As the Chinese military pours into all areas of Tibet and the final representatives of the western media are forced out, and as protests and demonstrations continue around the world, more and more people have offered their analysis of the situation and their opinions about what is needed. Vaclav Havel, who received the Light of Truth award from the International Campaign for Tibet, has rightly pointed out that asking China to exercise restraint in Tibet is not enough; the international community must use its influence to halt human rights abuses. This has led him to question a boycott of the Olympic games. Timothy Garton Ash, who said some of Beijing’s recent pronouncements were “a throwback to the worst Stalinist demagogy” has suggested that the leaders of all free countries should agree that they will always meet the Dalai Lama whenever he visits their nation. The Chinese authorities consider these meetings important, he argues, or they would not go to such lengths to denounce them. Like Vaclav Havel, Ash puts the onus on the wider international community to do more. By contrast, Elliot Sperling–who should know better–has blamed the current situation on the Dalai Lama’s naivete of the Chinese realpolitik. Sperling is no doubt right that China is “convinced that the passing of the Dalai Lama will deflate the Tibet issue as an international concern”, but the Dalai Lama can not be faulted for his efforts to find a solution and his unwavering commitment to nonviolence.
Both the Dalai Lama and Samdhong Rinpoche must be commended for their refusal to oversimplify and polarize the Tibetan issue into a matter of being either pro-Tibet or pro-China. The lack of basic freedoms in Tibet is directly related to the lack of basic freedoms throughout China. If there is to be a boycott of the Olympics it must be on these grounds: the lack of religious freedom, lack of press freedom, repression of dissent, use of toture, etc. After all, as His Holiness has pointed out, the Olympics are being held in Beijing, not in Lhasa. To boycott the Olympics solely because of the Tibet issue would not serve the Tibetans and would only foster bitterness and resentment among ordinary Chinese people.
Somehow, the Chinese people as a whole must come to see the Tibet issue as one that highlights their own lack of freedom and recognize their solidarity with Tibetans. His Holiness the Dalai Lama believes this is why it is important that the Chinese public know the reality of what is happening in Tibet. “Friendship between Tibetan and Chinese peoples,” he says, “is essential.”
As former factory worker Yang Chunlin begins his 5 year prison sentence for gathering 10,000 signatures for his petition entitled “We want human rights, not the Olympics,” (This on the very day that the Olympic torch was lit!) it might be worthwhile pointing people to “The Real China and the Olympics“, an open letter from two leading human rights activists outlining what those 10,000 Chinese people were calling for. One of the authors of the letter, Hu Jia, is now facing trial on the charges of “incitement to subvert state power.”
