Recent declarations signed by outgoing President Trump supporting the Tibetan tradition of selecting the Dalai Lama and demanding non-interference in that process have no doubt offered comfort and encouragement within the exiled Tibetan community. Political solidarity however has its shelf-life, and changes or is abandoned according to events of economics and politics.
With that in mind, as China’s regime is covertly engineering a plastic figure to propose as the rightful next Dalai Lama, we wonder what response will be forthcoming from future US Administrations and the State Department when faced with the following inevitability.
Having carefully constructed its bogus Dalai Lama every effort will be made to exploit this creation for political and propaganda purposes. For example we envisage the plastic figure will be sent on global tours spreading its message of ‘harmony’ and ‘good will’. A key destination for such orchestrated deception will of course be the USA.
So what will the reaction be from US authorities to a request from the Chinese regime that every diplomatic courtesy and support is extended to its plastic representative? Would the Secretary of State decline a meeting with this polymer puppet and declare support and recognition only to that Dalai Lama chosen by exiled Tibetans in accord with genuine tradition?
Or would the ever-present pressure of trade with China reassert itself? These are sobering questions that need to be raised as a reality-check against the integrity and motives of a US political establishment. Which since 1972 has betrayed the just cause of Tibet’s people for national freedom.
Tibetans and friends of Tibet are today celebrating the birthday of the Dalai Lama. Yet several million Tibetans will not be. This is because to do so will risk extreme punishment by the Chinese regime. who have ordered the the people of occupied Tibet to reject their beloved Buddhist leader in favor of Xi Jinping.
Image: chinafotopress/getty
Any expression whatsoever supporting, respecting or celebrating the Tibetan leader is treated as criminal activity. The consequences are severe and dangerous. There is only one party to honor and that is the Communist Party of China.
An eight member delegation of the US Congress, headed by Nancy Pelosi has arrived in Dharamsala, India, the exiled base of the Tibetan Administration, to hold talks with the Dalai Lama and Doctor Lobsang Sangay the administration’s political leader.
They will be accorded considerable praise and gratitude as friends of Tibet, yet in truth their support is constrained to issues of human rights and culture, while this may be regarded as positive assistance it fails to address the just and historic right of Tibet’s people to national independence. The reason why Ms Pelosi and her Congressional colleagues are silent on that core subject is, that while appearing to be champions of the Tibetan cause, they are advocates of the US policy which recognizes Tibet as an integral part of China. This explains their carefully worded emphasis on cultural issues and human rights, to avoid any mention of Tibet’s status or reference to the struggle being waged inside Tibet.
It is not the Tibetan people, or their rightful determination for national liberation which is being supported by this delegation. Indeed their is something distasteful and disingenuous about these political dignitaries serving up such cynical platitudes, while across the mountains in Tibet a cause is being waged to demand (what these defenders of freedom are afraid to voice for fear of upsetting China and their own State Department), national freedom for Tibet!
Once again the Nepalese authorities have revealed where their allegiances rest, forgotten now is the solidarity. generosity and compassion shown by exiled Tibetans towards the people of Nepal during the earthquake that devastated that country in 2015. As Tibetans in Kathmandu gathered to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s birthday this week the Nepalese authorities, ever keen to impress their Chinese paymasters, sent in the police to beat and arrest Tibetans, while tearing down images of the Dalai Lama. What short memories the politicians and police force of Nepal has!
Well that’s it folks another Glastonbury Festival has ended, the army of tents that has populated the green fields of England’s county of Somerset are being packed away, the lines of dazed and happy festival-goers head to the train and coach stations and local highways get tailbacks as the great convoy heads home. It’s been an amazing few days of music, sleep has been in short supply, the buzz simply too much, that’s sure been the case with our project #teamGlasto4TIBET. Once again we ensured that Tibet made a very visible presence across the festival with Tibetan flags appearing at major performances. None more so of course than that of Ms Patti Smith, whose passionate set was briefly joined by an on stage appearance of the Dalai Lama who received a fabulous welcome from the crowd, who sang Happy Birthday to him. As he looked out into the ocean of faces there before him flew the Tibetan national flag, a colorful and powerful reminder that the cause of his country is not forgotten and continues to attract the concern and support of people around the world. We were very proud and honored to be at the center of such action, as we were earlier in the day during a talk given by the Dalai Lama at which #teamGlasto4TIBET raised Tibet’s national emblem.
It’s vital that the issue of Tibet is given maximum exposure, after all China’s waging an ideological ware against the cause of Tibet so it becomes of critical importance to counter the propaganda and censorship. That is why #teamGlasto4TIBET was across the Glastonbury Festival not only to provide a statement of visual support for Tibet but in cooperation with our online activism enabling the issue to be shared, discussed and highlighted across the internet. Coordinating a presence at the site with live discussions on social media such as Twitter and Facebook generated massive exposure, reaching people across the world who maybe previously had little knowledge of the issue. Such actions would not be possible without the dedication, solidarity and kindness of a whole bunch of folks who contributed towards those objectives, in that regard let’s hear it for our warriors for Tibet; John Tumbridge, Abbie Learoyd-Smith Luis Vilchis for keeping Tibet’s flag flying at the festival and sharing some wonderful images. Speaking of which, a shout-out to our Twitter friend @plutoscave for sharing amazing screen captures of the television stream. Thanks also to Peter Yerod for being an active member of the #teamGlasto4TIBET Facebook group. Appreciation must also be given to colleagues running @tibettruth, who have worked tirelessly over the past few days getting information out across Twitter and generating massive awareness on Tibet. Special mention must also be made to our friends in England who designed and administered the #teamGlasto4TIBET action pack, an awesome job indeed.
It’s been huge, thanks to all our friends and subscribers who have been following and sharing news of our activism on Glastonbury Festival, let’s hope that we can meet again next year.
How many times must China forcefully reject any prospect of negotiations regarding the proposal of improved or genuine autonomy for Tibet before the advocates of that policy awake from their self-induced delusion that compromise and reason is possible from the Chinese regime?
Its State Council Information Office has today emphatically dismissed the likely-hood of discussions on Tibet in a lengthy rebuttal that stipulated any possible talks would focus upon the Dalai Lama and engage only with his private representatives, it contemptuously described the Central Tibetan Administration as “essentially a separatist political group”.
“Any negotiations will be limited to seeking solutions for the Dalai Lama to completely abandon separatist claims and activities and gain the forgiveness of the central government and the Chinese people”
So what now for Doctor Lobsang Sangay and his colleagues in the Central Tibetan Administration as they evaluate yet another disdainful repudiation from the Chinese government?
The writing has of course been on the wall for a number of years, the message from China’s psychopathic leaders has been consistent, this latest statement is a reaffirmation of that hardline policy.
“As the political status and system of Tibet is stipulated by the Chinese Constitution and laws, the ‘Tibet issue’ and ‘a high degree of autonomy’ are not up for discussion”.
The stark choice for Tibetans in exile is to either completely surrender to Chinese demands or resist and restore Tibet’s national liberation as the central and unified objective of the Tibetan cause.
Tragically however we anticipate that the desperate efforts to reach an accord with the Chinese authorities will continue to determine the response of the Central Tibetan Administration.
Does anyone, apart from those in denial, deluded or plain innocent of mind consider governments act with integrity, honesty and a genuine commitment to human rights?
If political systems forged from founding principles of justice, democracy, freedom and accountability to their citizens indulge in deception and manipulating public opinion it is naive on a colossal scale to regard information sourced to from China’s totalitarian regime as being factual, balanced or free from propaganda.
Such a reality of course is not allowed to obstruct the mainstream media’s goal of pumping out tasty morsels of news, no surprise then that the BBC today released a report of a 2012 meeting between the Dalai Lama and Mr Xiao Wunan. See HERE
An Executive Vice Chairman of the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation we are informed that it was this card-carrying member of China’s communist regime who provided video footage of his meeting with the Tibetan leader. What a portrait of understanding, cooperation it presents, raising an illusory hope of progress in the notoriously failed efforts of an agreement on Tibet between China’s regime and the exiled Tibetan Administration.
Was the outreach by Mr Xiao indicative of a softening of attitude by the Chinese Regime towards the issue of Tibet, his unofficial meetings with prominent Tibetan leaders to be seen as a positive gesture, or was his presence reflecting a darker agenda?
“An Indian researcher Jayadeva Ranade (a former senior government official) in an article ‘A concerned dragon: China’s fresh overture to Tibetans’ wrote that Xiao Wunan probably carried a personal message from a senior Chinese leader, possibly Xi Jinping. Ranade wrote that he could have informed the Dalai Lama that he was welcome to spend his last days in Beijing provided he gave up ‘anti-China’ activities and expressed support for the Communist regime. The article also notes coincidentally, within a month of the meeting the designation of the Head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) was changed from ‘Kalon Tripa’ (Prime Minister) to the less controversial, from Beijing’s perspective, ‘Sikyong’ (political leader) Source: extract from2012 article by Jamyang Norbu ‘FREE RADIO FREE ASIA’!
Mr Xiao, here with the Karmapa
Image: archivenet
One thing for sure his contacts with the Dalai Lama and Karmapa would not have happened without the consent or knowledge of China’s government, the same authority which consistently rejects any overture of compromise offered by the Dalai Lama and the exiled Tibetan Administration.
At the same time Beijing has long meddled within exiled Tibetan politics and its cancerous tentacles have extended into the heart of an Tibetan Administration that has abandoned the cause of its own people in pursuit of an autonomy under Chinese rule. Which brings us back to the objectives of Xia Wunan’s trip to Dharamsala, and despite the BBC description of him as a former official, his role would have been far from informal. As suggested by the Indian researcher above, he would be able to exert further demands from the Chinese authorities. That he made available a video of his meeting too would suggest a propaganda objective, a moderate and flexible China, earnest in its efforts to reach an understanding! Whatever the motivations and directives which are concealed by the charm and smiles of Mr Xiao Wunan there can be no doubt that China’s Regime is relentless in its persecution and suppression of the Tibetan people. Until such time as China enjoys true political and civil freedom then the warm assurances of its envoys must be assessed with extreme scrutiny. Something which the BBC report failed to exercise in any great measure.
The only authority that has the genuine credentials, right and cultural expertise and tradition to recognize any future Dalai Lama is the Tibetan people. China’s regime at best is limited to selecting and enforcing, through intimidation, bribery and propaganda upon Tibet, a stooge candidate. Such an individual will never receive the support or devotion of Tibetans!
Nelson Mandela was throughout his life exposed to the cynical vapors of politics, felt keenly within internal struggles, that occasionally struck the movement to overthrow Apartheid, or via the political necessities of government. His years as an activist, resistance fighter and eventually President made him acutely aware of expediency, corruption, sacrifice and economic and political pressures that necessitate a governing authority to abandon principle in favor of national interest. Such factors play a key role in foreign policy and South Africa’s elite cabal have identified central areas of advantage and like other States are engaged in an active appeasement of China’s regime, in the name of commerce and positive relations.
China’s Vice President Li Yuanchao was afforded a central and prominent position at the memorial for Nelson Mandela, along with world leaders whose governments once branded him as a terrorist, such hypocrisy and political posturing would probably have raised a wry smile on Mr, Mandela’s face. There was no such honor extended to the Tibetan leader, who was barred from attending, and once again South Africa’s government has banned the Dalai Lama, from participating at a Nobel Laureates meeting.
Denied visas on previous occasions by South Africa, notably to attend Desmond Tutu’s 80th birthday celebrations in 2011, the Dalai Lama is not welcome and the suited leaders of the Rainbow Nation have it seems forgotten their own history of oppression and denial of human rights. Interesting how the allure of trade with China’s regime induces such amnesia! It is a disgraceful action that highlights the odious nature of real-politic in which those whose currency is tyranny, exploitation and violence are honored while the truly principled and compassionate are rejected. Shame upon South Africa’s government!
No matter how devoted to the cause of Tibet supporters of Tibetan national freedom may be, the distracting currents of confusion, resulting from conflicting statements issued by Tibet’s, now only spiritual leader, continue to generate puzzling diversions. Take the latest comments, reported April 22 by Voice of Tibet, in which the Dalai Lama is claimed to have made the following request
‘Instead of independence, I plead other freedom fighters to adopt middle way’:
For anyone not familiar with that term, ‘middle way’ refers to a set of proposals put to China by the Tibetan leader, in which he abandoned aspirations for Tibet’s rightful independence, in exchange for seeking a form of autonomy under China’s national and regional laws. Here’s the confusing part. In 2009 during an NBC television interview the Dalai Lama conceded that his ‘Middle Way’ proposals had proved a failure, which he again repeated during a BBC interview in 2012 , where he affirmed that:
“Our approach [has been] more or less failure to get some kind of cross understanding with the Chinese government and some kind of improvement inside Tibet. In that aspect [it has] completely failed,”
This somewhat contradictory circumstance is difficult to understand, a situation in which inside occupied Tibet courageous Tibetans are resisting China’s vicious occupation to demand independence for Tibet, yet in exile their spiritual leader is asking them to forgo that struggle and embrace a policy, which he himself has conceded has proved a singular failure. Beyond this troubling contradiction however lie even darker waters, the consequences and challenges of which can only be fully understood or felt by Tibetans themselves, arising from their deeply profound and historically established faith and reverence towards the Dalai Lama.
In making such an appeal the Tibetan leader is unwittingly placing a colossal burden upon the shoulders of those who are actively seeking Tibet’s national freedom, as his words speak directly to the heart of each Tibetan, forcing an impossible dilemma upon individuals to honor and respect the wishes of the Dalai Lama, at the expense of surrendering Tibet’s just cause, for a condition in which Tibetans would remain under China’s draconian grip, with at best cosmetic improvements and limited religious or cultural freedoms. It is nothing less than asking Tibetans to give up their decades old struggle and endorse a ‘solution’ which not only has been consistently rejected by China’s Regime, but one in which the very author of that proposal, the Dalai Lama, has admitted has failed.
What is going on behind the scenes which may help to explain this remarkable appeal? Is it simply the words of an enlightened Buddhist who wishes to see an end to the suffering of his people and feels the surrendering of their struggle would best serve that objective? Alternatively, are his words constructed to send a positive signal to China, in a bid to encourage negotiations between his representatives and their counterparts from the Chinese government? Without doubt the ongoing self-immolations and violent oppression inside occupied Tibet have focused minds within the exiled Central Tibetan Administration, yet as their compatriots defy the tyranny of China’s paramilitary forces, to demand national independence, such an appeal not only undermines their efforts and sacrifices but generates confusion for a people who would follow their leader over the edge of a precipice.
tibettruth.com 