Dalai Lama withdrawal would disrupt talks, scholar says

Barnett said the failure of the current talks — the eighth round since 2002 — is due to China’s aggressive stance toward Tibet, the country’s unwillingness to make concessions and the Dalai Lama’s continued efforts to draw attention to the situation.

In response to protests within Tibet earlier this year, China launched a “patriotic education” campaign, Barnett explained.

The campaign, which was initiated to denounce the Dalai Lama, has led to the “institutionalization of abuse,” he said, explaining that under this program “all monks and officials have to sign documents that literally record the primary insults and criticisms of the Dalai Lama.”

Barnett cited a recent article published by the Chinese press that said the “Dalai Lama deserved to be ill because he was a deceitful vagrant.”

Though China has allowed for more personal freedom, “religion is curtailed in ways that a Western analyst does not expect,” Barnett noted.

While people in the countryside and private sector are allowed to practice their religion so long as they follow certain regulations, he explained, “people who work for the government are not allowed to practice religion at all if they are Tibetan.”

Barnett said the Dalai Lama’s withdrawal from talks with China is a reaction to the frustration of his followers, who no longer tolerate his participation in fruitless discussions.

While China is willing to hold talks with Tibetan leaders, no agreements have been reached with regard to Tibet’s autonomy. He said this was like “insult[ing] the person at the same time you invite them.”

Barnett said that China is not the sole party to be blamed for the failure of the current talks, however. Actions by the Dalai Lama have exacerbated the situation, he explained, especially since 1987, when the Dalai Lama began to openly seek help from the international community.

“Meeting international leaders is deeply embarrassing for China,” he said. “They see this as duplicitous and describe the Dalai Lama as using foreigners to bolster his case.”

Barnett added that the Dalai Lama has also used strong language by referring to the Chinese government’s rule in Tibet as “cultural genocide.”

“The Chinese have been very clear that the Tibet issue is an issue about territorial integrity,” he said. “The state will be enormously damaged if part of its territory has to be separated.”

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Barnett explained that the international community has had to move from addressing the Tibetan issue as one of sovereignty to one of human rights.

“Western politicians are desperate not to upset China,” he explained. “Human rights is a way of saying to China that this is a marginal issue.”

He added that the issue of Tibet is “related to a long-term view [held by the Chinese government] of religion as something [it] cannot trust.”

In conclusion, Barnett said it was ultimately important to acknowledge the differences between Tibet and China.

“I want to remind us that, in order to resolve the conflict, we need to bear in mind all these distinctions between one culture and another,” he said.