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Argument: China claims Tibet is autonomous; independendce is only other option

Issue Report: Tibet independence

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  • Lhasang Tsering. “India’s Tibet. A Case for Policy Review.” 2000 – “When speaking of ‘autonomy’ we need to take into consideration the fact that, as far as the Chinese are concerned, Tibetans are already supposed to have ‘autonomy’. The truncated half of Tibet – the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region which today the rest of the world knows as ‘Tibet’ – as also other areas of Tibetan territory; have been labelled ‘autonomous’ one thing or another by the Chinese. So the Chinese may well wonder what this offer of accepting ‘autonomy’ is all about when ‘autonomy’ is exactly what they think the Tibetans already have. It is true the so-called autonomy the Tibetans are supposed to enjoy under Chinese rule is only in name. But what reason do we have to believe that the ‘genuine autonomy’ of the future – if ever there is to be one – will be any different?”