The Dalai Lama challenges Xi Jinping's China

BeijingThe decision of Tibet's spiritual leader to confirm that the tradition of the institution he represents will be maintained and, therefore, that after his death there will be a new Dalai Lama, who will be his reincarnation and will be freely chosen, is a challenge to Xi Jinping's government. The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, has entrusted the future of the succession to the Gaden Phodrang Foundation. This entity, which bears the name of the government of independent Tibet, is the one that must search for, choose, and protect the new spiritual leader of the Tibetans. In reality, it is a foundation created and organized from exile and, therefore, it is assumed that the Dalai Lama will be reincarnated outside of China. This is a challenge to Xi Jinping: this decision, published through a video message, has been quickly rejected by Beijing, who has reaffirmed that the succession will follow national regulations and that the chosen one will be sought within Chinese territory and will require government approval.

Tenzin Gyatso fled Tibet in 1959, when the Chinese army managed to control the entire territory. Since then, he has lived in India, in Dharamsala, at the foot of the Himalayas, where a portion of the Tibetans who fled the control of the Communist Party have taken refuge. At ninety years old, which he turned on Sunday, the Dalai Lama is aware that the path to his succession is thorny. Upon his death, they will first have to find the boy or girl in whom he has been reincarnated, who will become the fifteenth Dalai Lama. Then they will have to wait for him to grow up before assuming leadership.

The Asian giant is expected to take advantage of this power vacuum and the lack of a charismatic leader to further weaken Tibetan Buddhism. In fact, the figure who was supposed to govern this transitional period, the Panchen Lama, was kidnapped by Beijing, and his fate is unknown.

Behind what might be understood as a religious issue, there is actually a territorial and political conflict. Beijing officially made Tibet an autonomous region in 1965, but it has very little autonomy. For China, Tibet is important because it is where Asia's major rivers originate, and it can control access to water. Furthermore, its subsoil is rich in minerals and rare earths. It also cannot be forgotten that the territory has strategic value because it represents a natural barrier at an altitude of 4,000 meters, facing a rival like India.

But regardless of its treasures, China's interest is political. The Asian giant maintains that Tibet has always been part of its territory, and nationalism is one of the pillars of Xi Jinping's government. To maintain a great country, it must be unified, and it is essential that Tibet, along with Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Taiwan, be part of it. They are untouchable fragments of China, and their reunification is part of Xi Jinping's "rejuvenation of the nation" policy.

Beijing boasts of having managed to modernize Tibet, although economic development has come at a high cost, as it has been achieved through policies of assimilation and repression of Tibetan culture. China has promoted and subsidized the transfer of the Han population (the majority ethnic group in China) to Tibet, and it controls the economy. Even Tibetan has been removed from compulsory schooling so everyone can learn Mandarin, and secularism has also been encouraged to undermine the influence of Buddhism.

Counterpower from exile

The Chinese government has always been opposed to the Tibetan exile. The figure of the Dalai Lama has been a countervailing force, as he has been a great ambassador for the Tibetan cause around the world and managed to attract politicians and media figures. In 1989, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. Furthermore, the Dalai Lama has also modernized the institution and, since 2011, has stepped back from political leadership and created the position of prime minister, elected by universal suffrage by Tibetans in exile. He has attempted to negotiate with China and has been conciliatory, renouncing independence and defending broad autonomy under the umbrella of the Chinese central government.

But negotiations have never yielded results, and Beijing continues to view the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist. Today, Tibet has fewer defenders, or at least one might say they are less forceful than in the past. The days when some countries even considered boycotting the 2008 Beijing Olympics due to repression in Tibet are over.

The European Union defends religious freedom in Tibet, but hasn't gone any further, and the United States, once a staunch ally, now seems more interested in closing a trade agreement with China.

These days, the pacifism championed by the Dalai Lama isn't conquering the world. On the contrary, it seems that China's policy of refusing to accept universal human rights and advocating non-interference in the domestic politics of other countries is triumphing, as if human rights were ceasing to be a requirement of international politics. The approximately 140,000 Tibetans in exile see the possibility of ever returning to an autonomous Tibet as increasingly remote.