Forgotten Genocides by Rene Lemarchand

Author:Rene Lemarchand
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780812204384
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

The International Community: Ignorance or Indifference?

A combination of unfortunate circumstances contributed to Tibet’s tragic fate in the middle of the twentieth century. To the military invasion that took by surprise a cloistered community too confident in the power of its spiritual protection must be added the inability or unwillingness of the international community to adopt and implement post– World War II issues of self-determination and democracy. Then, mention must be made of the dithering of the Indian government, all too absorbed by the prospect of imminent partition from Pakistan, the recovery of its national sovereignty, and the siren song of non-alignment and brotherly friendship with China, all these encouraged by an idealistic Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Last but not least was the inability of the West to properly grasp the significance of the crisis unfolding on China’s doorstep.

Additional obstacles were raised in the following years, for example, the barrier imposed by Beijing’s “Bamboo Curtain,” the fascination exerted on many European intellectuals by the Maoist experience, and, with few notable exceptions, the lack of interest on the part of American scholars and policy wonks in distant horizons. Not until 1989, when the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize—in the wake of repeated protests in Lhasa from March 1987 through 1989, culminating with the tragic events in Tiananmen Square in June 1989—did it finally dawn on an inattentive public that a “Tibetan question” even existed. Although the Dalai Lama today enjoys unprecedented popularity in the West, notwithstanding evident qualms among some government leaders, he is more often than not received as a spiritual leader, which relegates to the sidelines his political role as the legitimate representative of his people. The political dimensions of his role were brought into sharp focus during the wave of popular protests across Tibet in 2008. All too often, however, concern in the West over commercial and economic interests has taken precedence over adherence to ethics and morality, human rights, and basic liberties. It is with reason that some have denounced as blatant hypocrisy the stance of those leaders who, while vaunting democracy, bow and scrape to the authoritarian and greedy regime of an increasingly powerful and vocal China.

Washington’s attitude perfectly illustrates the two-faced policy of democratic nations, which in private often recognize the righteousness and legitimacy of the Tibetan cause, but shrink from translating their sympathies into concrete official commitments, lest these compromise their economic and financial interests with China. In 1995, a resolution of the U.S. Congress did recognize Tibet as “a sovereign nation under illegal occupation as regards international law, its legitimate representatives being the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile.” Issued in 2001 and becoming law in September 2002, the Tibetan Policy Act created the post of Coordinator of Tibetan Affairs. Following the tradition of offering Tibet cold comfort, the U.S. Congress awarded the Dalai Lama its Gold Medal in 2007. President Obama’s decision to postpone his meeting with the Tibetan leader in fall 2009, before his maiden trip

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