Tibets relationship with Beijing is extremely complex. Tibet has been under Beijings command since the Peoples Liberation Army marched into the region in 1950 and Beijing claims it freed the Tibetan serfs from what was effectively a theocracy until the god-king Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959. The Chinese government says Tibetans enjoy religious freedom and accuses the Dalai Lama of being a dangerous separatist, who is using the immolations for political ends. For China, Tibet is, was and always will be Chinese, but the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala in northern India claims to represent the Tibetan people, and wants more autonomy for the regions. An independent Tibet is also a very difficult political entity to conceive of. The Tibetan area stretches far beyond that known as the Tibetan Autonomous Region to include chunks of provinces such as Sichuan and Gansu, and many other areas across the vast highlands in the west of China. These regions also have large populations of Han Chinese, the dominant ethnic group in China, as well as people from other ethnic groups. China would not tolerate giving up such a vast swathe of land. The Dalai Lama says that he does not want independence, but more autonomy for Tibetans within China.
Posted on: Sun, 04 May 2014 16:35:24 +0000