Last week a friend highlighted an article that appeared originally in ‘The Hindu’ on August 25th beneath the headline ‘Dalai Lama in talks to return, Chinese official’ (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/dalai-lama-in-talks-to-return-says-chinese-official/article6348150.ece). It seems a group of Indian journalists were recently invited for a tour of Tibet and one at least received the impression that the Dalai Lama (in exile since 1959) may be heading home?
The good news was short lived as the Tibetan government-in-exile followed up with a flat denial that talks were underway (http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/lama-08312014221933.html); but that doesn’t mean there’s not some truth, somewhere, to this claim and counterclaim.
Without wanting to take sides (mostly because I don’t understand the issues well enough) wouldn’t it be great if this happened though? Real benefits for both sides are obvious.
Increasingly the Dalai Lama is persona non grata as far as major world leaders are concerned. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has ruled out further meetings. President Obama refused to see him in 2009 and Australia’s Prime Minister Ms. Julia Gillard put off a meeting back in 2011. Norway has made it clear he would be an unwelcome visitor and an application for a South African visa has just been denied. If he choses to remain outside Tibet how effective in representing Tibetan’s aspiration for greater self rule can he be?
Wouldn’t it also be a feather in the cap for the Chinese administration if they managed to broker this on their terms? Of course little would likely change in Tibet but an issue that causes much embarrassment internationally would be greatly de-fanged in the process. China’s behavior to date in Tibet looks petty and not consistent with a strong, confident progressive administration. If His Holiness returned that perception would, at a stroke, need to be reassessed.
The paper you’ll find if you click through the link below was written in August 2008 by Senior Council Mr. Paul Harris for the Centre for Comparative and Public Law, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong.
Is Tibet Entitled to Self Determination
It’s a great 14-page summary on the background to the Tibetan issue and why, from an international legal perspective, Tibetan’s have a legitimate right to expect significantly more self determination from Beijing than they’ve hitherto been trusted with.
I’m at a loss to make a direct market connection if this were to come to pass; but for China to be perceived as less of a bully than many today see it must surely be in everybody’s long term best interests.
Happy Sunday