Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The International Area
The more things change in Tibet, the more they stay the same outside. Talks between the
Chinese and the Dharamsala-based Tibetan government in exile remain stalled, with the
Chinese taking every opportunity to denounce the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama
for being a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' or trying to 'split the motherland'. The Dalai Lama
himself has abandoned any hope of nationhood, opting to push for cultural, religious and
linguistic autonomy within the Chinese state, yet even this 'middle path' of conciliation
has yielded nothing. Fearful of upsetting their trade balance with China, foreign govern-
ments will continue to be careful not to receive the Dalai Lama in any way that recognises
his political status as the head of an exiled government.
In an age of terrorism and rising religious extremism it is perhaps surprising how little
attention the Dalai Lama's remarkable insistence on non-violence gets from the world
community. As years pass with no discernable progress, tensions inside the Tibetan com-
munity are becoming apparent, with younger Tibetans increasingly pushing for direct, per-
haps even violent, action.
For its part China seems incapable of seeing Tibetan dissent in any terms other than
'separatism' and 'splittism'. The fear in Běijīng is that continued unrest or concessions
made to the Tibetans will cause a domino effect with other restive nationalities like the
Uighurs of Xīnjiāng, a stand largely backed by an increasingly nationalist Chinese public.
Until that changes, a political settlement will remain elusive. The political reality is that
Tibet is firmly a part of China. No one expects that to change any time soon.
As modern Tibet teeters on the edge of losing its cultural identity, some observers look
to the cyclical nature of Chinese history. Over the centuries China has grown, cracked and
collapsed. If that happens again, or if fundamental changes occur in Chinese domestic
politics, Tibet may perhaps once again have a say in its own affairs.
In 2014 the Dharamsala-backed 11th Panchen Lama turned 25 in his 19th year of house
arrest.
The Politics of Reincarnation
Only in Tibet could the 13th-century practice of reincarnation become a 21st-century polit-
ical hot potato. Recent disputes between Dharamsala and Běijīng over the selection of
