Analysis of the Dalai Lama’s Collusion With Overseas Rioters

Yi Duo

　　After the violent criminal incident on March 14 last year, the Dalai Lama’s relations with a number of overseas rioters who call themselves democracy activists suddenly warmed. He visited a number of countries in rapid succession, and everywhere he went, he arranged to meet with such people, sometimes appearing with them in public and sometimes meeting behind closed doors. Recently, a report has circulated that the Dalai Lama and a number of these rioters have scheduled a Worldwide Conference of Tibetan and Han Chinese in some European country as well as the 2009 Worldwide Congress on the Chinese Democracy Movement in Dharamsala, India. This shows the Dalai Lama and these rioters are singing the same tune. Let’s take a closer look at what’s behind all this.

Ulterior Motives for the Collusion

　　The Dalai Lama has always exacerbated relations between Tibetan and Han Chinese and undermined their unity, and in the past he did so openly. In his 1987 Five-Point Plan for Peace in Tibet, he openly proposed expelling Han Chinese from Tibet. In a speech at Colgate University in New York in April of last year, he even more brazenly stated, “The Han ethnic group constitutes an absolute majority in this Communist country, and at present everything in my motherland is under their control.” In a speech in October of last year, Samdhong Rinpoche, head of the“Tibetan government-in-exile” stated that in the future, “non-Tibetan people living in the Ti betan Autonomous Region would not enjoy self-rule,” and that “all officials in minority ethnic regions should be members of ethnic minorities.” Does have even the slightest hint of friendship between Tibetan and Han Chinese? Some of what he says openly fans racial hatred.

　　However, last year the Dalai Lama “came to his senses.” The violent criminal incident instigated by the Dalai Lama clique on March 14, as well as the attacks on Chinese embassies and consulates abroad and the efforts to undermine the Beijing Olympics enraged the people throughout China. Overseas Chinese, Chinese living abroad and Chinese students abroad were equally outraged and quickly united to expose the crimes and lies of the Dalai Lama clique and protect the Olympic torch relay. They used their own actions to oppose the Tibetan independence activities and express their love for their motherland. Their righteous indignation and show of strength astonished the international community and put the Dalai Lama in a very difficult position. When he was in Australia in June of this year, he lamented, “Since March 10 when the incident began, I have been followed by protesters wherever I go. They are all Chinese, Han Chinese.”In August while visiting France, he also complained, “The actions of these young people are frustrating and impossible to understand.”

　　At that time, the Dalai Lama made deluding the international Chinese community into sympathizing with him and decreasing resistance to the cause of Tibetan independence his top priority. Shortly before the Beijing Olympics, he concocted the clever scheme to create a “Han-Tibetan Friendship Association” and declared that the Han and Tibetan ethnic groups must “form an organization for mutual communication.” In May of this year, the Dalai Lama stated in New York, “Recently I have been rushing all around the world for the sole purpose of establishing contact with the Chinese community and Chinese students in order to dispel the misunderstandings some Chinese people have.” At a news conference in Denmark, he astonished the audience by saying, “One of my objectives is to establish the great unity of the Han and Tibetan peoples.”

　　However, it is not as easy as he makes it seem for a person who has spend decades sowing ethnic dissension and who even to this day is a prominent supporter of the separatist position to suddenly become a representative of ethnic unity. The Dalai Lama clique has been promoting its “Han-Tibetan Friendship Association” for months now, and scarcely anyone has joined. At this time, a number of self-styled democracy activists appeared on the political stage. Most of them were people who plotted and organized the disturbances that rocked China in the 1980s. After they fled abroad, they vilified China with assertions that China was on the verge of collapse and that it was a threat to the world. They subsisted on handouts from enemies of China in the West and harbored the fantasy of returning to China someday and ruling the country. They have lived like this for 20 years, with their numbers gradually diminishing, and now there are only little more than a hundred of them left, but they have formed 40 or 50 organizations of various kinds, giving themselves such titles as president and chairman. None of them listens to anyone else, and they have become the laughingstock of the foreign Chinese community. A long-time activist who got fed up with the movement wrote, “Of all the bad people I’ve met in my life, 80% of them have been people in the ‘democracy movement.’ By comparison to them, bad people in society at large aren’t so bad.” Another old-timer went even further and said, “Ninety-five percent of the people in the ‘democracy movement’ are scoundrels.”

　　After these rioters, who had already reached the end of their rope, heard of the Dalai Lama’s “proposal” ,they were overjoyed and looked at it as a lifeline. At the time, an old-timer said, “I hope the Dalai Lama can understand the lack of knowledge and rashness of today’s young people.” Some other people shamelessly said they were apologizing to the Dalai Lama on behalf of the Han people. The Dalai Lama knew all too well that these people had no standing whatever in the Chinese community, but he also realized they had a Chinese countenance and firmly opposed China’s Communist government, which made them useful to him. So on a number of occasions when he gave speeches, he presented them as “representatives of the Chinese people” and formed an alliance with them. In this situation, the few “Han-Tibetan Friendship Associa tions” that had already appeared were supported by the “Tibetan government-in-exile”, whose members had all been dragged in by rioters. In fact, these “Han-Tibetan Friendship Associations” are nothing more than platforms for a handful of national traitors to collude and perform together as well as a political mouthpiece for the Dalai Lama clique. Naturally, these rioters wouldn’t miss such a golden opportunity, and they quickly joined and gave themselves titles such as chairman and general secretary. This not only satisfied their thirst for office, but also gave them the chance to petition Western leaders to reward them for specious accomplishments.

The Plot Behind “Democracy” and “Freedom”

　　In the 50 years since it fled abroad, the Dalai Lama clique made more progress toward achieving its aims later than earlier because it learned from the West how to use the phrases democracy, freedom and human rights to paper over and prettify its separatist intentions. The Dalai Lama said, “We need to create a united front. The Communists create a united front to maintain its dictatorial rule, and we create one in the name of truth and justice.” He also said, “It will be possible to finally set the whole of China on the path of democracy only if Han, Tibetan and Uygur people unite together and create a united front.”

　　The rioters understood the Dalai Lama perfectly, and chimed in and announced they would immediately create a grand alliance for Chinese democracy whose political goal was to overthrow the Chinese government. Recently, prominent foreign rioters of all kinds have heaped praise on the Dalai Lama. One said, “The Dalai Lama is the only person with the charisma and authority to unify the overseas Chinese democracy movement.” Another called the Dalai Lama “the spiritual leader of the Chinese democracy movement.” Another “official” document proposed that the Dalai Lama should be the “president of China” . To curry favor with the Dalai Lama, some saeasoned rioters declared that sooner or later Tibet would be an independent country.

　　The Dalai Lama let all this lavish praise go to his head. He seemingly forgot that not long before he had said that he was “willing to solve the problem in the framework of the Chinese Constitution”, and that he was “willing to improve relations with the Chinese government.” Recently in Dharamsala, he said, “I don’t have any hope for the Chinese government. I hope everyone is prepared to carry out a long and difficult struggle together.” In the United States, he called these rioters “true comrades” ,and cried out, “The Communist Party has already ruled China for 60 years. It’s about time for them to retire.”

　　They have a slogan, a “leader” and the political goal of “unification” . All they need now is a noisy ceremony. The Dalai Lama clique announced it would hold a Tibetan-Han conference to discuss the “important topics of the future of Tibet and the democratization of China.” Rioters, in conjunction with the “Dalai Lama’s personal secretariat” and the “foreign ministry of the Tibetan government-in-exile”, announced that after this conference it would hold “at a time convenient for the Honorable Dalai Lama” the “2009 Worldwide Congress on the Chinese Democracy Movement”, at which it would “formally designate the Honorable Dalai Lama as the spiritual leader of the Chinese democracy movement”, create a “unified leadership group” and “make full preparations to return home and assume power.”

　　The situation couldn’t be any clearer. In the final analysis, there is only one objective of “democracy” and “freedom”, which is to overthrow the leadership of the Communist Party of China, overturn the people’s democratic government, divide the People’s Republic of China, and have this small clique return and take up the reins of power.

The Certainty of Defeat

　　The mutual praise can’t cover over the shameless self-seeking of everyone involved. A seasoned rioter once said that the biggest enemies of the “democracy movement” are the people in it, who deceive and curse each other in competing with each other to get financial support from Western sponsors and protect their interests, with the result that they waste not only their own financial resources but also much of the financial assistance they receive. When a group has problems like this, they will infect any group they unite with, in this case the Dalai Lama clique. A short time after a number of rioters paid a visit to the Dalai Lama, an article appeared on Boxun.com entitled “The Dalai Lama Should Be Invited to Directly Invest in the Domestic Democratic Movement.” The article states, “The Dalai Lama is the biggest source of support for the Democracy Movement. If only the people in the movement act unselfishly, it shouldn’t be difficult to convince the Dalai Lama camp to contribute several million Australian dollars. If they succeed in genuinely allying with the Dalai Lama, they will finally have some resources.” Another stated their position more blatantly, “The Dalai Lama is nothing more than a monk who goes around begging alms. If he hadn’t won the Nobel Prize, he would probably spend the whole day praying in the temple. The ‘democracy movement’ should learn from the West; humor him when it’s necessary and don’t take him too seriously the rest of the time.”

　　The Dalai Lama has drifted along on the international scene for several decades, and he certainly has at least some knowledge of the rioters’ resources and doesn’t fully trust them. On March 10 of this year, the Dalai Lama formally met with a delegation of rioters. However, the Dalai Lama clique repeatedly stated that this meeting was held at the request of the rioters and the Dalai Lama did not agree to their request for him to become the spiritual leader of the overseas “democracy movement” .A foreign commentator correctly noted, “The Dalai Lama views the ‘democracy movement’ as a pile of stinking mud. He treats their representatives courteously but insincerely, not because they have the power to help him but in order to create the pretext that Han people also support ‘Tibetan independence’. On the one hand, the Dalai Lama is contemptuous of the‘democracy movement’, and on the other hand he uses it. This is both pitiful and deplorable.” A former self-styled democracy activist who sees the situation clearly said, “The ‘democracy movement’ is grossly mistaken in its efforts to split the country through an alliance with the Dalai Lama. Not only will it incite a strong backlash from Chinese both at home and abroad, but it will also create divisions within the movement itself, perhaps even to the extent of splitting it. Even though the Dalai Lama clique has some resources, they aren’t going to write the‘democracy movement’ a blank check. ”

　　It is perfectly clear that this kind of political and economic marriage is nothing more than a pleasant diversion that succeeds in nothing more than deceiving the parties to it and some onlookers. It will be interesting to see how this performance plays out.