Inside China Today

Divisions appear in meeting of Tibetans in exile

500 Tibetan leaders in exile have come together for a meeting in India’s Dharamsala. The Tibetan Representative Meeting is to discuss the direction and strategy for the Tibetan movements. The weeklong meeting comes after numerous futile meetings between the Chinese Communist regime and envoys of the Dalai Lama. The meeting has seen diverging opinions from the different generations of the attendees. Young Tibetans in exile attending the meeting believe that Tibet should pronounce independence, while their older counterparts believe that they need to persist with the middle road policy proposed by the Dalai Lama for years.
Prior to this, the Tibetan spiritual leader has emphasised numerous times that he does not seek the independence of Tibet, only real self-governance by Tibet within the political framework of China in order to preserve the unqiue language, religion, and culture of Tibet. If this wish is not realised, he says he is unable to be sure of the direction of Tibet.

The Dalai lama has last month admitted the failure of his proposed “middle road” policy, and is losing confidence in talks with Beijing, saying that he hopes that Tibetans will choose their own future.

The Tibetan Government in Exile conducted a public opinion survey between October 13 to November 13, including individuals such as officials, monks, farmers, pastors, business men and students. In total 17,393 people were surveyed about their comments on the future of Tibet.

8246 people expressed that they will support whatever the Dalia Lama decides, and hope for his early return to Tibet.

Another 5209 people said that they will follow the guidance of the Dalai Lama in general, but still hope for Tibet’s independence. They do not support the “middle way” policy, believing that only a hardlined approach towards the Chinese Communist regime will work.

However, there were also 2950 people who expressed that they support the non-violent “middle road” policy, with 741 supporting democracy and high level independence of the unification of the 3 regions. 133 people want the Chinese Communist regime to hold face to face meetings with the Dalai Lama and permit him to return to China and Tibet, and to allowTibetans within and outside of the borders to meet.

The meeting will conclude on Saturday, and the results will be formally announced and reported to the Dalai Lama.

The above news is hosted by Chris Thomas for Inside China Today on the SOH Radio Network