A Chinese Poet and Exile Tibetans                                                                                    By Tenzin NyinjeyReaching
out to overseas Chinese democrats is one of the goals of our struggle.
Since they live in a free world, we expect them to understand the real
nature of the Tibetan conflict. Most of the overseas Chinese we keep in
touch are democracy activists, journalists and intellectuals.  But
there is one fellow we should communicate with, above all others. He is
the poet Bei Dao, who has been nominated several times for the Nobel
Prize in literature. He was also one of the founding members of the
genre called misty poems. Misty poets emerged and flourished in China
from 1979 to 1989, the year when the country saw huge student
demonstrations, calling for freedom of speech and democracy. Misty
poets, by and large, are deeply influenced by Western poets and
modernist imagist techniques. They basically challenge Maoist socialist
realism, which advocates that art should serve the Chinese revolution.
In other words, art cannot be independent and that if it goes against
“Chinese revolution” it should be banned and destroyed. But what does
Chinese revolution means? Does it means to serve the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) or does it means to serve the majority of the Chinese
people? This is the question Bei Dao seems to be asking through his
misty ways.Bei Dao’s poems are often political and
revolutionary. They express deep frustration, anger, skepticism and
rebellion against the lies, deceptions and tyrannical nature of the
CCP. In the process, the poems play a vital role in advocating freedom
of speech, democracy and the rule of law in China.Although his
dreams and aspirations were shattered when the CCP bulldozed and
massacred thousands of Chinese student protestors in 1989, Bei Dao is
hopeful in the future generation of China. He believes that they will
one day realize his dreams of a free and humane China.Will his
hope and trust in the younger generation of Chinese well-founded? Will
his dreams realize? Will his “exile world”, began decades ago, end?
Will he be able to return to his own country and teach there, as he is
doing all over the world?These are some of the questions that are as relevant to Bei Dao, as to us Tibetans living in exile.