Tibetan exiles decide against taking a harder line with China
They agree to stick with the Dalai Lama's 'middle way,' but suggest they would be more confrontational if Beijing doesn't grant Tibet greater autonomy soon.
Reporting from Beijing — Exiled Tibetans have agreed to continue with the Dalai Lama's accommodating approach toward China despite years of frustration and failed talks, their self-declared government said today.
The "middle way" stance that Tibetans have followed for two decades acknowledges Chinese sovereignty over their homeland amid hopes Beijing will grant greater autonomy over religious and cultural affairs. In recent months, however, there have been growing calls to take a harder line, with many advocating outright independence.
The Chinese military marched into Tibet in 1951 shortly after Communists gained control of China. Since then, Beijing has maintained tight control over ethnic Tibetan areas, seen most recently in the ongoing crackdown that followed widespread riots in March.
The decision to maintain the status quo capped six days of talks in which more than 500 exiles from around the world met in the mountainous Indian town of Dharmsala to confront a central issue facing the group.
The Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader, is 73 and slowing down, as seen by a recent hospital stay for a gallstone operation. China, meanwhile, is getting stronger as its military, political and economic clout continues to expand at home and abroad.
"Aside from the decision to continue with the middle-way approach, in a lot of other ways we suggested how to be less conciliatory toward the Chinese government," Tenzin Dorjee, a delegate to the meeting, said by telephone today from Dharmsala.
"It's a wake-up moment, realizing that we can't afford to continue waiting for conciliatory dialogue," added Dorjee, the New York-based deputy director of the Students for a Free Tibet. "Although the results are anticlimactic, it's significant that we'll continue the middle way for a defined amount of time, maybe two or three years."
Though the Dalai Lama said all points of view would be considered when he called the meeting, analysts and delegates said the outcome was almost a foregone conclusion, with the meeting aimed more at reaffirming support than finding a new direction.
At the same time, even those closest to the leader acknowledge growing frustration, with some seeing this meeting as the beginning of a course correction.
Amid the endorsement of the Dalai Lama and the middle way, the meeting sent a strong message to the Chinese, said Kate Saunders, communications director for the International Campaign for Tibet. In particular, she said, many expressed anger at China's long-standing attempts to drive a wedge between Tibetans and their leader.
