Posted on April 12 at 2:22 p.m.

That is a very touching letter. If everyone was like you there would not be so many problems in Tibet, China, and the world. Please do educate yourself on the writings of HHDL and the current struggle - your leadership will be quite welcome and will simultaneously humanize and honor Han Chinese while helping Tibet and ultimately the world.

On Shame by Association

Posted on April 10 at 7:24 p.m.

When I was an undergraduate I noticed that the academic establishment of "China hands" always couched their words as if a Beijing censor was parsing their every word, and the lavish funding of travel opportunities for the professoriate always seemed to be a sort of back door bribery. And Chinese operatives have been known to exert pressure in other, less savory ways. Professor Cabezon seems to write in a style which is consistent with that mode: very very cautious and solicitous towards the Chinese. Indeed, the article is laced with highly respectful quotations from Chinese sources; but then, is the article not about Tibet? Where is the voice of the Dalai Lama, where is the voice of the Tibetan Youth League, where is the voice of the Tibetan community within China proper, many of whom have been busy attending funerals this week?
Particularly off the mark is the suggestion that Tibetans need to be cognizant of "compromises required of them if they are to inhabit the modern Chinese state" - as if the forced occupation of Tibet was some kind of consensual arrangement. Tibetans have made it amply clear that they have no wish to "inhabit" the Chinese state, modern or otherwise. They want independence. This article's condescending tone is inappropriate to the tradition of often hard hitting reportage associated with names like Partridge,Welsh, Sadler et al.; if Professor Cabezon is more comfortable paying homage to the great wisdom of Chinese functionaries, he should restrict his writings to the pages of Chinese government media organs.

On Reflections on the Escalating Situation in Tibet