China’s Final Solution for Tibet
So now we have it all out in the open. Peking has made public in precise, unambigous terms under which the Dalai Lama may end his exile. It does not matter whether the Tibetan delegation which was in Peking recently asked for their terms. Neither the fact that Dharamsala has not issued a point by point response to it is of serious concern for the time being.
What is important is the implications behind the Chinese terms for the Dalai Lama’s return. Of course, the question of Tibet is that of a nation and its entire population and not just of one person. However, the Chinese are shrewd enough to realize that in this particular case just this one person matters more than any thing else. If the Dalai Lama returns to Tibet—sorry! To the Great Motherland, as has been made amply clear—the Chinese couldn’t care less what the rest of the exiles choose to do. There exists no other form of leadership in our society. There is no one—individual or group—who can begin to match the Dalai Lam’s leadership qualities or command the admiration and respect that he does. At best they will remain politically docile and may eventually integrate with the population of the host country; at worst, internal feuds will crop up in a bid for whatever positions of power there are.
As for Tibet, it will truly become a part of Great Motherland. The world will cease to hear of what is happening there—except what Peking decides to tell it. China will no more feel obliged to counter “Tibetan refugee propaganda” as there will be no more effective “Tibetan refugee propaganda.” They may or may not modernise Tibet or allow it some measure of freedom, but they will not be compelled to do so. There will no more be any need to invite foreign journalists to see that all is well in Tibet since no complaint that it is not so will be heard outside. In short, Tibet will gradually become a memory of the pst—never to reemerge as a separate entity.
Fortunately, precisely for these reasons, it is extremely unlikely that the Dalai Lama will find the Chinese terms acceptable.
So now we have it all out in the open. Peking has made public in precise, unambigous terms under which the Dalai Lama may end his exile. It does not matter whether the Tibetan delegation which was in Peking recently asked for their terms. Neither the fact that Dharamsala has not issued a point by point response to it is of serious concern for the time being.
What is important is the implications behind the Chinese terms for the Dalai Lama’s return. Of course, the question of Tibet is that of a nation and its entire population and not just of one person. However, the Chinese are shrewd enough to realize that in this particular case just this one person matters more than any thing else. If the Dalai Lama returns to Tibet—sorry! To the Great Motherland, as has been made amply clear—the Chinese couldn’t care less what the rest of the exiles choose to do. There exists no other form of leadership in our society. There is no one—individual or group—who can begin to match the Dalai Lam’s leadership qualities or command the admiration and respect that he does. At best they will remain politically docile and may eventually integrate with the population of the host country; at worst, internal feuds will crop up in a bid for whatever positions of power there are.
As for Tibet, it will truly become a part of Great Motherland. The world will cease to hear of what is happening there—except what Peking decides to tell it. China will no more feel obliged to counter “Tibetan refugee propaganda” as there will be no more effective “Tibetan refugee propaganda.” They may or may not modernise Tibet or allow it some measure of freedom, but they will not be compelled to do so. There will no more be any need to invite foreign journalists to see that all is well in Tibet since no complaint that it is not so will be heard outside. In short, Tibet will gradually become a memory of the pst—never to reemerge as a separate entity.
Fortunately, precisely for these reasons, it is extremely unlikely that the Dalai Lama will find the Chinese terms acceptable.
posted by editorla at
9:01 PM
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