The Telegraph, Calcutta, June 6, 2012
Beijing seems to be more clueless than before about how to tackle the Tibetan dilemma. That is why it has stalled talks with the Dalai Lama’s representatives for nearly two years. And this freezing of the ‘dialogue process’ has come at a time when Tibet is once again on the boil. Self-immolations by Tibetan monks protesting against Beijing’s policies have become routine. Worse still, such incidents are no longer confined to Lhasa or its adjoining areas. Many of the recent self-immolations took place in Gansu and Sichuan provinces. Brutal crackdowns by the police that always followed such protests have only made things worse. It is thus not surprising that the Dalai Lama’s envoys for the talks with Beijing felt frustrated and even betrayed. But their resignation from the task force for the talks is a comment more on Beijing’s failure than on the Tibetan side’s helplessness. The Chinese leadership obviously thinks that a hardening of its position is the right answer to a restive Tibet. It relies on force, not dialogue, to try and put an end to the protests. The events of the past few months in Tibet show that this policy has failed. But Beijing is afraid to face its own failure.
However, the failure in Tibet has much wider ramifications for China at home and abroad. It will be particularly damaging for Hu Jintao, whose reign comes to an end later this year. The mess he leaves behind in Lhasa will prove to be a major challenge for his successor and for the regime as a whole. Ever since the anti-Chinese riots in Lhasa on the eve of the Beijing Olympics, China’s leaders have been nervous about their own failures in Tibet. The suspension of the talks on Tibet reflects a policy paralysis that seems to have gripped Beijing. On their part, the Tibetan leaders have offered hopes of a peaceful way out of the stalemate. They still retain their faith in the Dalai Lama’s “middle way”. They still want Tibet to be part of China, and favour “genuine autonomy” for it within the provisions of the Chinese constitution. But Beijing’s ways could end up in pushing more and more people towards a violent path. China’s leaders will have only themselves to blame for such an eventuality. The use of force is no substitute for the dialogue on Tibet. No matter what happens in Lhasa or elsewhere in Tibet, Beijing has only one option — to resume the talks. Not doing so could mean worse trouble in Tibet.