years, also the first since November 2008, is underway, it is time for him to reflect on the discussions thus far, the reasons for them getting stalled and adopt a more realistic approach to keep the dialogue going with the central government. Only when he gives up “Tibetan independence”, eschews separatist activities, and acknowledges Tibet as an inalienable part of China can the talks yield results.

Any unrealistic request — such as greater “autonomy” in Tibet and some Tibetan-populated regions, proposed by his envoys during the last talks — are certain to be turned down.

The realistic appreciation of Tibet — and not as a mysterious Shangri-la steeped in esoteric religious and cultural traditions — can help clear up the misunderstanding between China and some Western countries over Tibet.

The mystification of Tibet has added to the confusion, and even prejudice against the Chinese central government’s policy in Tibet. Some sections of the West have gone further by playing the Tibet card to embarrass China, either out of ignorance of Tibet’s past and present, or in pursuit of their own political agenda.

That explains why the Dalai clique’s deliberate agitation and disguised attempt to seek “Tibetan independence” in the name of “autonomy” could once gain some momentum in the West. But more Westerners have come to realize that supporting the Dalai Lama will be in vain and do them no good.

To further dispel any scepticism on this score, it is necessary to boost prosperity further in the region and enable greater opening of Tibet.

It is self-evident that since the abolition of feudal serfdom, there has been a steady improvement in Tibetan people’s quality of life, while most of the over 100,000 Tibetans exiled in India have lived the life of refugees. And, the tourism boom has brought in a flood of Western tourists who have witnessed the ethnic unity, religious freedom and social progress enjoyed by all people in Tibet.

It is said that during their earlier visits, the Dalai Lama’s envoys were taken to various places in China, including Tibet, to see the great changes that have come about in the past five decades.

In recognition of the prosperity that territorial integrity and ethnic unity have brought to Tibet, should the fresh talks bear any fruit, the Dalai Lama needs to act forthwith to abandon “Tibetan independence.”

Any unrealistic request from the Dalai Lama could only further delay his desire to end the 51-year exile and return to the motherland.

Copyright © 2010 Global Times

Published in Global Times