As a British Citizen I was disappointed to read of the Foreign Secretary’s Ministerial Statement issued on 29th October 2008 that recognised Tibet as part of the People’s Republic of China. This has practically made impossible any negotiations with China on the Autonomy of Tibet as any incentive for the Chinese Government to do so has seemingly vanished.
So, it is with equal disappointment that I watch, read and listen as President Obama, on his recent trans-Pacific trip delivers a very unenthusiastic comment on issues regarding Human Rights in China, let alone Tibet, which appear to be conspicuous by their absence from the core of the summit’s agenda:
“The major challenges of the 21st Century from climate change to nuclear proliferation to economic recovery are challenges that touch both our nations, and challenges that neither of our nations can solve by acting alone,” says Obama.
“We will continue to act in a spirit of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs,” said Mr Hu
Obama did say that China should resume talks with representatives of Tibet’s exiled leader the Dalai Lama to resolve their differences but Hu’s insistence that the Dalai Lama is trying to split Tibet from the rest of the country doesn’t sound particularly inspiring.
Hu also said that previous talks had achieved nothing which indeed is correct given that the Chinese Government flatly rejected the Tibetan Government in Exile’s Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People“
The Dalai Lama, on a recent visit to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, India, the region to which he escaped from occupied Tibet in 1959 said “It’s quite usual for China to step up campaign against me wherever I go. It’s totally baseless on the part of Chinese Communist government to say that I am encouraging a separatist movement.” This was in response to Beijing’s criticism of his visit to that area, again another one that China lays claims on.
The Obama administration has in its first 10 months in office expressed a desire to see meaningful results in Sino-Tibetan dialogue and also sent his Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett and Under Secretary of State and Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Maria Otero to Dharamsala, India, to meet with the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy, Lodi Gyari has subsequently stated that the Dalai Lama “would value an opportunity to hear directly from the President [Obama] about what transpired during the Beijing summit with regard to Tibet.” A post-US-China summit meeting between Obama and the Dalai Lama is set to take place sometime in November.
Hu did, admittedly, bring up the human rights issue first saying that China and the US would hold talks on human rights and religious freedom issues; whether this refers to Tibet is yet to be seen.
Obama’s visit to China and his rather dry and brief reference to human rights issues could be seen as pandering to China’s rising status in the world. But it could also been seen as a tentative and excessively diplomatic step towards nurturing future relations between the two countries, relations that may well be the key to resolving the Tibet issue. As necessary and important as the climate, economic and nuclear issues of the day are, let’s hope that the Obama administration doesn’t lose sight of an issue that almost epitomises all that is not quite right with our world.
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