Worldview Politics

On Tibet and China
11 April 2008

Recently, some Tibetans — including monks — have been rioting against Chinese 'oppression' in occupied Tibet. Advocates of the Tibetans throughout the world are now pressing for a partial or complete boycott of the upcoming summer Olympics in Beijing, as a protest against Chinese behavior. My sympathies are with the Tibetans, who lost their nation and way of life when the Chinese Communists invaded during the 1950s. Chinese encroachment started in 1950, soon after the victory of the Communists under Mao, and culminated in the crushing of the 1959 insurrection, supported by the CIA, during which the Dalai Lama and many thousands of Tibetans fled into exile in India. The Chinese justified their invasion by ancient Chinese claims to the region, as well as by the freeing of 'serfs' from a 'feudal' society. In the following, I will express my feelings about what should be done now, without going into much depth on the history, about which I know little. This article is primarily interested in the topic of when and how to resist alleged 'aggression', and when to wisely accommodate oneself with overwhelming power. My instincts are very much against violence in general, so that I must constantly probe my thinking to see if I have moved too far in a 'pacifist' direction'. The plight of the Tibetans makes a good test case.

First, I must point out that we Americans have little right to harangue the Chinese for invading their ethnically-related neighbor, however heinous that might have been. We invaded an entire non-European continent and essentially liquidated the way of life and even the very existence of the natives. Perhaps much of that was through disease rather than direct slaughter, but the slaughter was very considerable, and at any rate the net result has been the effective extermination of those who preceded us. I don't propose turning back the clock of history, but let us at least be honest about the historical record. And let's not forget that the Hispanic brothers of the Anglo-Saxons did pretty much the same to the other continent in this hemisphere.

Moreover, in modern times, we have been threatening the Chinese ever since they became Communist. Even today, we sail our aircraft carriers right off of their coasts, and we support Taiwan, which surely has been a traditional part of China, even if the status of Tibet is questionable. How would we feel if the Chinese sailed their nuclear-armed carriers off of our coasts? That may happen sooner than we think, and we may not be able to do much about it, if our economy has collapsed from ruinous debt while the Chinese have continued to prosper. Returning to the Cold War, it was always arrogant and futile to resist so powerful, indigenous, and popular a mass movement as the Chinese Communists, however brutal their tactics. While it was bad enough to interfere in a small country like Vietnam, it was folly to oppose hundreds of millions of Chinese on their own soil. We could not possibly win, and we were only building enmity with a vast and ancient society that never had any intention or capability to threaten us. Fortunately, the greed of our businessmen has kept the hawks in abeyance, as we sell ourselves to the Chinese to support our profligate spending on a ruinous and lunatic attempt at empire. The Chinese have shrewdly complied, knowing that we only bully small nations, where we still lose. Even in small countries, invasions only fuel patriotism and hatred, which leads to a guerilla warfare that a large and bloated army cannot win on the enemy's home turf.

So what to do now that China is in Tibet? Some Tibetans complain that the Chinese are exterminating their religion and culture. I am not fully informed, but I doubt that the atheist Chinese Communists care about the Tibetan religion per se. What they care about is political resistance. It is a big mistake when monks get involved in any kind of resistance, since Beijing then naturally views the Tibetan religion in political terms. Indeed, news reports abound that the Dalai Lama promises the Chinese that the Tibetans will submit to Chinese authority provided they are left in peace regarding religious practices. The Dalai Lama has proposed talks and not resistance, but it seems that some younger monks have acted rashly, with protests guaranteed to scare the Chinese government. After all, the Chinese leaders are well aware of what happened to their colleagues in the Soviet Union. Moreover, China has a long history of fighting secession movements from outlying provinces. Given that we fought a particularly bloody civil war to preserve our union, we are in no position to lecture the Chinese on allowing their nation to disintegrate.

The Tibetans simply cannot win against the Chinese, and neither the Americans nor the Indians are going to come to their aid. The Tibetans should be realistic and submit to Chinese authority, while pleading for freedom for their religion, which they must promise to keep scrupulously free of politics. One could well argue that any sincere form of Buddhism should be utterly devoid of politics, as it deals only with the internal spirit and not with worldly matters. Political activists are often tempted to exploit religion as a means to mobilize mass support for a cause, but this is a dangerous game to play with an overwhelming power, and it desecrates the true purpose of religion, especially one as spiritual and transcendent as Buddhism.

Even boycotting the Olympics seems like a futile and foolish gesture to me, which will only antagonize China and will do nothing good for the Tibetans. The Chinese are a proud people, who have suffered for centuries from colonialism and its consequences, from both the British and the Japanese, and are only now pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. They should be encouraged and welcomed back to the world community, or they will harbor resentment for a long time to come. There is nothing anybody is willing to do about their internal human rights situation, so that our protests are nothing but hypocritical and gratuitous feel-good gestures, which provoke both the Chinese leadership as well as the patriotic Chinese people, and only make the situation worse. It is for the Chinese people to determine their future. Besides, China has made great strides with internal freedoms, as newer generations of leaders have come to the fore. We can expect this evolution to continue, provided that arrogant outsiders don't meddle. And there is no great cry of despair on the part of the Chinese people, who mostly want to get on with their lives and enjoy the fruits of affluence. Freedom and democracy will more likely blossom under peace and prosperity than under constant tension and strife.

We must understand that the Communist leaders are fearful for both China's security as well as their own, which are probably intertwined in their minds, as is the wont for national leaders. China may seem like an emerging giant now, but her situation is precarious, and she still carries wounds from centuries of foreign interference. It is noteworthy that China has never embarked on global empire, unlike Greece, Rome, Islam, Spain, France, England and now the United States. No doubt the Chinese are feared by their neighbors, but they present no danger to us, unless we make them into one, with our arrogant and thoughtless needling. If we Americans are at all wise, we will take seriously the very real possibility of an economic collapse in our increasingly self-indulgent and stupid nation, combined with a meteoric Chinese rise in power. We could pay a stiff price if we don't. The Romans also thought they would be the world's masters forever.

(Yes, we are a stupid nation! I am not afraid or ashamed to say so, precisely because I care for my country. From a reckless and chauvinistic foreign policy, to massive bipartisan political corruption on behalf of the rich, to ignorant debates over creationism in our schools, the idiocy of our public discourse is astounding. I would not be at all surprised if our once-great nation collapses soon due to sheer idiocy, nurtured for decades by Republicans, with cowardly Democratic acquiescence. Even our ruinous debt can be viewed as one aspect of this public idiocy. Meanwhile, the Chinese are very smart and capable people, with great discipline, who are on the rise, while we degenerate. We antagonize them at our own peril.)

Tibet vs. Palestine

UPDATE (20 April 08): Am I a hypocrite to accuse Israel of 'strangulating' the Palestinians in the West Bank with ever-encroaching settlements, while giving a slap on the wrist to the Chinese regarding Tibet? Perhaps, but there is a good reason. Even assuming that the two situations are morally comparable, a cold-blooded look at the situation indicates that we could easily twist Israel's arm, so to speak, without endangering the world or ourselves, whereas making an enemy of the Rising Dragon could be catastrophic for the future of the entire world. Of course, political realities are such that we will not twist Israel's arm any time soon, but the same realities indicate that it would indeed be foolish to make enemies with the Chinese over Tibet. The simple truth is that we will never fight on behalf of Tibet, beyond the CIA meddling that may already be occurring. That is, unless oil is discovered in the region, or a nut like McCain is elected.

But are the situations comparable? The land of Tibet is vast. There is plenty of room for both Tibetans and the Han Chinese 'settlers'. The same is not true in the crowded West Bank, where the Israeli-only roads are already dividing the Palestinians into isolated enclaves. The situation is truly desperate for the Palestinians. Furthermore, according to the accounts I have seen so far, China has only cracked down on rioters, who killed some Chinese, and who were perhaps incited by the CIA. I can't criticize Israel for attacking Palestinian militants per se, as long as there is no innocent human 'collateral damage', as there so often is in the crowded territories. I have not heard that the Chinese have targeted innocent (i.e. non-rioting) Tibetans in the same way as Israel ruthlessly attacks the Palestinian populations, with hellfire missiles on crowded streets, demolition of homes, and so forth.

Finally, and to repeat, I really do feel that the Chinese would allow the Tibetans to continue their culture and religion, if only it were purged of politics. I think this is what the Dalai Lama himself is trying to achieve, but some younger monks got out of control. The Israelis may argue that, likewise, they would leave the Palestinians in peace, and even give them democratic rights, if only they would cooperate as Israel annexes the West Bank. This would be a very nice solution, but is Israel really prepared to give full democratic rights to the huge mass of Palestinians that would result from formal annexation? I doubt it. Indeed, the population time bomb is one very good reason for Israel to agree now to a two-state solution roughly along the 1967 borders, and even the conservatives in Israel know it. In Tibet, I think there is hope that a peaceful and satisfactory accommodation between Chinese and Tibetans is possible, if only Tibetans acknowledge Chinese political suzerainty, while retaining spiritual freedom. This has in fact been the relationship between China and Tibet over many centuries, so the precedent is definitely there. That helps.

Tibetan protests

BBC: Dalai Lama urges end to violence