Argument: China is exploiting the good intentions of the Middle Way

Supporting quotes

Ketsun Lobsang Dondup. “Independence as Tibet’s Only Option: Why the ‘Middle Path’ is a Dead End”. January 25, 2007 – “B. The Middle Path’s Negative Consequences, Exploited by Beijing

People I spoke with in Tibet said that they see how the Chinese government manipulates people every day, and it is clear to them how Beijing is manipulating the good intentions of the Tibetan government-in-exile. The unanimous opinion that I heard in Tibet was that the Middle Path is not only hopeless, but also dangerous. Henry Kissinger once said that in politics, one never pays for goods that have already been delivered. True to form, China is using the Tibetan exiled leadership’s overtures to extort concessions while giving nothing of substance in return. For example, Tibetans in Tibet told me how they heard Beijing spread false reports of inviting the Dalai Lama to China to prevent demonstrations when Hu Jintao visited the U.S. They were ashamed that Tibetans in the West could be fooled by such a ploy.

Chinese leaders are following the advice of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, in which the philosopher wrote, “Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them.” The Middle Path policy is causing the Tibet movement to suffer from loss of momentum, lack of focus, and confusion over goals and strategies. People drift away from a movement that appears to be drifting itself, and passions die out – especially when the Tibetan government-in-exile actually asks its supporters for passivity and nonconfrontation.

Beijing knows exactly what it aims to do: stop at nothing to hold down the Tibetans, flood Tibet with ethnic Chinese, and convince the outside world that everything is normal until it is too late to do anything. Do we Tibetans know our goal? Or will we instead continue to be fooled by Beijing dangling hints of concessions and rumors of “reformers” convincing “hard-liners” to change if only we would give just a little more? If so, shame on us.”