The following article contained an error in the print edition that has been corrected for the online version. The article originally stated that Holi was held by the Association for the Development of Interest in the Indian Subcontinent (ADITI), although the event was held by the Hindu Students’ Association (Updated: April 18, 2015)
A panel of three politicians representing the Tibetan government-in-exile and one Chinese-American scholar came to the University on Saturday, April 11 to discuss the current situation in Tibet and the “Middle Way” approach proposed by the Dalai Lama. The “Future of Tibet Dialogue” was the final event of a day of Tibetan cultural activities coinciding with UR Hindu Students’ Association’s celebration of Holi.
The cultural event in the morning, “Tashi Delek!: Tibetan Cultural Entertainment,” featured Tibetan performers from New York and New Jersey, the Rochester Nepali/Bhutanese community and Rochester Raas. All groups performed traditional dances meant to represent unity among South Asian communities.
Junior Se Hoon Kim, who organized the event, introduced the speakers, who then delivered prepared speeches about the situation in Tibet and the Middle Way. The Middle Way approach is the official position of the Central Tibetan Authority (CTA) for a resolution to the crisis in Tibet. The approach does not ask for the separation of the Tibet Autonomous Region nor Greater Tibet from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Middle Way asks for greater autonomy within Tibet and respect for Tibetan culture.
Office of Tibet representative Dechin Tenzin spoke first. The Office of Tibet represents the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration in Washington, DC. Tenzin proposed solutions between the Tibetan government-in-exile and the government of the PRC. He said that the Middle Way approach was “envisioned” by the Dalai Lama and first given a name in 1974, though the Dalai Lama had come up with it before. The CTA was in talks with the government of the PRC from 1974-1990, but those talks paused until 2002.
In 2002, the CTA’s negotiators issued the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People, which the Chinese rebuked, calling it, in Tenzin’s words, “a stepping stone to independence.” In 2005, the CTA’s negotiators issued the Note on the Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People, which served to remind the PRC government that everything proposed in the 2002 memorandum was within the constitution of the PRC. The negotiations ended in 2010 and have not been resumed.
Tenzin argued in favor of the Middle Way proposal, saying that it was a “win-win” for both Tibet and the PRC because it would restore worldwide prestige to the PRC for ending an humanitarian crisis. Tenzin ended his speech by saying that “when the Dalai Lama is offering a solution, you want to take advantage of it.”
The next speaker was Member of Parliament Dhardon Sharling. Sharling, who had spoken to a UR audience via Google Hangout at another event in November, serves in the parliament of the government-in-exile, which is housed in Dharamsala, India.
Sharling opened her speech with a quote from the Dalai Lama: “I remain convinced that most human conflicts can be solved by dialogue.” Sharling said that “the Middle Way is all about trust” and that “trust is the core component of any dialogue,” but she asked “How much do [the Tibetans] trust the Chinese government?” She referred to the 1.2 million Tibetans killed since 1959 and the 137 who have self-immolated in the past five years.
Vice President of the International Campaign for Tibet Bhuchung Tsering, a member of the task force sent to Beijing for official negotiations from 2002 to 2011, spoke next. He spoke on the PRC-CTA negotiations from his personal experience.
Tsering said that at first, the talks were secret, but in 2008 the then-President of the PRC Hu Jintao acknowledged that his government was in talks with Tibetan leaders. Tsering mentioned former leader of the PRC Deng Xiaopeng, who tried to restart communication with Tibet in 1979 and said “If something happens to Tibet, it will affect all of China.”
Professor Ming Xia of the City University of New York-Staten Island spoke on the implications of the Tibet situation for international relations. Xia was raised in Sichuan province, which borders the Tibet Autonomous Region. He described his personal journey and how he had opened up his mind about Tibet after he left mainland China for a position at an American university. He said that going abroad “made [him] take a second look” at the situation and recognize that “Tibetan Buddhism can offer a lot to some problems.”
Before the speakers took questions from the audience, Kim asked them to talk about what might happen after the Dalai Lama dies, a topic that had come up several times in their speeches. Sharling said that the Dalai Lama, 79, is a “moral authority to guarantee peace” for Tibet. She noted that the Dalai Lama, having ceded political leadership to the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, “no longer talks about political authority.”
After this, the speakers answered questions from the audience. Several audience members asked for clarification on the Middle Way approach and the role of the Dalai Lama. Some students who identified themselves as being from mainland China questioned the veracity of some of the speakers’ claims, including one student who said that “Professor Xia has been lying” about the rights of minorities in the PRC. Several of these students also expressed concern that, should Tibet be granted independence, it could turn into a North Korea-like autocracy under the Dalai Lama. All of the speakers said that this was not the nature of the Dalai Lama, as his life’s work attests.
Some audience members also questioned how the 120,000 Tibetans abroad could claim to represent the 6 million Tibetans in the PRC; Xia responded by asking how 80 million members of the Communist Party could claim to represent 1.3 billion people in the PRC.
Kim said he thought that the event “went really well” and that he was “personally grateful that everyone could contribute their personal opinions.”
Kadir is a member of
the class of 2017.
