Hu Jintao should not snub the Dalai Lama

Hu and the new leadership in Beijing should have less fear for trouble in Tibet once the Dalai Lama, now 72, returns to the once-isolated serfdom ruled by monks. Tibet today is no longer the mysterious Shangrila it once was, especially after the completion last year of the Qinghai-Tibet railroad, linking the “ridge of the world” with the rest of China. The Dalai Lama is aware that Tibetan independence is all but impossible as China’s rise continues to soar. He may have realized that “meaningful autonomy” is in the best interest of Tibetans, who in recent years have been benefited from Beijing’s economic largess. No doubt, Beijing is in the driver’s seat in talks with the Dalai Lama, who has much fewer bargaining chips. But to achieve harmony for China in general and Tibet in particular, Beijing should show magnanimity and goodwill to a small group of religious dissidents in exile. Their campaign has largely been peaceful, and the Dalai Lama “has asked little more than that Beijing respect its own laws and allow Tibetans to maintain their own religion and culture — under the Chinese flag,” says rightly the Wall Street Journal.

Beijing has little to lose — and much to gain — if the regime under Hu Jintao indeed heeds the calls of the free world to achieve a negotiated settlement on the Tibet problem. In so doing, Beijing would neutralize some of the criticism of its human right abuses and suppression of religious freedom. If Beijing really wants to “integrate China with the rest of the world,” (與世界接軌) this would be a big step to take.

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