Most of the issues discussed in exile community, be it in media or any public forum, are political in nature. Discussions on education-related issues are rare, if not nonexistent. While we find popular Tibetan websites and journals flooded with articles on situation inside Tibet and exile Tibetan polity, how often do we get to read about the problems and challenges that we face in the field of education today? For instance, no matter how naive, most Tibetans are cognizant of Middle Way Policy and the fact that it is the official standpoint of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA); but how many of us are aware of CTA’s Basic Education Policy (BEP) and its salient features?

Former Kalon Tripa Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche interacting with students at Mewoen Tsuglag Peton School in Dharamsala/File photo

As a person working for Tibetan Education, I often end up discussing on BEP with teachers, administrators, school children and parents. To my surprise and dismay, even after nearly 10 years since the BEP was promulgated by CTA, not many people in our community have even a rudimentary knowledge of the policy and its features. Worse is that many have skewed understanding of the policy which leads them to blatantly discredit it. In this article, I am highlighting three common myths about BEP amongst the Tibetan populace based on what I heard through grapevine and formal interactions.

Myth 1: BEP is Synonymous to Tibetanization of Medium of Classroom Instruction

This is the most common myth about the Basic Education Policy in our community. There is definitely a clause in the BEP document which underscored the need for full conversion of medium of instruction to Tibetan in our schools. However, neither is BEP just about this clause nor is this clause the most important aspect of BEP.

While people may debate on the legitimacy of mother-tongue based classroom instruction (although scientific research in this field has proven beyond any ambiguity that mother-tongue based classroom instruction leads to better conceptual understanding in children), taking one’s impressionistic disliking for this vernacularization aspect of BEP as the sole basis for discrediting the policy as a whole grossly overlooks the significance of the key features of BEP- most of which have universal appeal.

For me the essence of BEP lies in the four aims of giving education viz., enabling to fully awaken the students’ discriminative faculty of mind to be able to distinguish right from wrong which constitutes the principle of “freedom”; students embracing other beings as more precious than the self and sacrificing the self for the service and welfare of others which constitutes the principle of “altruism”; enabling in students the ability to preserve Tibetan culture and natural environment constitutes the principle of “upholding the heritage”; and finally the principle of “innovation” stresses that students should be to introduce new principles, systems, movements and so forth in accordance with the needs of time and place.

Besides these four aims of providing education, BEP endorses: student-centered teaching methodology, abolishment of  3 hour examination system, inculcation of higher order thinking skills, Inclusive Education, teaching of traditional subjects (such as Valid Cognition) and so forth. In short BEP envisages a ‘paradigm shift’ in our education to address the crucial issues plaguing our society such as lack of professionals, unemployment problem and cultural uprooting of youngsters.

Here, I also feel Department of Education is partially responsible for reinforcing this myth in the community. It has overemphasized the Tibetanization of instructional medium through implementation of various BEP related projects over the years. These projects, lopsided towards efforts to vernacularize medium of instruction left more crucial issues (like effecting positive changes in teachers’ classroom practice) almost unattended. I strongly believe that as long as BEP fails to bring about quite a radical change to the existing classroom practice of the teachers, it shall remain just a policy document.

Myth 2: Implementation of BEP will Adversely Affect the English Language Proficiency of Children

At times common sense can be tyrannical, causing unnecessary impediment to progress. The assumption behind the second myth is that below-par competency in English Language will be an obvious side effect of the switch in medium of instruction to Tibetan, and introduction of second language only after III grade as per BEP.

Quite counter-intuitively, many scientific researches in the field of mother-tongue based education system has shown that developing a strong foundation of mother-tongue language in children, rather than impeding, actually helps in acquisition of second language later in school, provided this alternate system is implemented properly.

Retrospectively, for about 40 years since the first Tibetan school was established in India, all the Tibetan schools followed a system wherein medium of instruction was English right from I to XII grade. Going by the (commonsensical yet unscientific) logic behind the second myth, the students who graduated from the Tibetan schools under the previous system must be reaaally good in English! Are they? If majority of the readers objectively respond to this question in affirmative, my argument would stop here. However, if the general response to this question is negative, I won’t hesitate to voice my argument that ‘just as following an English Medium System doesn’t guarantee good English Language competency in children, switching the medium of instruction to Tibetan will not necessarily hamper the standard of English in schools’.

For me this question of language competency (be it Tibetan or English) has very little to do with medium of instruction rather, it has much (if not all) to do with quality of our language classes. Cases of teachers teaching English language in Tibetan medium (even at Secondary and Senior Secondary Level) are not uncommon in our schools, the absurdity of which cannot be fathomed. Emphasis on creative writing, speaking, developing reading habit and so forth which is absolutely crucial for developing language skills has been seriously lacking in most of our schools. How then can we expect our children to possess good competency in languages?

Myth 3: Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche Formulated BEP

On several occasions I have heard people say that BEP is a ‘utopian vision’ of Ex Kalon Tripa Prof.Samdhong Rinpoche which lacks practicability hence, fails to garner popular support from people. Some even go to the extent of saying that Rinpoche is a monk and has no children; therefore for him to insensitively formulate a policy which undermines children’s career prospect is understandable.

If only these people study the rigorous drafting process of BEP, they would realize that BEP is not a handiwork of an individual.

Rinpoche prepared the outline of the Policy in 2003. Subsequently, an Education Drafting Committee was appointed in 2003 comprising of five members chaired by Ven. Karma Gelek Yuthok, then Secretary of the DoE. The committee submitted the first draft to the Kashag. After giving the draft a thorough consideration, the Kashag produced a second draft which was distributed amongst all Tibetan educational institutes and scholars in exile seeking their comments and suggestions. The DoE compiled all the suggestions that were received and submitted them to the concerned authorities. A seminar of Indian scholars distinguished in the fields of traditional as well as modern education was held in January 2004 to consolidate the professional advices and suggestions received on the second draft. A similar seminar of Tibetan scholars and administrative panel was held in February 2004. Thus, a third draft was prepared by the Drafting Committee and it was reviewed by the Kashag.  Later an international seminar of modern academicians was convened by the Kashag in June 2004; final version of the BEP document was prepared after making some changes according to the suggestions that came from the seminar.

Finally, in September 2004, the document was tabled at the 8th Session of the 13th Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies (ATPD) for approval. The Assembly held discussion on the document, made certain changes accordingly and then voted on; the BEP document was ‘unanimously’ approved by ATPD.

The reason why I presented this narrative on the rigorous process of drafting of BEP is to make people aware of the fact that the policy was not casually formulated overnight. It involves hard work of many eminent academicians and scholars in both traditional and modern education over a period of time. Therefore the question arises; are we justified as an individual to discredit the policy simply based on our impressionistic views?

Conclusion:

I presented my viewpoints on the BEP in this article not with the hope of making everybody agree with me. I know that would be unrealistic. However, I feel that healthy discussions on important educational issues (such as the one I brought here)  is seriously lacking in our community; therefore my primary intention for writing this article is to spark intellectual discussion on the topic based on sound reasoning and proper analysis.

Being political refugees in India, I understand if political activism is much hyped in our exile community. I don’t have anything against that. However, we must realize that our struggle is non-violent in nature; education is the key weapon for a nonviolent struggle. In that sense, a collective effort from the community is required to improve the overall standard of education. Working towards a better education is thus, a form of political activism!

After rendering 60 years of meritorious, unceasing and dedicated service to a nation, Tibet lost one of her longest-serving civil servants, most venerable Tara-wa Tenzin Choenyi, widely known as Ku-nyoe Tara la on 14th January 2013, he was 94 years old. One of his last wishes is not to burn his body on the wood as countless insects die in the process. His body was thus cremated in an electronic crematorium in New Delhi on 17th January 2013.

Venerable Tara-wa Tenzin Choenyi/File photo

The most venerable Tara-wa Tenzin Choenyi la was born in Tara’s family of Kharkha village of Gyaltse dzong in 1920. In 1941, at age of 22, he joined then the Gaden Phodrang Government of Tibet as Tsi-drung. In 1952, he was appointed as a staff in the Tibetan foreign office in Beijing, where he served until June 1955, for about three years. He was also a member of the organizing committee and the entourage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to China and India in 1954-55 and 1956 respectively.

Especially during the chaotic year of 1959, people of Lhasa elected him as one of the leaders of masses to supervise the various volunteer groups for His Holiness’s security to safeguard the well-being of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to make sure His Holiness’s safe escape to India. Following the March 1959 Tibetan National Uprising, he came into exile in India with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He began his services in the Private Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from January 1, 1960, and served in various capacities, most notably as Personal Secretary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He officially retired in 2001 but continued to offer his services as an advisor until January 1, 2012.

I am fortunate to have ample opportunities to meet him and listen to his words of wisdom, which was an outcome of an extraordinary life that he had. One thing that strikes me most about him is his simplicity in living as well in thought. There was no pompousness and complexity in him, which is usually associated with people of his level of accomplishment. To be complex is easy but to be simple is actually not at all easy, indeed it is one of the most difficult things that an individual can do. In this sense, he is a perfect epitome of a phrase ‘Simple living high thinking’.

His absolute faith and loyalty toward His Holiness the Dalai Lama is unparalleled. In fact, he is the person who spent more time with His holiness the Dalai Lama than anyone else. Since his knowledge of Tibetan history is vast, one day I asked him, who is the greatest Tibetan of all time. He further asked me about my take on the question. In a hesitant voice, I replied; it might be Songtsen Gampo or Milarepa. Without any hesitation, he said it is Current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. He further told me that it was difficult for common Tibetan or for that matter, any other person to see him in the way that he really is!

Given the extra-ordinary life that he had and vast first-hand experience on contemporary Tibetans issues, many people of our community have visited him and sought his view and suggestion on issues about Tibet and others. I could many times see Kalons and other dignitaries seeking his suggestion and advice. Personally, I have visited him when I am in need of some guidance or advice on important matters. What is astonishing to me is his unassuming willingness to give his heart-felt suggestion on every question that I raised, even if it is of trivial matters. He never underestimates anyone, and that is I believe a sign of true learned man.

He placed important and significance emphasis on youth of Tibet and had a vision wherein younger generation becomes what he calls ‘a real Tibetan’. In his Biography, he wrote two specific chapters as a message for the younger generation of Tibetan. In those chapters, he passionately and rationally advised younger generations to study Buddhism and become a meaningful Buddhist.

Author during his meeting with Venerable Tara-wa Tenzin Choenyi

Whenever I am in his presence, he used to test my understanding of traditional Tibetan and Buddhist knowledge, including history of Tibet to which I have failed many times. He would then write it for me on the paper with his amazing Tibetan handwriting and use to tell me to learn it properly. He used to do this for most of the younger generations that came to seek his guidance. Because of him, I could now proudly say that I am Buddhist not because I am born to parents who are Buddhist, but I choose to be one. Personally, he had been one of the most illuminating people who I have ever met. His physical existence might have ceased to exist but the memories that have been created by his compassion and wisdom is and will always be in my heart.

The memories that I have of him are many. Reflecting on those memories, clearly he is man of total integrity, sincerity and honesty. His sense of humanity is profound. He is internationalist in its real sense. His attention to detail was mind-boggling. He is extremely rational in his thought and pragmatic in his deed. It is very well reflected in one of his last wishes, which told his relatives not to consult an astrologer or conduct a lavish final ritual which is customary for a man of his achievement and calibre. All of these qualities together make him a clear thinker, learned scholar, a decisive leader, a compassionate and fearless in standing alone in his principal and above all a good human being.

Traditionally, Tibetans do not celebrate the birthday of an individual. However, fondly remember those who had great accomplishment and service to fellow countryman while he or she is alive. In case of the most venerable Tara-wa Tenzin Choenyi la, he was indeed an individual to be remembered for his unceasing dedication and service to a nation.

* The writer is a developmental professional based in Delhi. He can be reached at tsewangrigzin59@gmail.com. The article submitted by the author.

“The risks of not reforming are now higher than the risks of reforming.” According to Robert Lawrence Kuhn, an American businessman who wrote an authorized biography of Jiang Zemin.

Despite major political scandals, factional infighting in China, and a series of self-immolations in various parts of Tibet, Beijing recently concluded 18th party congress and unveiled the top seven Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) members who are the brains behind the direction of China’s social and economic growth in the years to come. The departed nine members under the helm of Hu Jintao left unprecedented challenges for the new collective leadership headed by Xi Jinping. Unlike his two predecessors, Hu Jintao handed over the most privileged post of chairman of central military commission (CMC) along with the party’s general secretary post to the compromised successor Xi Jinping.

China observers believe Hu’s handover of the military post implies that he has no longer clout over the party elite politics and at the same time it reflects the healthy sign and exemplary to future successions. That was reflected through the party elders’ hand behind the scene particularly the influential 87 years old former party chief Jiang Zemin’s clout in “horse trading” and managed to outmaneuver Hu in filling seats in PSC with his protégés and allies-accounting for five of the seven members. It is visible that from Hu’s side the two relatively younger leaders, Li Yuanchao and Wang Yang, known for their liberal views and reformist outlook failed to reach the apex. Generally, Jiang’s protégés are more hardliners, while Hu’s allies are liberals and reformist.

Xi’s maiden remarks after his proclamation of party general secretary to succeed Hu, stressed on a growing number of corruption nationwide and to eradicate it in order to smooth and successful running of the party. After lambasting corruption, he pressed on gaining trust of the Chinese people to maintain the status quo of the party. There was nothing to hear about political reform which many people are skeptical about his recent conversation with Hu Deping, the son of late party chief Hu Yaobang, who was known to be reformist. Xi reportedly told Hu Deping, a former vice director of the United Front Work Department “Since the people are getting impatient with mere talk about reform, we must raise high the banner of reform, including political liberalization.” As I learned from few China observers that these kinds of conversations are mere a lip service and just to please people.

From another perspective, Xi had a father who was a revolutionary hero and economic reformist, purged by Mao and sent to countryside for manual labor. Later imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1977). After Mao’s death, senior Xi was rehabilitated by then party secretary Hu Yaobang and elected to the Politburo and served as Vice-Premier. He was one among many other liberal minded leaders who believed in meaningful reform unlike Wen Jiabao who expressed undefined political reform on numerous occasions. His Holiness the Dalai Lama recounts that Xi’s father Xi Zhongxun as a close friend, who had a liberal view and approach to ethnic minorities. Overseas China observers believe that junior Xi would gradually step into the shoes of his father to maintain his family legacy.

Unlike eras of four-generation leaders, fifth-generation leaders headed by Xi Jinping will be apparently different in many ways. Nowadays, Chinese people are more aware about its own government’s wrong and failed policies which reflect through number of protests in many parts of Chinese provinces and particularly Tibetans outcry against the regime’s hardline approach reached the breaking point that reflect through a series of self-immolations in different parts of Tibet. A Chinese government rule by the Communist party use the propaganda machine as a tool to disseminate biased information. Unfortunately, during those times, people had not much access to the outside world rather relied on its own government censored news and reports. The very remark of Mr. Xi during the proclamation of power transition was to reconnect with its people. Since, it’s quite clear that the propaganda machine has become ineffective and access to unbiased information has widened in China as well as Tibet. Despite intensified government crackdowns and Internet censorship, many Chinese intellectuals and netizens manage to jump beyond firewall and express their deep concerns for Tibet’s current political situation. Looking into such aspects would certainly bring hope for millions of people around the world who are waiting for Xi’s collective leadership to upgrade new version of reform, which is more liable and practical.

Not to forget about the growing number of Buddhists in China may prove another challenge for new leadership. Large numbers of Chinese devotees every year from Mainland China come to Dharamsala for Dalai Lama’s teachings and to know more about Tibetan Buddhism. For instance, last year alone, more than 1,000 mainland Chinese had attended Buddhist teachings gave by the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya, India, a place where Buddha attained enlightenment. On some press accounts, China’s new first lady Peng Liyuan is a Buddhist and more well-known in her homeland than her husband. When Xi joined PSC in 2007, the joke was “Who is Xi Jinping? He’s Peng Liyuan’s husband.” They have a daughter, who attends at Harvard under a pseudonym will likely to be counted under the banner of hope since I believe she is growing in a democratic environment where there is a rule of law and given every value of basic human rights albeit she may be a communist stalwart. People would suddenly disagree with this point but I would rather be on a benefit of the doubt.

China’s economic stagnation at the point is another serious challenge for new leadership. For the past six decades, China experienced great difficulties one which party still negotiates-the economic reform, up to now have been designed specially to maintain the rule of the CCP and enhance Deng’s strategy of “let some people get rich first,” of course some people were the leaders of the CCP and their families. The result has been a rich state and rich party with poor citizens. The fundamental problem lies with the Communist Party who has vested interest like state-owned enterprises, (SOE) the bureaucracy, the local government and the military. To maintain a sustainable economic growth rate, the new leaders have to be bold enough to go against their own personal benefits to avoid the revolt from the middle class in the non-state sector. The decision is in their hand whether to amass an enormous fortune by delegitimizing the Communist Party in the eyes of its own people, which could become a signal of downfall or bring meaningful reform that might prove party’s loss of power.

Some analysts have different view that Xi may boldly take up reform with his comrades. Initially, he wants to build robust support for his vision of change within the party members. Xi would probably experiment the idea of effective change in his second term, even though true economic changes need political transformation as well. “I think the emphasis is on continuity over change this time around,” said Bo Zhiyue, a scholar of Chinese politics at the National University of Singapore.

I believe China is on a do or die situation-Communist Party on one hand and reform on the other hand. It’s up to them whether to maintain the status quo or bring meaningful reform where there is an independent judicial system in which people have every right to evaluate and elect their government officials. This will bring transparency from top to bottom and a healthy sign of democracy.

The highly speculated leadership change in China later this year has brought back a memory of very different leadership change in exile Tibetan community a year back, where an ordinary citizen like me had an active role in choosing our Kalon Tripa (now Sikyong) or political leader of Tibet.

On 20th March 2011, I got up early and rushed to the Polling Booth with pride and excitement like everyone else, proud in electing our own leader and excited about the possible election outcome. Through this democratic election in Exile Tibetan Community, a young charismatic and Harvard educated Dr. Lobsang Sangay won the Kalon Tripa election 2011 with 55% of the nearly 50,000 total vote cast. This is a very small number in comparison to the 1.3 billion plus Chinese, but here we are talking about democratic elections and not factional bargaining. I really wonder how many democratic votes Xi Jinping would require to govern the nation and how far those electoral rights extend beyond few privileged Communist top brass?

There are many more questions but Chinese citizens are not entitled to question the government. They can only speculate like the world has done in recent months about factional infighting before the 18th National Congress to choose the next batch of Chinese leaders. The rubber stamp National Congress will unanimously endorse every proposal put forth by the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee without any deliberation. This highly opaque and undemocratic process in Chinese political transition makes us realize the fact that the built up to our Kalon Tripa election has been very democratic, transparent and exciting.

The excitements were bursting out in the streets with Kalon Tripa candidates putting up their campaign posters in every visible corner. As the time for preliminary elections approached, the number of candidates narrowed down to six prominent figures and I was pretty sure of my choice of candidate after reading, listening and watching many debates and campaigns. I wanted our new Kalon Tripa to be someone who could lead Tibetan people as well as take firm and occasionally unpopular but visionary decisions. But in China a different kind of election is fought within Communist Party where different factions secretly play deadly ploys against each other. This means Mr. Xi has to survive the infighting to win the Party’s support and not the general public.

Whereas, Dr. Lobsang Sangay’s triumph as the Kalon Tripa was through intensive campaign to win every vote, travel every settlement, answer numerous queries to convince the general public that he can deliver the task assigned to a Kalon Tripa. The 37.42 percent vote won by Kasur Tethong Tenzin Namgyal is a strong indication of political maturity and diverse views found in every free society.

But in China there is neither election nor candidates to represent the masses. The Chinese government would present yet another musical play on 8th November 2012, where 18th National Congress would endorse and applaud everything put forth like a good comrade who never questions or dare to question. That is why the general public in China doesn’t give a damn who would the next president of PRC would be, because billion plus Chinese citizens are irrelevant in this once in a decade leadership change. Whereas, the Kalon Tripa of Tibet had the electoral verdict of the exile Tibetan community stretching 30 different countries, as well as the love, the songs and the moral votes from Tibet.

Unlike in China where everything happens within the forbidden palace and people could watch only on CCTV, I was among thousands of ordinary citizens and political leaders sharing the same podium during Kalon Tripa Oath ceremony to cheer for the occasion with joy, hope and pride. There were two sights during that function which I will tell and retell my children and grandchildren.

First, how His Holiness the Dalai Lama held our new Kalon Tripa’s head firmly in his chest for few minutes of silent prayers and blessings like 7^th Dalai Lama did when the Kashag(Cabinet) was first set up. The very sight brought tears in my eyes and I did little prayer of my own for the success of new Kalon Tripa in bringing freedom to all Tibetans.

The other sight was when the incumbent Kalon Tripa Prof. Samdhong Rimpoche handed over the 260 years old sovereign Seal Dekyima to Kalon Tripa elect Dr. Lobsang Sangay, which signifies historical legitimacy and continuity of the Kashag which existed since 1751.

Finally in a thank you message, the new Kalon Tripa said: “With profound humility I accept the Tibetan people’s support and the post of Kalon Tripa.” I really wonder who the new Chinese president would thank, the Chinese people or the Communist party?

Obviously there can be no similarity between the world’s largest authoritarian government and the world’s smallest democracy. That’s why we love our leaders while Chinese fear their government.

This analytical paper is written to coincide with the gathering of the second special general meeting of the Tibetan Diaspora towards the end of September 2012.

The Kashag of the Central Tibetan Administration and the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile has convened this important gathering to mobilise, energise and find new solutions to overcome the very urgent and desperate current situation in occupied Tibet, particularly the stream of selfless act of self-immolations carried out by Tibetans inside and outside of Tibet. The general consensus of the motivation and reasons behind the drastic acts of these Tibetans were for the return of His Holiness The Dalai Lama to Tibet and to achieve freedom for Tibetans from the rule of communist China.

This piece that I am about to communicate is an independent analysis of the present day China, China and the world, the world and China, the Tibetan issue and the opportunities as well as the realities that Tibetan movement faces. I am writing this piece not as an academician or as a specialist on either China or Tibet but as a lay person, who has watched, worked and continues to study the Sino-Tibetan relationship or no relationship with keen interest.

Therefore, it is fitting to quote a stanza from an ancient master Shanti Deva who said:

“Here I shall say nothing that has not been said before,

And in the art of prosody I have no skill.

I therefore have no thought that this might be of benefit to others;

I wrote it only to habituate my mind.”

I am sure that there is nothing in this piece that the reader has not read or heard already. But I hope this piece will serve as a small aide-memoires of the current position of China and the current international scenario that are necessary to be considered in making our deliberation to find solutions for Tibet and Tibetans inside Tibet.

It is particularly important this time because the deliberations of the delegates will not formally be commented, protected or blessed by His Holiness The Dalai Lama as the political head of Tibetan people. In other words, we do not have the safety cover of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, which we have always relied upon as a fall back and a guarantor. We are not so lucky now.

It is absolutely essential and vitally important that we consider the wider context under which China is now operating in the world and how other countries including superpowers are behaving, positioning and formulating not only their foreign policies, but also their economic and domestic policies towards China and its impact and consequences on Tibetan issues now and for years to come.

Within a period of thirty years, a periodic span of three generations of Chinese leadership (Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao), China has been transformed from a crippling communist regime to a super power next to the United States.

At the beginning of 2012, The Economist almost as a matter-of-fact reported that China will have a larger economy than America in purchasing power parity in less than five years from now (2016)

The economist also methodically chronicled and published the following statistics:

* China’s net foreign assets surpassed the United States in 2003 (China’s net foreign assets of $2 trillion today versus US net foreign debt of $2.5 trillion);

* Chinese exports surpassed the US in 2007;

* Chinese fixed capital investment took the lead in 2009;

* Chinese manufacturing output surpassed US in 2010;

* Chinese energy consumption also surpassed US in 2010;

* Chinese patent applications granted exceeded the United States applications for the first time in 2010.

* Based on reasonable projections of relative real growth rates China will have the larger GDP as measured by market exchange rates within the next seven years (2018)

China’s stated global aim and core interests:

Beijing’s stated core objectives, loosely and by no means exhaustive, consists of (a) the preservation of communist party and it’s rule in China, (b) unification of Taiwan with mainland China, (c) continuation of rule of Tibet, (d) unhindered access to world’s mineral resources and (e) non acceptance of what China calls imposition or importation of western values such as human rights and democracy in Chinese society.

The world and China

What has become evident is that, during these last three decades, China’s attitude towards the rest of the world has significantly changed since the early days of Deng Xiaoping’s modernisation program or vision of Chinese economy for alleviating the Chinese society from poverty in the aftermath of Mao’s cultural revolution and isolation of China from the rest of the world.

During the past decade, buoyed by China economic success, the country’s regime has manifested in a very assertive entity, threatening those countries with punitive economic repercussion who criticises its human right records, democracy, and issues relating to Tibet and Xinjiang.

This assertive Chinese policy on global development and dominance is imposed on other countries through a mixture of force and diplomacy. It has rattled and confronted the reality, the challenges that other governments especially western governments, parliamentarians, political thinkers and ordinary members of the society alike, may have envisaged on such a turn around. But none are not only unprepared for the consequences but at the speed of its arrival.

It seems the reality of Deng Xiaoping’s famous tactical policy for China of “biding time and hiding one’s talents or strength” has arrived suddenly within a very short period of three decades, with shock waves for the future of world order politically, economically, and the emergence of the concept of human rights, democracy and rule of law in Asia. My assumption here is that once China has actually obtained national wealth and superpower status, it will increasingly act unilaterally without adherence to international norms.

As a consequence is visible from the changing US policy and perhaps many regional countries too are likely to take active measures to hedge against a more unilateral China in the future so that they are not caught unprepared.

American President George W Bush senior rightly saw and politely stated that China is a competitor, but the US and western world accepted China as a “friendly partner” overshadowed by the stream of cheap imports from China that was to glut the insatiable wants of the western consumer society.

Transfer of western manufacturing know-how and technical expertise to China in the search for high profits for the corporations has made the economic benefits more lucrative to political expediency in the past three decades.

The Rise of China and its Impact on the Regional and Global Order

The real question throughout the world today is what does this rise and rise of China means for the regional and global order. What are its real impacts on both regional and global peace, prosperity, security and stability for the immediate decades ahead? How does this economically powerful China affect it treatment of Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians and other minorities in China?

The current rise of economic power of China has been compared to the possible down fall of Western economic power primarily due to the global financial crisis, which started around 2006 that resulted in a long and still continuing economic recession in Europe and USA. The present economic crisis in Europe is so acute that it is not only affecting the economic recovery of US, but it still has the full potential to unleash a second round of Global Financial Crisis.

For the Western world this unprecedented rise of China is a very uncomfortable force to be reckoned with. According to Kevin Rudd, the former Prime Minister and current Foreign Secretary of Australia, “this will be the first time ever a non western power will dominate the global economic power since the rise of Spanish Empire in 1492 and that this will be the first time ever a non-democratic country will be the world’s largest economy for nearly 300 years”.

When we look at the impact of the rise of China in terms of global peace and security, we must look at it in a much wider worldwide and historical context than the relatives of G2 (US and China) metrics of the 21st century. The global implications of China rising to the top of the global economic position are simply jaw dropping to consider.

It is, therefore, a subject worthy of the most serious reflection and analysis, not just in Beijing and Washington, but across Asia, across Europe and across the world.

Asia Pacific and USA Foreign Policy change:

The inexorable rise of China has forced US to look eastward withdrawing from their war engagements from Iraq and Afghanistan and Europe First policy engagement with North Atlantic Alliance, which has been the back bone of US foreign policy for the past 60 years.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pronounced the Obama administration’s new approach to Asia Pacific in her November 2011 “America’s Pacific Century” speech where she declared that “the future of politics will be decided in Asia, not Afghanistan or Iraq, and the United States will be right at the center of the action”. And she further went on to say that “as we move forward to set the stage for engagement in the Asia-Pacific over the next 60 years, we are focused on the steps we have to take at home to secure and sustain our leadership abroad”.

In a very fluid world of changing politics dominated by giants powers, we need to look back and recollect with deep interest how President Obama’s administration has written a new chapter in American foreign policy, saying that United States will move away from South West Asia to focus on the rising power of china.

Clearly, America is broadening its strategic reach and relations in the pacific region both with individual countries as well as with Asian institutions such as ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and EAS (East Asia Summit) to engage and to maintain a balance of power to counter the growing power and assertive influence of China. China’s growing global power, influence and its assertive territorial claims in South China Sea has made ASEAN countries nervous of the intentions of China. The Asia Pivot policy of Obama Administration has embraced the US by Vietnam and other member countries as a fallback security against their giant neighbour.

It is important to point out that for the first time ever in the ASEAN Regional Forum’s 45 year history, since its inception, there was no agreed communiqué in their 2012 Annual meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, because South-east Asian countries have failed to reach an agreement on how to deal with China’s assertive sovereignty claims on disputed territory in the South China Sea. The Philippines and Vietnamese wanted ASEAN Regional Forum to have a unified policy on South China Sea dispute and to resist Beijing’s insistence that the disputes should be handled on a bilateral level only. Perhaps, American Asia Pivot Foreign Policy may have given these smaller countries some confidence and may have increased their resistance level with China and it seems such countries are reciprocating favourably to the US declared role in Asia Pacific. Rival countries have made claims over territory in the South China Sea for centuries but the recent upsurge in tension has sparked concern that the area is becoming a flashpoint with global consequences.

US had clearly concluded that it not only has vital interests in this Asia Pacific Region in the century ahead, but also that this region will progressively represent the centre of gravity of global economic and strategic power.

US and most of its allies believes that this strategic positioning has kept and will keep the region in peace, thereby enabling open economies to develop, trade and commerce to flourish, and democracies to emerge.

This is where core American and Chinese strategic concepts clash against each other, because the Chinese view that US alliance structures in Asia and Pacific are relics of a cold war past that should be disbanded and that the retention of these alliances is designed to constrain China; and in doing so, continue to frustrate the reunification of Taiwan with the motherland.

Burma

It is not a coincidence that the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should make the first-ever and a landmark historical visit to Burma in December 2011, reversing a fifty year US Policy of engagement with Burma so soon after Obama Administrations Asia Pivot Policy announcement. US is well aware that such high level visit by the administration will not only give high hopes and expectations for the democratic movement in Burma, but that this will also provide the possibility for the Burmese authorities to rebalance its one sided and suffocating relationship with China, which has been resented by ordinary Burmese people.

Secretary of State Clinton’s meeting with Ms Aung Sun Suu Kyi, a Nobel Laureate, human rights icon and champaign of democracy in Burma, has paved the way for greater normalisation of relations between Burma with US and Europe.

Burma has become a client state of China for the past many decades. China has invested heavily in Burma both for its natural resources and for securing and carrying out the so called Maoist encirclement strategic position in surrounding India – which has given home to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan community and enabling and facilitating the exile Tibetans to preserve their language, customs and the unique cultural heritage of Tibet – from the east, Sri Lanka from the south, Pakistan from the west and occupied Tibet and Nepal from the north.

Japan

The continued mistrust between Japan and China are self evident in the past, but the clash between Chinese fighting boats with coastguard off Japan at the end of 2011 and allowing anti-Japanese protests and demonstration to take place in major cities in China by the Chinese Communist Party is a reminder of another flash point with global consequences.

Japan is one of the most important partners of USA in Asia, and China has consistently complained at USA and Japan’s military alliance. In reference to the annual USA and Japan military drill, which took place in Gotemba at the foothill of Mount Fuji on 21st August 2012, China Daily quotes a defence commentator as saying that the drill “is increasing tension in the region and has shown Washington’s true colours, despite its so-called neutral stance over the issue of disputed islands in the East China Sea”.

Again if we look back to the early days of Obama presidency, one could argue that the preparation for the Asia Pivot and American Pacific Century thinking was already underway soon after the end of 2008. It was evident because the Japanese Prime Minister was the first Oval Office visitor from abroad in early 2009 and Secretary Clinton’s first overseas trip was to Tokyo and not to London or Europe.

Australia

In line with US new policy of engagement in Asia, United State has secured a far reaching agreement with Australia to expand its military presence in the country and facility for joint exercises, training, and access to bases and eventual postings of up to 2500 American troops in northern Australia. Naturally, China is very unhappy with this US positioning.

Australia being a member of the club of G-20 and East Asia Summit Forum is also interested in shaping the future of Asia and Pacific region. Australia has huge commercial interests with mainland China with its mineral resources.

European Union and China

The European Union is the biggest and most important trading partner of China. The EU pursues a friendly strategic partnership with China and welcomes Chinese nods and winks when it hints that they may prop up the Euro. Chinese are openly lobbying Chinese government’s interests in Brussels and in the capitals of the European countries, yet at the same time Chinese leaders are telling off and pointing fingers at the European leaders for their lack of leadership for not “putting their houses in order”. Perhaps, it is really a sign of change in time of European fortune that we witness remarkable and extraordinary acts of dependency and vulnerability to see European States publicly seeking China’s financial support to intervene in Euro-bond markets.

Europe welcomes Chinese investments and China has taken advantage in investing and taking over well known brands and buying up ownership in strategic key industries requiring cash injection for the corporation’s survival.

In less prosperous European economies they have invested by either taking over the control or have taken stakes in key industries such as Ocean terminal at Piraeus port in Greece and wind-power farm in Romania. In other key industries they have taken stakes such as in the makers of polysilicon for solar panels in Norway, 40% stake in Norwegian Statoil, Addax Petroleum of Switzerland, a stake in the Fortis bank of Belgium, stake in the Barclays bank in UK etc.

China has two major demands from the EU. Firstly, China would like EU to lift the arms embargo imposed on it after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Secondly, it would like EU to grant them the status of a full market economy, which would shield it from anti-dumping measures.

EU member states remains divided and unable to agree on both issues because of the very sensitive political nature of the arms embargo and the inherent nature of the protection required for home grown industries to safeguard employment from cheap imports.

This has inevitably allowed China to manipulate the internal divisions of the member states and play one member state against others thorough the so called bilateral talks and discussions a format China has very successfully followed in South East Asia.

China and Africa, Latin America

Although China’s global influence, be it through force of assertiveness, through natural course or through bullying and blackmailing tactics, is felt almost throughout the entire world. In the above short and very superficial analysis, I have concentrated mainly on China and its relationships with the United States of America, Europe, Asia and Pacific.

Dominance of Chinese influence in the entire continent of Africa is without any dispute. China’s economic controls and political influence in the whole of Latin American world, former USSR republics are also undisputed. China is promoting their state interests in these countries through a combination of aid programs, particularly in Africa where China is now using aid programs to explore open markets for oil, minerals and other resources. In return for the access to natural resources, China lends cheap money, builds roads, railways, airports, bridges, hospitals, sport stadiums, schools and official buildings.

Although, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not mention Beijing by name but was directed at China when she said “be wary of donors who are more interested in extracting your resources than in building your capacity. Some funding might help fill short-term budget gaps, but we’ve seen time and again that these quick fixes won’t produce self-sustaining results.” at the global summit on development and aid held in South Korea.

For many of the developing nations China has become an essential partner particularly for those repressive and rogue regime states in African continent, Middle East and Latin American oil reach states.

An Overview on China

Whilst China’s economic power is growing and unstoppable, yet this is a country not at ease with itself and there is a huge number of areas which could derail their progress from becoming the world’s number one superpower.

The particular areas to look out for are both internal and external forces, but the explosion of an internal force is more likely and will have more devastating and chaotic outcome if that were to happen. The internal pressure for reform in China is like a boiling kettle and the Chinese government’s own admitted cost of maintaining the internal security in 2010 was US Dollars 93 billion. Experts believe that this amount is $1 billion more than the government’s publicly admitted national defense budget, and surely, such spending on internal security is a devastating blow for the image of a stable China, which it would like to portray and an undoubted evidence of a State at odds with its own people.

A leading UK think-tank on international affairs, Chatham House, states that there were 9 million petitions to the central government in 2009 and estimates that there are as many as 180,000 mass incidents each year. Most of the disputes have arisen because of infringement and summary acquisition of land rights, unsettled pension payments, conflict of political and lack of participation in decision making process in civil society frustrated by the non transparent and control imposed by one party system.

The second major area of internal conflict pressure point is the existence of massive inequalities in income between cities and countryside; development and income gap between coastal and inland regions; between eastern and western regions, as most of the development and wealth is concentrated in coastal regions. The scale of inequality is illustrated by World Bank’s statistics which states that China has 150 million people living in abject poverty, 24 million people malnourished, but China has 35 Dollar billionaires and over 100 Dollar millionaires.

The third pressure point is the massive problem of corruption and nepotism in Chinese society which is enhancing the marginalisation of ethic minorities, non communist party members, religious affiliated groups and other vulnerable members of the society.

The fourth pressure point is both an internal as well as an international issue which relate to Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia on one hand and Taiwan on the other. China’s continued inability to address and resolve the real and unprecedented grievances of the people of Tibet and Xinjiang has continued to dogged the Chinese government by a series of public disorders, unrest, protests and international condemnation of the Chinese government for its hard line policies and handling of these issues, which continues to taint it’s authority and legitimacy of rule in these ethnic regions, especially in occupied Tibet.

Sino-Tibetan Relations: The Way Forward

The objectives of Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People proposed by the Tibetan side, which provides the basis for a realistic and sustainable political solution to the issue of Tibet, is sill achievable through a strategy of campaign and continued engagement and negotiation with China even in the face of the latter’s intransigence. All we need is a political will from Beijing to resolve the question of Tibet. The last round of talks between the two side was held in January 2010.

A progressively wealthy and powerful China should have the confidence to settle the Tibetan issue during the life time of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, who is revered and enjoys the full confidence of all Tibetans both living inside and outside of Tibet. China should not fear the sincere overtures of His Holiness in helping China to settle the question of Tibet for the mutual benefit of Tibetan and Chinese peoples.

His Holiness has often talked about and recognised the need and benefits of a wealthy, powerful and industrious China to help bring economic development to Tibet. It is important for the Chinese leaders to realise and appreciate His Holiness’s genuine views and hopes for the benefit of both Chinese and Tibetan communities.

China must also be wise and confident enough to accept that it is in the best interest of China to settle the Tibetan issue as quickly as possible. The unsettled Tibet problem is one of the worst burdens that China has and this is holding back China in the eyes of international community. An amicable political settlement of the issue of Tibet with the return of His Holiness to Tibet will undoubtedly earn China international recognition for its political maturity and moral authority necessary to be a world super power.

Since the election of Kalon Tripa Dr. Lobsang Sangay, the unannounced official Chinese position had been that of a non engagement policy with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration.

Of course, this is much regretted from Tibetan side and I hope the new Chinese leadership, which will be selected in mid October, will reverse the existing hard line policy of non engagement with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Central Tibetan Administration. The new Chinese leadership has the opportunity to seize the moment to restore freedom in Tibet by putting an immediate end to the draconian control imposed in Tibetan areas. This will give breathing space for normal existence to begin, whereby the trauma of hopelessness will cease and may help to end the cycle of tragic self-immolations in Tibet.

As I am giving my finishing and final thoughts to this piece, the number of Tibetans who have set themselves on fire reached 51, of which 41 died. But unfortunately, there is no sign of abatement in this drastic form of non-violent protest against the continued Chinese rule in occupied Tibet and the denial of the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to his homeland.

The political movement of self-immolation, which started from inside Tibet, is a testament of desperation and unhappiness endured by Tibetans in Tibet.

We really need to collectively engage in the forthcoming Second Special General Meeting to come up with strategies and programmes, which will enable us to achieve an amicable resolution of the political future of Tibet based on the forward-looking and foresighted principles, philosophies and guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Sonam T Frasi is a former Member of Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile

September 2012.

Ancient China erected the Great Wall to keep out the barbarians. Modern China has erected the Great Firewall to prevent barbarian thoughts from infecting the health of the citizens of the People’s Republic. Like the ancient wall, the Great Firewall has been breached. Tibetan exiles have initiated a conversation with the netizens of China that has the potential to moderate Beijing’s policy towards Tibetans and other minorities.

One burning topic of discussion between Tibetan exiles and the Chinese on the Mainland is the spate of fiery deaths that engulf Tibet today. So far, 51 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009. All of them called for freedom in Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to his homeland. When informed of these self-immolations, the reaction from the Chinese netizens is one of is shock and disbelief. Even when images of self-immolations were sent to them, the sentiment of the majority Chinese netizens is, this can’t be happening in China.

Ai Weiwei: Nobody is talking about the burnings in Tibet/Photo credit: Dezeen Magazine

Buried in the widespread sentiment of disbelief are also expressions of support and understanding, says Tsering Wangmo, who heads Drelwa, a Tibetan NGO based in Dharamsala, the seat of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in north India. Drelwa consist of six young Chinese-speaking Tibetans who daily surmount the Great Firewall of China to carry on a conversation with netizens in China. One netizen writes, “You Tibetans are not alone. We are also frustrated by rising food and rent prices. Though we haven’t heard about the self-immolations, we understand the reasons for the frustration arising out of a loss of hope.”

Another blames the Chinese Communist Party for the increasing cases of Tibetans resorting to self-immolation. He says, “The CCP hides the truth and spreads distorted information. The CCP suppresses not only Tibetans, Mongols, Uighurs but the Chinese people. The Chinese people don’t know the truth because all channels of free information are blocked. To solve all these problems, China must tread on the path of democracy.”

These are some of the sentiments of support and sympathy whispered beyond the radar of China’s censor and below the din of China’s Internet chatter.

Others openly express what they feel about the self-immolations going on in Tibet. For example, in an interview for the Foreign Policy magazine in its September-October 2012 issue, Ai Weiwei, the world famous Chinese artist, made these comments. “The one exception is Tibet, because of its natural resources, but the Tibetan people are burning themselves to death. Already over 40 of them in the past two years, and nobody’s talking about it.”

When asked whether he had been to been to Lhasa before, Ai Weiwei said, “No. I would feel ashamed to go. I think to respect [the Tibetans] is not to touch them, to leave them alone.”

Ran Yunfei, one of China’s most outspoken public intellectuals, in an interview to Ian Johnson for the New York Review of Books, said, “The communists really destroyed religion. They don’t understand it at all. Look at Tibet. I told the guobao (state security agents) that, “you guys have gone too far. You don’t allow them to hang pictures of the Dalai Lama. You don’t have faith so you don’t understand. So the Tibetans get very angry and depressed. And then you go into temples and instead hang pictures of Mao and Jiang (Zemin) or Hu (Jintao). You’ve gone overboard! This isn’t right. Think about it. No wonder they set themselves on fire.”

Ran Yunfei: The communists really destroyed religion… No wonder they set themselves on fire/Photo credit: New York Review of Books

In the wake of the widespread and sustained protests that erupted in Tibet in 2009, Chinese intellectuals’ expression of sympathy for Tibetan grievances was loud and clear. A letter, signed by the leading lights of China, including by the imprisoned Nobel Laureate, Liu Xiaobo and more than 340 others, urged the Chinese authorities to hold direct dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to resolve the issue. Similarly, in May 2009, Gongmeng, a law firm in Beijing that advocates the rule of law, published a detailed report investigating the causes of Tibetan discontent. It cited China’s policy failure as a major cause. The reported recommended that Beijing in future base its Tibet policy on the aspirations of the Tibetan people.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama joined in this conversation in 2010, answering questions on his successor, his approach to resolve the issue of Tibet with Beijing, the nature of autonomy for Tibet, whether Tibetans would stick to non-violence after his demise and relations between Tibetans and Chinese. 1,543 Chinese submitted 326 questions. 12,771 netizens voted for the final ten questions, which were then answered by the Tibetan leader.

Yu Jie, now in exile in the United States, the author of Wen Jiabao: China’s Best Actor and a biography of Liu Xiaobo, commenting on the event said,  “The scale of the dialogue is not that big, just several thousand [participants]. However, I believe its influence and impact are getting bigger and bigger. One day it will defeat all distorted propaganda on the Dalai Lama and truth in Tibet.”

Given China’s current fluid political situation in which the premier of the nation is calling for the absolute necessity for political reform, these voices of moderation and tolerance may shape China’s attitude towards Tibet. Li Yuanchao, head of the Organization Department that supervises appointments of officials and a strong candidate for the Standing Committee of the Politburo, recommends that the authorities “comply with the will of the people.” If these sentiments of Chinese leaders are translated into policy, there is real hope for China and its minorities.

For another group of Chinese there is a different Tibetan attraction. This is Tibetan Buddhism. Young and well-to-do Chinese are turning to Tibetan Buddhism, inviting Tibetan lamas to their homes, joining monasteries in Tibet and even coming to India to attend the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This year in January when the Dalai Lama gave a set of Buddhist teachings in Bodh Gaya in northern India where the Buddha attained enlightenment, more than 1,000 Chinese from the Mainland attended the event.

These two strands of conversation which the Tibetans carry on with the Chinese in the Mainland constitute a drop in an ocean. However, if it is allowed to grow to its full potential within an evolving and increasingly pluralistic China, this conversation will help positively shape how China treats its minorities.

*Thubten Samphel is the director of the Tibet Policy Institute. Views expressed here do not reflect those of the Central Tibetan Administration.

Liu Xiaoming

By Thubten Samdup, Representative, Office of Tibet, London

The Chinese ambassador to Britain, Mr. Liu Xiaoming’s colourful tourist travelogue on Tibet painstakingly details many vistas where Tibetan cultural and religious life historically intersects with that of the Han Chinese. Making analogy with the UK’s political structure, the assertion here is that myriad sites, depicting centuries-old intercultural links and shared Buddhist references, speak of a Tibet that has always been integral to the greater China. Of course, it too easily discounts the centrality of the Dalai Lama to the Tibetan Buddhism to which he so liberally refers. In addition to summarily discounting Tibetan claims to sovereignty, Mr Xioaming’s eye-witness account of an intercultural landscape (Han & Tibetan) offers no evidence of a Tibetan struggle. If anything, we are informed that should we visit this landscape we would encounter a people faring better than ever; living as full-fledged integrated Chinese citizens.

Mr Xiaoming’s bucolic account comes on the heels of a 16 month-long upsurge of intense protest inside Tibet. In addition to ongoing street demonstrations, the region has witnessed a massive wave of tragic self-immolations. These are reportedly in protest against the Chinese government’s repression of religious freedoms, cultural and human rights. Amnesty International has called on the Chinese government to end these repressive practices immediately and respect the right of Tibetans to practice their culture and religion.

Offering a travelogue to a region closed to foreign reporters and tourists is a perplexing choice. The irony is not lost on the reader which it evidently underestimates. As for Mr. Xioaming’s idyllic report and bold statement that Tibetans inside Tibet are much happier and fare better; that they would voluntarily choose to live under the current Chinese system, what then should we make of the extreme tension in the region?

If closed to tourists, at the very least shouldn’t Tibet be open to international non-governmental organisations like Amnesty International and Doctors without Borders, etc.? Why aren’t these humanitarian agencies allowed to travel freely, and witness the situation first-hand? Tibet is closed to the outside world. There have been on-going protests and popular resistance through over the last fifty years. What can we conclude from this but that the attempt to ‘integrate’ Tibet into China has been catastrophic. Mr. Xioaming’s sightseeing account is little more than an excuse to spread the same tired propaganda that has been coming out of China since 1959: It peddles Beijing’s standard discourse, same the half-truths and disinformation the PRC has always served up with regards to our Tibetan homeland, in which it routinely alleges to have brought ‘harmony’ to a once feudal people.

The fact is, over the last year, an extremely tense situation in Tibet has grown particularly tragic: Young Tibetans, inside Tibet, have begun setting themselves on fire to protest an intolerable rise in public surveillance and escalating violence by Chinese forces. These incidences were sparked by violent incursions on several major Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, further impinging on the practice of religious and cultural rights. With the UN and many Western governments failing to effectively respond or validate the cries of Tibetans for human rights, the situation inside Tibet grows increasingly dire. The majority of protestors are young Tibetans, born under Chinese rule. They have never known an independent Tibet and have been taught that Tibet has always been a part of China. Yet, it is this very group who is leading street protests, risking imprisonment and torture. Over the last year, more than 40 Tibetans have self-immolated in a desperate plea to draw attention to our country’s plight; most of them young and having never known anything but occupation. The non-violent resistance carried out by young protestors are not the actions of secessionist miscreants: they are the actions of a people driven by a deep longing to return to wholeness. Like all people living in democratic nations who highly value their sovereignty and liberties, Tibetans also yearn to be free in their own homeland. The Tibetan struggle, under the leadership of His Holiness, has been and remains a non-violent one.

With regards to these current protests, our new Prime Minister Dr Sangay has said: “Stability cannot be restored in Tibet through violence and killings of Tibetans. The only way to resolve the issue and bring about lasting peace is by respecting the rights of the Tibetan people and through dialogue.” He has called on the international community to raise the issue of the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people at this critical time, and requested that the United Nations send a fact-finding delegation to Tibet.

Note: Liu Xiaoming’s ‘Tibet is a better place than it used to be’ was published in The Telegraph on 26 July 2012. Mr. Thubten Samdup, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Office of Tibet, London wrote the above mentioned response to Ambassador Liu’s piece, delivered to The telegraph. But surprisingly, it was not published by The Telegraph.

He Qinglian: the chronicler of China's Great Leap Backward

For much of the past three decades China was viewed by the world as the engine that drove global prosperity. Communist China was credited with lifting the greatest number of people out of poverty in the shortest possible time in all of human history. The world was mesmerised by China’s stunning economic performance. Meanwhile, in 2006 China laid a railway line to Lhasa, the highest in the world. The Olympic Games held in Beijing in 2008 brought all these economic and technological achievements to a dazzling climax. China’s place in the world was firmly established and was well deserved.

However, the recent downfall of Bo Xilai, the party chief of Chongqing, the sprawling metropolis in China’s most populous province, Sichuan, from the pinnacle of power and the brave dash of the blind human rights activist, Chen Guancheng, to the American embassy in Beijing exposed the dark side of China’s economic growth. China’s economic growth comes at huge human cost and is based on pervasive corruption.

Even in the days when China dazzled the world, there were China scholars who wrote about the connection between the country’s economic growth and the corruption it spawned. The connection between the two became even stronger when in 1992 during his famous southern tour Deng Xiaoping, to prevent the Chinese Communist Party’s possible fall from grace and power, urged the Chinese people to go into the business “even more boldly” and “even faster.” That’s a fine sentiment and no one can disagree. But what was left unsaid was how the Chinese people could become rich and within what rules? To spell out these details would be to dismantle the one-party state. In order to save the Chinese Communist Party, China’s paramount leader threw the Chinese people to the vultures of a predatory state.

Today the Chinese people are suffering from the decision Deng made of sacrificing China for the sake of the Party. Since then, the Party treated the Chinese state as an economic pie to be divided among its different interest groups. Two broad interest groups emerged. The Party and business elites, working in collusion, started plundering the wealth of the state.

Here’s how the Party does it, as told by Bao Tong, an aide to the late Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang, to Ian Johnson in an interview published this month in the New York Review of Books. “If I were in the current system,” said Bao Tong, “I’d be corrupt too… If you’re in that system, they’ll say, oh, your son should be a CEO. If you say, no, he shouldn’t, then they say, how can he not? If your son can’t be one then ours can’t be one either. Then they’d push you out of the boat.”

One of the most detailed examination of  the link between corruption and economic growth in the People’s Republic of China was done by He Qinglian in her book, China’s Pitfall published as far back as 1998. It is a credit to the Chinese leaders that this book was allowed to be published in China at all. Within two weeks of publication, the Chinese public snatched all 100,000 copies. Later, 330,000 pirated copies came out.

In her book, He Qinglian says that China’s economic dynamism is based on “a process in which power-holders and their hangers-on plundered public wealth. The primary target of their plunder was state property that had been accumulated from forty years of the people’s sweat, and their primary means of plunder was political power.”

In a lengthy review of He Qinglian’s book for the New York Review of Books, Chinese writer Liu Binyan, and Perry Link wrote, “The fiftieth year of the People’s Republic, for example, will lead to comparison between the Communists and the Nationalists whom they displaced. The corruption of the Nationalists was ugly in the late 1940s, but many say it is far worse now. Problems of inequality, vice, and crime, which the revolution swept away in the 1950s, have returned. A popular saying goes:

For forty-some years, ever more perspiration,

And we just circle back to before Liberation;

And speaking again of that big revolution,

Who, after all, was it for?”

This saying encapsulates China’s entire history and the cyclic nature of that history. Droughts, floods and corruption lead to massive peasant rebellions that in turn lead to the creation of a new dynasty, which ushers in unification, peace and prosperity. Then inertia sets in and the ruling elite degenerates into so many corrupt regimes of the past. The cycle of rebellion, renewal and disintegration starts afresh. Who is to say that the Chinese Communist Party can escape this cycle without reforms of renewal and restoration of faith?

But to answer the question, who, after all, was the revolution for? This question was answered by the two reviewers quoting another popular Chinese saying. This saying is called A Short History of Comradely Sentiment. It runs:

In the 50s we helped people.

In the 60s we criticized people.

In the 70s we deceived people.

In the 80s everybody hired everybody else.

In the 90s we “slaughter” whoever we see.

The two reviewers explain. “The word ‘slaughter’ (zai), which corresponds in both sense and tone to ‘rip off’ in American English, is now widely used. Few people in the outside world appreciate how pervasive the attitude and practice of zai have become in China. Probably in no other society today has economic good faith been compromised to the extent it has in China.”

The writer is the Executive Director of Tibet Policy Institute of Central Tibetan Administration.

(The views expressed here are that of the author and shall not be regarded as views and policies of Central Tibetan Administration.)

“The dream of returning to Tibet is a dream that unites us all”

 Ever since I was a child in a Tibetan school in south India, I was taught that our country is Tibet and that we should be proud of being a Tibetan. And I have grown up duly, dwelling in the awesome feeling of being a Tibetan.

But as I grew up, I felt the dream of returning to the promised land, from where my parents came, kept getting farther and farther because as I see it, the Tibetan movement, as vibrant and widespread as it may be around the world at the moment, thrives solely on the support of others/foreigners, which also is based on one main fulcrum: His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

I believe for a movement to succeed, the strength of the movement should be reflected in its ability to support itself and survive, not in its ability to survive with the support of others.

The global Tibetan movement led by the Central Tibetan Administration works to raise the various issues facing Tibet today particularly Tibetan Culture and Religion, Education, Human Rights and Environment, through a middle way approach which is based on truth, justice and non-violence. Other than these issues, one of the main goal of the Central Tibetan Administration is the resettlement of these Tibetan exiles and unite their collective resource to spearhead the movement for the restoration of Tibetan freedom.

Over the past 51 years, the Central Tibetan Administration has been highly successful in creating an ersatz Tibetan world in exile, catering to the welfare of more than 129,000 Tibetan exiles, a major chunk of which is scattered across 55 different Tibetan settlements in India, Nepal and Bhutan. It also has seven major departments and 11 Offices of Tibet across the world working strenuously with leaders, thinkers and Tibet support groups.

The financial resource on which the Central Tibetan Administration stands, is just a shallow pool of funds collected through donations, govt aids and the Tibetan voluntary fund.

The Tibetan Voluntary fund, is an annual “voluntary contribution” from the Tibetans in exile, introduced by the Central Tibetan Administration on August 1, 1972. The aims and objective of this fund is to create a firm and stable administration to look after the present and future well being of the Tibetan people. The annual contribution is recorded in a document, also called the “Green Book”.

As of 2011, the annual rate is 58 rupees for an adult Tibetan in India, Nepal and Bhutan whereas it is 98$ for an employed Tibetan and 46$ for an unemployed Tibetan residing abroad.

The Green book is also described as the passport of the exiled Tibetans to claim their rights from the Central Tibetan Administration. And rightfully so, for any Tibetan to avail their legitimate rights like scholarships or to get employment in Tibetan civil services or any other Tibetan organisation or schools, the green book is the basis on which your legitimacy as a Tibetan exile is examined.

Moreover, Tibet.net, the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration says that, in the future, the Green Book “will become a base to claim Tibetan citizenship”.

Hence, the Tibetan Voluntary Fund or “the Green Book” is not only an important official document to avail our rights, it is also the solution to create a robust, stable and self-sufficient administration for the continuance of its works towards the fulfillment of the Tibetan dream, in line with the present Kashag’s principle of Unity, Innovation and Self-determination.

But most of us Tibetans fail to pay our contributions diligently, thereby shooting ourselves on the foot unintentionally. Its not that we lack patriotism or nationalistic feelings. We all have this burning desire to do something and contribute to the Tibetan movement but we are so caught up in the cob webs of our own creation, unable to breakaway from the shackles of work, family, relationships, heartbreaks etc.

So its high time we use our collective will, tighten the belt of our resolve and pay our annual green book dues willingly without fail for the smooth flourish of our Tibetan movement and for the sustenance of the Tibetan dream. I think its the least we could do, if we don’t want to get stuck in a land where we don’t belong and in a place which we don’t call home for the rest of forever.

The Tibetan Voluntary Fund, small as it is in amount, is the fuel that keeps the spirit of the Tibetan struggle burning. I believe it is the spark at the top of the Tibetan incense which will eventually light up China’s dynamite, shaking the very foundations of the PRC in the not so distant future.

The writer works at the Department of Information and International Relations.

(The views expressed here are that of the author and shall not be regarded as views and policies of Central Tibetan Administration.)

The year 2012 marks the dynamic year for China with the ongoing political infighting among the top brass leadership. On the other hand, the Beijing handpicked Panchen Lama Gyaltsen Norbu, aged 22 has made his maiden political appearance outside the mainland China in third world Buddhist forum held in Hong Kong which was attended by more than 4000 Buddhist monks, nuns and scholars from 50 different countries. Despite his rare appearances, he made his political debut in 2010 at the annual session of the Chinese People Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) as a national committee member of the top political advisory body and he had also attended the 1st and 2nd world Buddhist forum in year 2006 and 2009 respectively. 

The six-year-old boy recognized and declared as the unmistaken reincarnation of the Tenth Panchen Lama by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on 14th May 1995 was disappeared along with his family after three days. The suspicion related to the disappearance of the young Panchen Lama for being connected to the Chinese government turned into reality when Beijing appointed Gyaltsen Norbu as reincarnation of the Tenth Panchen Lama in November 1995 and later in May 1996, Beijing confirmed the so-called “protective custody” of Gendun Choekyi Nyima.

Despite repeated international pressures and pro Tibet organizations constant plea to the Chinese government over the release of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, often called “the youngest political prisoner in the world,” the Chinese government keeps on telling the world that the Gendun Choekyi Nyima and his family do not want to be disturbed and occasionally warned those who interfere in one China policy: being the emerging world economic and military super power.

According to www.phayul.com (website related to Tibetan issues) recent report dated April 25, 2012 one official who declined to give his name from press section of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi told website over the phone that “Gendun Choekyi Nyima is in mainland China along with his family and he doesn’t want to be disturbed. When asked why he doesn’t want to be disturbed, the Chinese official instead of giving a straight answer blamed the Dalai Lama for fabricating the truth.”

Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) former spokesman Mr. Thubten Samphel believes that “Gyaltsen Norbu’s political appearance in Hong Kong forum was part of a bid for broader acceptance and China is trying to find a platform for him to be accepted by the larger community, which will not happen, I think.”

I agree with Mr.Thubten Samphel’s statement on reference to an incident where Chinese authorities postponed Gyaltsen Norbu’s visit in early July due to concerns about the negative reception by the local Tibetan community. Later in August 2011, when Chinese authorities proposed his visit at Labrang monastery in Amdo, Tibetan laypeople and monks were unhappy and showed dissatisfaction over the decree of Chinese government. Despite threats of pay cuts and extreme warning of extermination from jobs failed to deter local Tibetan official from complying with Chinese government decree to prepare a grand welcome of the boy.

Arja Rinpoche, former abbot of Kumbum Monastery in eastern Tibet fled to United States in order to escape from becoming Gyaltsen Norbu’s tutor. He told the New York Times, “Just forcing him on the faithful cannot win hearts and minds but keeping him in Beijing all the time is also not good for his reputation.”

Since the Tibetans do not recognize Gyaltsen Norbu, observers believe that his appearance in Hong Kong forum was part of Beijing’s intention to boost the spiritual leader’s international standing and recognition.

“The Chinese government wants to promote their appointed Panchen Lama as the most significant leader of Tibetan Buddhism,” said Barry Sautman, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology whose research has previously focused on Tibet and Tibetan issue. He further add, “It does signify first that the Chinese government indeed wants people generally, and Tibetans especially, to accept the Panchen Lama.

Beijing based ethnic issue scholar Jiang Zhaoyang agreed with Barry Sautman saying the Hong Kong trip was intended to win international recognition for the Panchen Lama and that he would visit more overseas places future.

All these scholarly interpretations indicate that Beijing was planning of bringing her appointed Panchen Lama in the highest spiritual position after Dalai Lama passes away and to tell the world his version of the story concerning religious freedom in Tibet and rest of China.

The importance of Panchen Lama’s potential role in future Tibet was very well understood by Beijing that eventually led to the abduction of Dalai Lama recognized boy at a very young age. At the same time they have tried numerous ways to cultivate support for their appointed Panchen Lama among Tibetans, which they have failed apparently.

I believe, Beijing’s intention in grooming and educating their Panchen Lama is to surpass Dalai Lama’s popularity and recognition in every part of the world except her few allies. If her idea of replacing Dalai Lama with their Panchen Lama failed, then their ultimate option is to minimize the Dalai Lama’s spiritual role by bringing the bespectacled boy in every major Buddhist related conference and forum overseas.

The writer works at Tibet Policy Institute.

(The views expressed here are that of the author and shall not be regarded as views and policies of Central Tibetan Administration.)