I am writer (history and guidebooks), living in self-imposed 😉 exile in India, recently I was asked by diplomatic magazine to write an article about Tibetan question.
It’s not a matter of my primary interest (subject of my books is India), however it happened that I have lived for almost 2 years in Dharamsala, India, home to Tibetan exiles. However I have almost no connection to Tibetans, despite very close proximity. Of course I interact with them in market, on streets, recently I witnessed few demonstrations, but nothing specially close. I was lately busy with submitting very big manuscript of my book so I almost had no time to participate in lively and sometimes bad-tempered debates about fate of Tibet.
What do you think I should write about, do you have any suggestions in this regard, if this topic was interesting for you?
If some questions will arise I will be happy to elaborate in posts, however I respectfully ask not to indulge in extreme opinions, bordering on pure propaganda from both sides of this old conflict.
p.s. I wrote 2 diaries on Eurotrib, however some Chinese (or undercover) bloggers were indulging in spreading false information and making personal attacks on me, Tibetan society and Dalai lama. That’s why I left that blog. I hope they will not come here 😉
as I expect serious discussion about possible ways out.
Is any hope for reconciliation for warring sides? In 5, 10 years?
l would posit that the background knowledge required to discuss tibetan issues are well below the threshold of most americans .
it would seem to me, that there’s little hope of u.s. pressure being placed on china to resolve the issue in any amenable fashion. u.s. chinese relations are so intertwined with the ongoing ME debacle, energy competition, trade issues, and basic monetary policy….ie: the china owns a huge portion of our debt, and could cause major economic disruptions here, and, subsequently, worldwide should it decide to divest themselves of them…that there is more than a little anxiety about doing anything more that cursory objections to their ongoing struggle.
because of those concerns, perhaps one way to approach such an endeavour would be to look at it in terms of the external factors, such as those above, as well as their conflicts with russia and india, that are preventing more direct opposition of china’s behaviour. this would seem to dovetail well with your history background.
l’m not at all well versed on this issue. but l do find the asia times, if you’re unfamiliar with it, to be a fairly reliable source of information that isn’t readily available here via the msm.
good luck.
via the google:
Tibet-China conflict: history and polemics
looks pretty intractable to me.
Thank you for your suggestions.
I agree with you that Tibetan question is so intertwined with other international questions so its practical impact on international relations (perhaps except Sino-Indian relations) is around zero.
However that does not mean we should not give attention to this issue, reconstructing it afresh and looking into future whatever it holds for us. Everything may change overnight and it’s difficult to predict what happens after 5, 10 years.
I intentionally did not post yesterday my first letter about planning article. I hope that those seriously interested in Tibetan affairs and how this question relates to us will find my diary and open honest, open-minded and well-tempered discussion. I sometimes find interesting diaries only after weeks when recommendation time is expired.
I would never agree to write this article for particular magazine if I had nothing new to say about this long conflict, possibly one of the longest in history of the world.
My article should be about deconstructing modern myths and misconceptions about Tibetan question, Tibet and its society, religion and Tibetan-Chinese relations. If my article shed a little new light on these I will be happy.
To analyze better Tibetan question it’s necessary to separate theoretical and practical matters. There is clear distinction between what one can practically do or plan to do, or think better to do or simply make few predictions and mainly theoretical questions.
Unfortunately for Tibet and Tibetan problem in general the scope for practical concerns whether for foreign governments or individuals is minimal. No government in the world officially recognizes Tibetan government in exile or plans to do so. They adopted wait and see approach. They mainly busy with registering popular protests against Chinese rule in Tibetan populated areas of Western China, damage caused to public and private property, security concerns for visiting tourists and unfortunate loss of life. Private persons and organizations of course express their feeling according to their ideas of what happened in Tibet in last 60 years.
There is one government in the world which is directly concerned with what’s going in Tibet and it is of course Indian government (GOI). However despite very complicated Sino-Indian relations, especially on the vexed border issue the current ruling dispensation includes people openly sympathetic to China, I mean Indian communists, and no significant change in the stance of GOI on Tibetan question may be expected. Also we should not expect many changes under likely right-wing BJP government after coming elections despite its persistent anti-Chinese rhetoric.
So we left only with theoretical questions about history of Tibet and human rights inside China including the state of religious freedom in Tibet. It’s not that these questions are purely theoretical; there are real issues of persecutions, human rights abuses in Tibet on which some foreign governments and public opinion have expressed their concerns. However majority of people outside Tibet can do pretty little, except participating in anti-Chinese demonstrations and verbally supporting boycott of Chinese goods.
On these issues mighty Chinese state is waging monumental propaganda war with Tibetan exiles and their supporters so far with mixed results. Some even wonder whether Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual leader, may be called as PR genius. He manages to advance his agenda (whatever it is, Chinese claim separatist, he talks about preserving Tibetan cultural and religious heritage) in the modern day of hi-tech communications.
To be continued..
I have sent article there, thanks to all who helped me with advice. Once I translate it into English I will post it here.