Meeting will discuss whether or not to continue with Dalai Lama's 'Middle Way', writes Clifford Coonanin New Delhi
TIBETAN EXILES from all over the world gather today in the north Indian hill station of Dharamsala for a rare meeting which could see the struggle against Chinese rule in Tibet take a more radical path.
At issue will be whether to continue to pursue the "Middle Way" of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, which favours greater autonomy but stops short of calling for full independence - or to cede leadership in the struggle to younger, more aggressive elements in the Tibetan movement.
The Dalai Lama's envoys and China have held eight rounds of talks since 2002 on the issue without any progress. In a stark acknowledgment of his frustration, the Dalai Lama said that his efforts had failed.
The meeting takes place in McLeod Ganj in Dharamsala, or "Little Lhasa", where the Dalai Lama and his supporters fled in 1959, at the invitation of India's then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.
The talks could provide an opportunity for more combative elements in the Tibetan movement who favour full independence to push their agenda.
Beijing blames the Dalai Lama for inciting anti-Chinese riots in the region in March, when protests against Chinese rule in the capital, Lhasa, erupted into violence against Han Chinese settlers and spread to other areas of western China with Tibetan populations.
Tibet's government-in-exile said that more than 200 Tibetans had been killed in a subsequent Chinese crackdown.
To the Chinese, Tibet is, was and always will be China, and Beijing says it is freeing the people of Tibet from a malevolent theocracy which enslaved the Tibetan people for hundreds of years. It also says it is helping by investing billions of yuan in the local economy, though Tibetans say the Chinese are sending ethnic Han Chinese to the region to exploit its resources.
The Chinese reacted angrily last week to French president Nicolas Sarkozy's announcement that he would meet the Dalai Lama during a visit to Gdansk, Poland, suggesting that bilateral relations could face a new setback if the meeting goes ahead.
Beijing has called on the Indian government not to allow today's meeting to take place and insists that finding a solution through China-Tibet talks is still a possibility.
There are concerns about the 73-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader's health. Even though the 14th Dalai Lama is a god-king to his people he is believed to have already taken more of a back-seat role in the movement. He will be in Dharamsala but will not take part in the talks.
"This special meeting is being convened with the express purpose of providing a forum to understand the real opinions and views of the Tibetan people through free and frank discussions," he said in a letter ahead of the meeting.
The big question is what will happen when the Dalai Lama steps down. Younger activists say the Chinese government is simply waiting for him to die, in the belief that the independence movement will not survive the passing of its figurehead.
"I am just a simple Buddhist monk - no more, no less," is how the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize describes his work. But he is also one of the world's most powerful and influential religious figures. The Chinese see him as a "wolf in sheep's clothing, a devil with a human face but the heart of a beast" who wants to take Tibet away from them.
On several occasions the Dalai Lama has indicated that he might resign, meaning that he would give up his role as as temporal, rather than spiritual, leader. He has no obvious successor and has annoyed the Chinese by suggesting that he might choose his own successor before his death. This could involve senior lamas electing one of their own to succeed him like cardinals elect a pope.
This is something Beijing could not tolerate, and the Chinese are much more likely to try to impose their own candidate, just as they did with the second most powerful figure in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy, the Panchen Lama, who was chosen in 1995 by Beijing as a reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989. The Dalai Lama chose a rival reincarnation, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was also six years of age. Beijing imposed its choice and Gedhun disappeared and is believed to be in Beijing under house arrest.
If the Dalai Lama does step aside the Tibetan movement will lose a major figurehead with a high international standing - all the more remarkable in view of the fact that Tibet was effectively closed to the outside world until the middle of the last century. The Dalai Lama met Pope John Paul II on numerous occasions and President George Bush awarded him the congressional gold medal last year.