Countries should accept Tibet’s historic status as independent nation: Penpa Tsering

Countries around the world should accept Tibet’s historic status as an independent country to help foster a serious dialogue with China on the future of the region, the head of the Tibetan government in exile said on Tuesday.

Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong or head of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), said the Dharamshala-based government in exile intends to work with the US to convince more countries to challenge Beijing’s contention that Tibet has historically been a part of China.

Tsering questioned the logic of countries accepting Tibet as a part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) while simultaneously pushing talks between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government. Such an approach, he said, helps the Chinese avoid any serious discussions with the Tibetan side.

Participating in the opening session of a festival with the theme of “Spirit of Tibet”, Tsering described this approach as part of a new strategy that is based on Dalai Lama’s “middle way” policy to find accommodation with the Chinese.

After working with the US administration for two years to pass the Resolve Tibet Act, which focuses on the historical status of Tibet as an independent country, the CTA intends to convince more countries about this position.

“We would like to work with other governments to see whether similar positions can be adopted to push the Chinese government to come to the negotiating table,” Tsering said.

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Tsering questioned the approach of countries that keep saying Tibet is part of the PRC while supporting negotiations between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese.

“You are removing the very ground for negotiations. When every country says Tibet is part of the PRC, where is the reason for the Chinese government to come and talk to us?,” he said.

He contended the Chinese government knows “they have no legitimacy for their rule in Tibet”, and added, “We have to puncture those theories.”

Tsering acknowledged that the “middle way” approach – proposed by the Dalai Lama, approved by a majority of Tibetans and ratified by the Tibetan parliament in exile – remains the official policy to find a lasting solution with China based on non-violence and negotiations. However, he said there has been a change in strategy based on “polarities or extremities”, including the current situation in Tibet under the “repressive Chinese government” and the historical state of Tibet.

Tsering also warned India about the consequences of China’s current policies in Tibet. Noting that Chinese authorities have forced more than a million Tibetan children into “colonial style boarding schools”, he said this is aimed at erasing Tibet’s long-standing relations with India going back more than 2,000 years.

“The Chinese government knows exactly what they’re doing to destroy the Tibetan identity right now,” he said, adding this will change the “emotional quotient” among Tibetans towards India. If younger Tibetans are forced to adopt the Chinese way of thinking, the emotional quotient will change, and they won’t have the same reverence and affinity towards India, he said.

China, Tsering pointed out, is renaming places to reinforce its claims on disputed regions. While noting that China refers to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh as “southern Tibet”, he suggested India should refer to the frontier as the “Indo-Tibetan border”.

Describing China as the “biggest bully” in the world, he said the country is working with “other bullies” to create a new world order. “It started from the invasion of Tibet in those days and now you have the Chinese on the Indian border, right next to you,” Tsering said, in an apparent reference to the India-China military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since April-May 2020.

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