Focus on Tibet

Tibet, a region abutting India and China, was once a great military power that “carved for itself a huge empire in Central Asia.” Throughout its long history, Tibet has clashed with China several times, often violently. Read about Tibetan history and learn more about the roots of the current conflict in a lengthy account from the New Zealand organization Friends of Tibet. The piece covers events from 127 BCE until 1959, when the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was exiled from his homeland.

Tibet officially embraced Buddhism in the eighth century CE. When the country was an independent nation, many of its rulers held both temporal and spiritual authority. Since the middle of the 20th century, the Chinese government has controlled Tibet. Although the Chinese government is officially atheist, they have attempted to determine how Tibetan Buddhism is practiced, including how Tibetans choose their spiritual leaders.

More history about the 14th Dalai Lama’s important and complex role in recent Tibetan history can be found in a findingDulcinea profile, which links to many valuable resources on his beliefs, his speeches and the events surrounding his 1959 exile.

The approach of the Beijing Olympics has ignited new clashes between Tibetan demonstrators and Chinese police; this New York Times story covers the rioting in Lhasa that occurred in March 2008.

Many young Tibetans are rejecting the Dalai Lama’s nonviolent approach. This newfound anger at the failure of the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way” philosophy has resulted in some of the most deadly demonstrations in Beijing since the late 1980s.

After the riots, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made an official statement in which he blamed the Dalai Lama for the violence. More coverage on Jiabao’s speech can be found in this Beyond the Headlines article.

An April 4 story in the London Times reports that Chinese paramilitary police raided a Tibetan monastery; eight people were shot and killed during the protest that followed, which involved the entire monastery and hundreds of local villagers. The raid’s intent was to confiscate pictures of the Dalai Lama.

In recent weeks, many outside of China have protested the crackdown on Tibetan activists, mainly during the Olympic torch procession through their respective countries. This spells bad news for the Games, which are just over two months away. Security has been stepped up along the torch’s path, but it has not deterred a wide range of athletes and bystanders from coming out in defiance of China’s recent actions in Tibet. In an April 17 article, CNN reports on protests in New Delhi.

The New York Times reported on April 17 that prominent Tibetan reporter, blogger and singer Jamyang Kyi has been detained by the Chinese police, who have also confiscated her computer. Her husband told reporters that he has not heard from Kyi in a week.

The Dalai Lama has resided in India since his exile from China in 1959. In the wake of the recent events between the Tibetan people and the Chinese government, Indians have been asked what they feel about the spiritual leader’s presence in their country. Reuters AlertNet reports on a poll in which 71 percent of the respondents agreed that the Dalai Lama’s presence “hurts” India’s ties with China; at the same time, 61 percent thought that the Indian government shouldn’t attempt to crack down on Tibetan protesters. Meanwhile, the government has been “embarrassed” by the protests and still recognizes Tibet as part of China.

Recently, a group of Asian scholars from several think tanks met at the Heritage Foundation to discuss the future of Tibet. A complete audio file of the lecture is available at the Heritage Foundation Web site.

For more coverage of Tibet from several journalists’ perspectives, the BBC has compiled a “Tension in Tibet” page, which includes opinion pieces and multimedia, as well as straight news articles and analysis.