FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Ask Tibetans what they want: ‘being conquered’ would not be the answer

Ask Tibetans what they want: ‘being  conquered’ would not be the answer

Re: “Tibet part of ‘dirty war’ the West is waging against China”, Have Your Say, yesterday.

Yingwai Suchaovanich resurrects the old saw that Tibet has always been part of China. In fact, history shows that Tibet has been considered part of China only off and on, and only when China possessed superior military and political power. Its current official title, imposed by China, is the Tibet Autonomous Region. This is a misnomer. Tibet is no more autonomous in relation to China than Crimea is in relation to Russia, or than my little finger is in relation to the rest of me.
Yingwai’s litany of complaints against the United States for “waging war” against China has merit, but American actions have always been directed against China’s communist system, not against its Chineseness. You’ll notice that the US used to be pretty chummy with the Chinese Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek. Capitalism and Communism hate each other. What’s new about that? You’ll also notice that American hostility has cooled somewhat since the Chinese system has evolved into something more like state capitalism. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are buddies! How can you beat that? (Birds of a feather, I can hear some malcontents muttering.) 
Yingwai claims that the Chinese government’s goal is “to relieve all Chinese, including Tibetans, of the burdens of poverty”. Two corrections here: the Tibetans are not Chinese; and whatever the Chinese government’s subordinate goals may be, its primary goal is to maintain (and wherever possible, to extend) its control. 
We also have the assertion that the old Tibetan feudal system “is not what Tibet needs for its modernisation”. That’s for sure.  The question is whether “modernisation” is what the Tibetan people want. I can see some aspects of modern society that the current generation of Tibetans would be wise to reject. They probably wouldn’t be keen on bringing back the old feudal system, either. Not long ago, the Dalai Lama established a democratically elected government-in-exile.  
The only solution would be to hold a UN-supervised referendum permitting ethnic Tibetans living in Tibet to choose between remaining part of China and becoming an independent nation ruled by the kind of government they want. This is idealistic to the point of fantasy, since the word “referendum” is not part of the Chinese Communist vocabulary. But, as Mahatma Gandhi sagely remarked about Western civilisation, it would be a good idea.
S Tsow

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