Editorial

The Guardian - London, 19 September 1996

Granting autonomy would be in China's best interest as well

THE DALAl LAMA made a remarkably charitable speech yesterday in Sydney - during a visit bitterly denounced by Beijing. The latest news from Tibet is grim. Huge workteams of Chinese communist cadres have been sent into the most famous monasteries near Lhasa to "re-educate" the monks and force them to disown their spiritual leader. Yet he told the National Press Club of his conviction that "a change for the better is coming." With his usual broad smile, he suggested that a post-Deng Xiaoping leadership would be more amenable to talks without preconditions. He also restated the position that he was not calling for Tibetan independence but only for self-government. Tibet, he suggested, should become a non-militarized zone of no threat to anyone.

China has always reacted negatively to the Dalai Lama's moderate posture (which upsets more radical Tibetans seeking outright independence). The issue has never been addressed squarely in informal contacts. Sometimes Beijing suggests he is only play-ing with words, at others that he is being manipulated by foreign interests. China was also furious when the Dalai Lama intervened last year in the search for the reincarnated Panchen Lama.

Internal opposition in Tibet has waned since the big pro-independence demonstrations of the late 1980s. Yet Beijing persists in seeing "splittists" at work everywhere. This is partly because of the superpatriotism now being promoted by Deng's successors. It also reflects concern over neighbouring Xinjiang where non-Chinese Muslim nationalities are posing a more active threat. In the end China's interests are best served by taking the Dalal Lama's offer at face value. Tibet enjoys the theoretical status of an autonomous region: 40 years after it was granted, making it real is the only sensible way.