Dalai Lama Urges Patience in Dialogue With China

The Dalai Lama, a Chinese government official, and the head of the Tibetan government-in-exile expressed views on the outlook for the dialogue between Chinese officials and the Dalai Lama's envoys, the definition of "Tibet," and the level of autonomy that Tibetans living in China should exercise in a series of separate public statements between May 19 and June 1. Differences between Chinese and Tibetan views have not narrowed, but the Dalai Lama urged observers of the dialogue process to be patient as they await results, and the Chinese official described contacts between the two sides as helpful.

The Dalai Lama spoke to Members of the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels on May 31, reiterating his message that "we are not seeking separation" from China, but autonomy within the framework of the Chinese Constitution, according to an EP report the same day. The Dalai Lama said that the relationships between Quebec and Canada, and between Scotland and the United Kingdom are ideal models for autonomy. The following day, in an interview with the Financial Times, the Dalai Lama acknowledged that people may consider "the very slow results [of our discussions]" as discouraging, but that view is wrong, he said. "If you look very closely, in fact there are some results gradually coming. So you need more patience and determination . . . Results will definitely come.”

A Chinese government official speaking to reporters in Beijing on May 26 said that the Dalai Lama's proposals, which call for the Chinese government to establish a "Greater Tibet" and allow Tibetans living in that area to exercise "high-level or real autonomy," are not consistent with "the history of Tibet," and have created "great obstacles" to resolving the Tibetan issue, according to a Reuters report the same day (via Yahoo). Lhagpa Phuntsog (Laba Pingcuo), Secretary-General of the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing and former Vice Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) government, said that, "To change the status quo would not be in accordance with the Constitution of [China] and it would not be in accordance with the laws on autonomy for minority peoples." The principal Chinese law on ethnic autonomy is the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law. Lhagpa Phuntsog's comment states a more detailed objection than most official Chinese statements, which typically describe the Dalai Lama's proposal as an attempt to gain "independence in disguised forms." (See, for example, this June 9, 2003, article in Xinhua.) Lhagpa Phuntsog said that contact between the Dalai Lama's envoys and Chinese officials "helps relations between the Dalai Lama and [the Chinese] government, and helps people in the Dalai Lama group know the reality of China and Tibet."

Lhagpa Phuntsog's remark about "the history of Tibet" refers to a distinction that the Chinese government makes between the provincial-level Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), and the 12 Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties that are located in adjoining Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces. The Chinese government considers "Tibet" to be the area formerly administered by "the local government of Tibet" (until 1959, the Dalai Lama's Lhasa-based government), an area now reflected by the boundaries of the TAR (established in 1965), according to a statement posted on the Web site of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the UN in New York City. For that reason, Chinese officials use the names "Tibet" and "Tibet Autonomous Region" interchangeably.

Samdhong Rinpoche, the head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, told an open forum of NGOs and media representatives in Dharamsala, India, on May 19 that the Dalai Lama and the government-in-exile are seeking "a genuine nationality regional autonomy" that would apply to "a democratic Tibet, composing all of its three (traditional) provinces," according to a May 20 report by the government-in-exile. The area that the Tibetan government-in-exile identifies as "Tibet" is about 965,000 square miles, or 100,000 square miles larger than the combined area of the TAR (463,000 square miles) and the Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties in other provinces (402,000 square miles).

See Section VI - "Tibet," The Status of Discussion Between China and the Dalai Lama, of the CECC 2005 Annual Report for more information.