Cautious support growing in China for Tibetan autonomy, Dalai Lama says
Originally published by The Star, October 16, 2010
By Rick Westhead
Charla Jones/Special to the Star
DHARAMSALA, INDIA—The quest to secure genuine autonomy for Tibet depends on winning over hundreds of Chinese intellectuals and academics and even some high-level Chinese government officials and military officers, says the Dalai Lama.
The Tibetan spiritual leader, on the verge of a visit to Canada, has said that while Tibet should remain a part of China, genuine autonomy is the only way to preserve its culture, language and environment. Over the past two years, Tibetan leaders have met with hundreds of Chinese scholars who cautiously endorse the Dalai Lama’s pursuit, he said.
“I personally met, I think, at least three or four hundred intellectuals, professors of some important universities in China and student . . . and they very much support our way,” he said, adding Tibetan authorities have compiled a list of more than 1,000 articles written by Chinese scholars that are “very critical about the (Chinese) government policy.”
In an hour-long interview with the Star in his residence in the Himalayan mountain town Dharamsala, the 75-year-old Dalai Lama said intelligence officials in Tibet say they have received reports that Chinese agents are being trained to poison him.
While he said China views him as a “demon,” the Dalai Lama said there is “no possibility of cross-checking” the reports of conspiracy. Security in and around Dharamsala has been increased in recent weeks by Indian police, the Dalai Lama said.
R.K. Raghavan, a former director of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, said targeting the Dalai Lama would have several benefits for China. “They would be getting rid of someone very unfriendly to them, and they would embarrass India’s security forces, and be able to say they were incompetent and inefficient,” Raghavan said.
During an exclusive interview with the Star, the Dalai Lama spoke in English and wore his familiar garnet-coloured monk’s robes. He discussed a number of issues ranging from Tibetan autonomy, his reincarnation and daily spiritual practice, to his favourite global leaders and views on how Canadians can help Tibet’s cause.
The Dalai Lama said he’s aware that many young Tibetans want him to demand independence for Tibet, which was, they argue, an independent country before China invaded in 1950. But the Dalai Lama cautioned against antagonizing China. He urged patience.
“Even my elder brother one time told me, ‘Oh my dear younger brother, you sold out Tibet,’ ” the Dalai Lama said. “Some Tibetans now have this sort of a view that the entire Tibetan population wants independence but only one single person does not want independence and that is the Dalai Lama … . Of course the innocent people if you ask: do you want independence or remain within China the answer is obviously clear, we want independence, like Canadian Quebec people (who say), ‘Oh we want independence.’ . . . (For) ordinary people, without thinking holistic picture, then the answer is obvious. But those thinking people inside Tibet all support my middle approach.”
The Dalai Lama said change would come both to Tibet and other parts of China as people bristle over being governed by what he called a “police state.”
“Without freedom of speech and without proper rule of law, the present situation cannot remain forever,” he said. “It takes time. I personally feel (with) overnight change, a lot of chaos may happen. That’s in nobody’s interest.”
Many countries are worried about damaging their trade relationship with China and are loath to side with Tibet in the dispute. A retired Canadian diplomat posted in China, for instance, declined to comment on the Dalai Lama, out of concern he’d be stopped from travelling there. But the Dalai Lama said he’s counting as much on Canadians as he is the Canadian government.
“I don’t believe Canada’s influence in China is only through the Prime Minister,” the Dalai Lama said. Rather, he said Canadians should speak to Chinese students studying in Canada about Tibet, and suggested Canadian tourists and businesspeople in China should raise the issue with their contacts.
“I think the influence on the Chinese people is wider and more effective with ordinary people making personal contact,” he said. “That’s very important.”
China says its policies are designed to develop remote Tibet. It insists that Tibetans are free to practice Buddhism and argue the Dalai Lama is disingenuous about his objectives. Moreover, the Chinese establishment believes the Dalai Lama is really in pursuit of Tibet’s independence, said Alka Acharya, a scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Centre for East Asian Studies.
“If you just look at the Dalai Lama, who is welcomed all over the world as a head of people trampled by the Chinese, do you think they would love him?” asked Acharya. “He highlights the atrocities that the Tibetans have faced at the hands of the Chinese.”The Dalai Lama has never been one to shy away from controversy.
In 1993, he said during an interview that he sympathized with Iraqi despot Saddam Hussein.
“This blaming everything on him, it’s unfair,” the Dalai Lama told The New York Times. “He may be a bad man, but without his army, he cannot act as aggressively as he does. And his army, without weapons, cannot do anything. And these weapons were not produced in Iraq itself. Who supplied them? Western nations.”
Nearly two decades later, he was asked about Canada’s decision to send soldiers to Afghanistan and possible negotiations with the Taliban.
“You must engage,” he said. “That’s very important. I already had the feeling that instead of sending the army, or using force, I think, the western nations should send more money to these Arab countries for education, health and construction, I think it will create a situation completely different.”
Every day, the Dalai Lama said he focuses on his own death during meditation and he encourages people to act as if he is already gone. He’s fond of saying nowadays that he’s semi-retired.
In one recent interview, he said he may be reincarnated as a woman, an intriguing prospect from which he’s now retreating.
“The female body is really spiritually highly developed and knowledgeable and practices well,” he said. “But under the present circumstances, I think if I die within next few weeks, then most probably, Tibetan people want another young boy (as Dalai Lama). After 20 years or 30 years, who knows?”
Asked about his claim that agents might be conspiring to hurt him, the Dalai Lama laughed. It was hard to say whether it was a nervous laugh.
Does it hurt that he’s considered a target by some people?
“Mentally, no, physically, of course,” he said. “Sometimes you need some little caution. If something is stuck here (he makes a jabbing motion to his chest) it is suffering. When I studied, my tutor always kept a whip. At that time my elder brother and myself studied together so my tutor kept two whips, one yellow whip, one ordinary. The ordinary whip was for my brother. The yellow whip, (which) looks very holy, was for me. But I know if that holy whip used, I feel same pain. No holy pain. So similarly, if something happens . . . tough luck, so I have to be a little cautious.”