DHARMSALA, INDIA — China may be more than a hundred miles away over a clear Himalayan horizon, but it is casting a huge shadow over this week's special meeting of exiled Tibetans, as is the mortality of the Dalai Lama and the future of the struggle to preserve their culture and religion.
The six-day meeting was called by the Dalai Lama here in the home of his government in exile to consider fundamental questions: Should Tibetans maintain his "middle way" approach, which acknowledges China's sovereignty over their land, in hopes of securing greater autonomy? Or should they adopt a more hard-line approach favored by many younger Tibetans advocating a struggle for independence?
At one level, the talks here among hundreds of Tibetans are meaningless. China can do what it wants, and it usually does. Their government in exile has no jurisdiction and no country to govern, and this week's meetings lack a formal agenda. Even if a conclusion is reached, the results are not binding.
"China holds all the cards," said Tsering Shakya, a historian and professor at the University of British Columbia.
Still, Shakya noted, "there's an urgency among Tibetans to get an agreement before the Dalai Lama is no longer among them."
Chinese troops marched into Tibet in 1951, and since then Beijing has spent billions of dollars trying to integrate the vast, sparsely populated territory, which accounts for over a quarter of China's landmass. Over the past half a century, the region has seen a series of uprisings followed by harsh crackdowns, capped by widespread rioting in March of this year. Beijing and representatives of the Dalai Lama have held periodic talks since 2001 without notable progress.
Some Tibetans hope that they can convince China to ease its iron grip by keeping to what they consider the moral high ground and encouraging international pressure on Beijing.
China, not surprisingly, sees the equation differently. Beijing is gambling that the eventual departure of the charismatic 73-year-old Dalai Lama, who was hospitalized last month and had gallstones removed, will reduce international pressure. That in turn could ease resistance internally among China's 6 million ethnic Tibetan citizens, the leadership in Beijing hopes.
In Dharmsala, delegates mingle and chat, greeting each other on the narrow mountain roads. Most are outspoken in their differing opinions. "The debate spills over in the evenings into the bars and cafes," said Kate Saunders of the International Campaign for Tibet, who flew in from London. "It's an amazing atmosphere."
