The Secret Tibet (The Forbidden world)

(The Tibet Post International 13 November 2008)-It is with great respect and admiration that I offer you the following thoughts.  I am but an insignificant person who wishes to speak at this time, and if only one iota of this is useful, then it will be worth it.

For over half a century you have consistently stated your “sincere hope that the future of Tibet and China will move beyond mistrust to a relationship based on mutual respect, trust and recognition of common interests.”  However, the Chinese government remains intransigent on the issue of Tibet and continues to demonize you personally.   It is understandable but with great sadness that you have recently stated "I have been sincerely pursuing the middle way approach in dealing with China for a long time now but there hasn't been any positive response from the Chinese side…As far as I'm concerned I have given up."

In your wisdom you recognize that “it appears that my continuing to hold on to this position is creating obstacles to the Tibet problem, rather than helping to resolve it…I see no useful purpose being served by my continuing to take up this responsibility…All the people should take responsibility, should take a keen interest in the matter and should come up with the ways and means, as well as practical actions, for the realization of our cherished goal.”

While I profess no special knowledge of Buddhism, you have made it clear to me through your words that Buddhism is based on, and you thrive on, discussion and rigorous thought:  it “teaches us to seek enlightenment through reasoning and experience.”  So I would like to take a closer look at your goals and means to see if they are still appropriate, and if a new tact is available within your thoughts.

You and the Tibetan government are committed to a path of non-violence. “Even in my own struggle for the rights and greater freedom of the Tibetan people, these values continue to guide my commitment to pursuing a non-violent path.”  Staying on that path is critical as there is no other compassionate way. In order to follow that path, we must understand it.

Mahatma Gandhi famously led Indians in a non-violent protest of the British-imposed salt tax in 1930, drawing worldwide attention to the Indian independence movement through extensive newspaper and newsreel coverage.  Although Salt Satyagraha did not result in direct progress toward independence for India, world opinion increasingly began to recognize the legitimacy of the claims, and ultimately, in conjunction with other world circumstances, led to Indian independence in 1947.  This success later influenced the pre-eminent pacifists of our time:

The Anti-Apartheid Movement began in 1959 with the request “We are not asking you, the British people, for anything special. We are just asking you to withdraw your support from apartheid by not buying South African goods.”  By 1966 it shifted toward spearheading an international campaign against apartheid under the auspices of the United Nations.  "The strategy was to press for a range of measures to isolate the regime, support the liberation movement and inform world public opinion; to continue pressing for effective sanctions as the only means for a peaceful solution, and at the same time to obtain action on other measures which could be decided by a majority vote in the General Assembly; to isolate the major trading partners of South Africa by persuading other Western countries to co-operate in action to the greatest feasible extent; and to find ways to promote public opinion and public action against apartheid, especially in the countries which were the main collaborators with the South African regime. We built the broadest support for each measure, thereby welcoming co-operation rather than alienating governments and organizations which were not yet prepared to support sanctions."  In 1990, unable to withstand the economic and social isolation, the South African government buckled and apartheid was abolished.

Cesar Chavez organized his campaign of nonviolence to protest the treatment of farms workers in California in the 1960s and encouraged all Americans to boycott table grapes as a show of support. The strike lasted five years and attracted national attention.  A sales decline of only 15% wiped out the growers’ profits, resulting in dialogue to gain significant worker’s rights and wages.

Martin Luther King Jr. recognized that organized, nonviolent protest against southern segregation would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality and voting rights.  Beginning with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, his movement ultimately led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and ultimately paved the way that allowed the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

What is common to all of these examples is that the organizers brought significant economic pressure to bear in order to enact legitimate social change.  Again: ECONOMIC sanctions for SOCIAL change…

You have struggled for so long, based on your faith in humanity, but with no real leverage against a rising nation…until a certain set of circumstances has begun to unfold.  The eyes of the world were once again forced to look at Tibet as a result of demonstrations at the Olympic Games.   As you have noted, “China is emerging as a powerful country due to her great economic progress.”  While that is true it is also her Achilles’  heel.  We are coming into times of great change.   The world is in economic turmoil and looking for new hope and direction as America has elected its new leader.

The only way to get China to bend is by going directly at her strength – her economy.  It is the only reason she is powerful.  But she has suffered great loss of face recently – lead paint on toys, melamine in the food, the most polluting country on earth – and with it, trust in China has diminished.  The economic downturn is already forcing the closing of Chinese factories, and with it social unrest rises.  This creates a crisis in China, and crisis creates an opportunity for you:  ironically, the Chinese character for Crisis is composed of Danger and Crucial Point or Opportunity.  The country that has, unwittingly, allowed China to become so powerful by buying its cheap goods in great quantities, is the United States.  But her citizens do not want to buy toxic junk and in recession can no longer afford to buy goods in mass.  Hence, we have the makings for a perfect economic storm in which China is vulnerable.

As you have noted, “this is precisely the time that the United States must increase its support to those efforts that help bring greater peace, understanding and harmony between peoples and cultures. As a champion of democracy and freedom, you must continue to ensure the success of those endeavours aimed at safeguarding basic human rights in the world.”

Now is the time that much economic pressure could be brought to bear on China regarding human rights issues via a multi-pronged non-violent attack:

1 – Send Tibetan envoys, including former political prisoners, to speak directly to the American public about the tortures they were subjected to, and that the repression continues.  In the West, the Tibetan issue has become intellectualized as one of many political problems in the world.  But at its core it is fundamentally a human rights issue, and it is far more powerful to hear the stories of abuse firsthand from a former political prisoner, than it is to say “Free Tibet!”.

2 – Begin a “Boycott China for Tibet” initiative through the American university system in which students and all other Americans are encouraged to buy goods from countries other than China.  American consumerism is already on the downswing; it would be a small thing to ask, and history teaches us that even a small response could yield big results.

3 – Enlist the support of American corporations who are already moving their manufacturing facilities out of China, or would consider doing so in face of consumer opposition to their goods.

4 –Meet with President-elect Barack Obama to continue the dialogue begun with the Congress, and although his hands would be tied and unable to directly support a boycott, encourage him to promote a Made in America program to rebuild America’s manufacturing - this is in the United States’ economic and national security interests, and in line with your interests.

5 -  Make a personal graphic presentation of current human rights abuses before the General Assembly of the United Nations, and in demanding  a reaffirmation of its resolutions 1353 (XIV) of 21 October 1959, 1723 (XVI) of 20 December 1961, and 2079 (XX) of 21 October 1965, reaffirm that “In view of the ongoing critical situation inside Tibet, (and the recent stonewalling by China before the United Nations Committee Against Torture), we urge the United Nations, the International communities and organizations to call upon the leadership of Peoples' Republic of China to urgently follow "Convention against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment" and to implement the following:

1.    To immediately send an independent international fact-finding mission into Tibet.
2.    To allow unfettered access to free press in whole of Tibet.
3.    To immediately stop the brutal arrest, detention and killing in the whole of Tibet.
4.    To immediately release all the innocent arrested and imprisoned Tibetans.
5.    To immediately stop the unfair trail and unjustified conviction of peaceful demonstrators.”
6.    To immediate stop all cultural genocide with Tibet.
7.    To restore true autonomy to the people of Tibet according to the “Middle Way”.
8.    To demilitarize Tibet.

This type of direct economic and political offensive would be a different tact for you, but the old way seems to have no leverage.  As you have noted, “The Chinese government severely criticizes me when I raise questions about the welfare of the Tibetan people before the international community.  Until we reach a mutually beneficial solution, I have a historical and moral responsibility to continue to speak out freely on their behalf.”  There is little to lose in changing courses at this time, as your community approaches the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day.  Otherwise, the potential for increased frustration and violence rises tremendously.

You have stated that "the issue of Tibet is not the issue of the Dalai Lama alone. It is the issue of six million Tibetans. I have asked the Tibetan government-in-exile, as a true democracy in exile, to decide in consultation with the Tibetan people the future course of action."  Although you feel that “the final or actual decision must made by the Tibetan people”, the truth is that the Tibetan people, and indeed the entire world, look to you for guidance and will, for all practical purposes, follow your advice.  At this moment in history, you cannot escape from that.  In order to return to your desired life as a simple monk, will have to initiate a new path for others to pick up your mantle and follow.

With deep respect