[Tibet lover]

Editor's notes: The West has never stopped interfering in "Tibet and Xinjiang issues" ever since the founding of the People's Republic of China despite its overall positive relations with China after China's reform and opening-up. Under special condition, such interference could even suddenly be intensified, which caused the bilateral relations to stagnate and even retrograde within a certain period of time. It has not only made trouble to China but also done no less harm to the West.

Zhu Weiiqun,director of the Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, expatiates on why has the West been unwilling or unable to give up these acts harmful to both China and itself.

In the 1970s, the US needed to concentrate on the "Cold War" toward the former Soviet Union, extricate itself from the Vietnam War. Under this circumstance, China's attitude was very important, while the Dalai Lama was given the cold shoulder for not being very useful and even affects the improvement of the China-US relations. At this moment, its consideration of interests got the upper hand.

After former US President Nixon's visit to China in 1972, the US significantly cut down on the economic and military support to the Dalai clique. After ceasing the aerial delivery by the CIA for the major armed forces of the clique occupied in Mustang area of Nepal in 1965, it allowed the Nepalese military forces to annihilate it in 1974.

Desolated by the international community, the Dalai clique had to change its banner from "Tibet independence" to "the Middle Way approach", and stepped onto the path of "indirectly Tibetan separatism"under the cloak of "Greater Tibet and High-degree Autonomy" .

The Dalai Lama is fully aware of the practice of the U.S. and repeatedly complained in his Autobiography that "the aim that the US got involved in the "Tibet issue" is not to help Tibet, but to meet its need to fight against the former Soviet Union during the Cold War".

After the series of riots erupted in China including the large-scale unrest in Lhasa, capital city of Tibet in March 5, 1989 and the "June 4th Incident" in Beijing followed by the collapse of the former Soviet Union as well as the tremendous changes in East Europe, the U.S. felt quite strong about it and at that moment resumed its support for the Dalai Lama for its role in disturbing and containing China.

Hence the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct.10, 1989 as one of the punishment on China by the western world. The American president met with the Dalai Lama for the first time in 1991, creating an abominable precedent for the western political leaders to meet with him. Only from then on did the western general public begin to know the very existence of the Dalai Lama, whose fame rose overnight.

Being encouraged, the Dalai Lama furiously alleged that "Tibet will become an independent state within three years", and he "rejects to negotiate with the collapsing Chinese regime". But unfortunately, such wish was disillusioned right after it took shape to both the US and the Dalai Lama .


In 2008, the West saw another opportunity to create disturbance when China was eager to make the Olympics Games a big success. In 2007 the U.S. conferred the "Congressional Gold Medal" which is only designed for American citizens who have made great contributions to the country to the 14th Dalai Lama. In 2008, the Dalai clique plotted the riots in Lhasa on March 14, and then a series of violent incidents occurred to disturb the Olympic torch relay in the western countries.

In the meanwhile, western leaders together boycotted the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, threaten and humiliate China, and pressured China to politically give in on issues related to the Dalai clique.

However, all Chinese people and overseas Chinese rallied together to stand on the side of the Chinese government, opposing the Dalai clique and some western media's disgraceful reports about China. As a result, the western countries did not go further.

China's fast development since its reform and opening-up policy has put the West into a dilemma. On the one hand, everyone tries to improve its relations with China to get benefit from it, especially to get rid of its economic and financial crisis. On the other hand, they fear and worry that China would break the long-standing western-dominated international rules and pattern of interests. Therefore, they have taken every opportunity to contain China and separate China as a multi-ethnic country like what it did to the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.

So a strange phenomenon emerged: when China is in a steady progress, the western leaders would line up to woo China, but change their attitude immediately and slander China as long as something happens in Tibet or Xinjiang. Of course, their attitudes will become softened immediately after the situation in Tibet or Xinjiang comes back to normal, which is really unbelievable. .

When some new leaders took office, they usually will meet with the 14th Dalai Lama regardless of China's strong opposition, and then privately promises to China that it will never happen again in a bid to recuperate its relationship with China.

It will usually followed by a large business delegation to visit China in order to obtain economic benefits. And so does the cycle go for the next leader.

The American foreign policy is based on "pragmatism"for its own interests and ideology, so is the so-called "Tibet issue" and "Xinjiang issue".