Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA. Dec 7 -Growing internal problems and leadership vacuum that is building up in Beijing are the main factors which have compelled the Chinese authorities to adopt a path of confrontation with the Dalai Lama over the selection of the news reincarnation of panchen Lama.

Top Tibetan officials who have been monitoring situation in China losing their hold over the country because of increasing awareness among the people about democratic rights, striking economic disparities and rampant corruption. The winds of economic and political liberalization sweeping the globe and events like the collapse of the USSR have brought about a sea change in the attitude of the people who have started raising their voice on various issues.

The Democratic Progressive Party, the main opposition in Taiwan, has already declared that if it wins the ensuing general election it will declare independence.

Any such eventuality will have serious implications for the Communist regime. It could well start the process of destablisation and the country might go the USSR way.

The selective economic liberalization in certain pockets of the country has increased economic inequality. While the coastal belt of Shenchen, which was declared the special economic zone about a decade ago, has become prosperous in no time, the interior areas like the Muslim dominated Nin Xia and Gan Su all still reeling under extreme poverty. On one hand the vast majority of people living in underdeveloped areas, is getting disillusioned with the rulers due to widening of gap between haves and have nots, on the other the liberalised regions are finding the policies of Beijing obsolete and irrelevant and striving for independence in economic matters.

The Tibetan leaders observe that the selective economic liberalization has only deferred the fall of the Communist regime but the writing is clear on the wall.

Above all there is no leader in the line of succession who can step into the shoes of Mr Deng Xiapeng, who has been wielding power for the past two decades. The ailing leader, who endeared himself to the people by initiating the process of economic liberalization, is on his last legs. The President, Mr Jiang Zemin, and the Prime Minister, Mr Lipeng, have been prospering under his wide protective wings. The two leaders do not have much political clout of their own.

To focus the attention of the people away from these burning issues and consolidate their own "shaky" position these leaders have raked up a controversy by installing a rival Panchen Lama. By declaring the Dalai Lama and the young Panchen Lama selected by him as a threat to the unity of the country an attempt is being made to arouse the sentiments of the people who have been disappointed by the Communist rule.

Moreover, the Tibetan officials feel that by unleashing a reign of repression in Tibet the Chinese authorities are trying to send the message to Taiwan and other regions that dissent will not be tolerated at any cost.