Forced hands.
Dalai Lama accused Chinese agents behind some of the violence in Tibet. That is questionable. But the point that there are people with divergent motives is a good one. This unrest has brought the Sino-Tibetan relation one step backward. I would argue that the riots do not benefit the Dalai Lama, which is why he denounced it. However slim the chance of reconciliation between him and the Chinese just got slimmer. Deep down in his heart he must want to return to the land of his people and his ancestry, especially in his old age. The alternative is to continue the status quo and to allow the "cultural genocide" until it is the defacto reality in another generation. He may also be the last chance for the Chinese. Once he has passed on, his reincarnate, the 15th Dalai Lama, will not be guaranteed to be in the Chinese control, and will likely to be much more militant than the 14th. Is that what they want? Of course, perhaps the Chinese would like the repeat of the Panchen Lama fiasco, and render the two highest ranked spiritual leaders of Tibetan Buddhism meaningless and powerless. In some ways, the riots have forced the hands of the Chinese and the Dalai Lama, not too surprisingly since the younger, more international Tibetan generation is far more militant than his holiness.
posted by hedgehog @ 4:54 AM
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