LET THE DALAI LAMA BECOME GOVERNOR IN TIBET Miljomagazinet (Environment Magazine), Sweden - No 46/2000 (November 27, 2000) By Per Gahrton Shaking hands with Li Peng, the man who is sometimes called "the butcher" from Tiananmen Square, is hardly anything you do unless you believe it will result in something good. I recently did that when I, as the Chairman of the Delegation for Cooperation between the European Parliament and the People's Republic of China, was received by the corresponding committee in the Parliament of China, the National People's Congress, where Li Peng is now the Speaker. The Prime Minister post he had to leave to Zhu Rongji as you might know. But still Li belongs to the inner circle of power in China. Because of that I took the opportunity to forward some of what I was told when I met the Dalai Lama in Stockholm last summer. Li Peng immediately started to tell the same old whopper. The Dalai Lama is a splittist, fighting to tear Tibet away from China and reintroduce the old slave society ruled by lamas that was crushed by the Chinese "liberators" more than forty years ago. I replied: But the Dalai Lama told me that he does not at all aim at independence, but only autonomy. In Stockholm he established the fact that he wants China to take care of border control, the military, the foreign policy and part of the overall economical politics. He also said that Tibet will need help from China to modernize. So Li Peng's picture is not correct! Li Peng turned quite irritated by my persistency. And he was almost struck dumb when I suggested: Why do you not test the Dalai Lama - why do you not offer him to become governor of the Tibet Autonomous Region? If he declines he will be the one who will have the problem of explaining to the world opinion. If he accepts you have removed a problem that more than anything else stains the reputation of China in the world. My proposal triggered off an animated discussion between Li and his Deputy Speaker Zou and the Chairperson of the EU Committee of the National People's Congress, Mrs Zhu. The interesting thing is that Li did not dismiss the idea as completely impossible. Instead he mentioned a number of conditions to be met for the idea to be considered: The Dalai Lama has to give up splittism, acknowledge the territorial integrity of China, acknowledge the Chinese constitution and liquidate the Tibetan Government in Exile in India. When I replied that my impression was that the Dalai Lama might very well accept those conditions within the frame of an agreement that would allow him to return to Tibet for instance as a governor, Li Peng was at a loss for an answer for a while. Then he was hissing something about that this had to be checked up and then, on the spot, he invited the whole EU delegation to visit Tibet "to see with your own eyes". An interesting detail is that Li Peng did not repeat a common Chinese condition that the Dalai Lama should admit that Tibet has always been a part of China. Of course the Dalai Lama would not accept that. He pointed out to me in Stockholm that this would be a falsification of history as Tibet as a matter of fact has not always been a part of China. The Dalai Lama suggested a common commission of historians to settle that question, but perhaps the Chinese have already given up. The day after our meeting there was a report on the front pages of all major Chinese newspapers with the headline: "Li Peng invites the EU delegation to visit Tibet proper". There was not a word about my proposal to make the Dalai Lama governor of Tibet. On the same day I had a well-attended press conference for foreign journalists. But also the representative of the official news agency Xinhua was present. I asked him, for a joke, to publish the rest of the story, which "there had been no room for", on the next day. He grinned, embarrassed, and we started to talk. He wondered if I really believed in the statements that the Tibetans are living in extreme poverty, economically and socially, because of the Chinese rule. No, I said, that is not the point, it is a matter of autonomy and cultural and religious rights. I am well aware that Tibet was an ultra-reactionary society when the Chinese troops arrived, this is also acknowledged by the Dalai Lama.But I do not believe that you can liberate people in this way; China should understand that as it has had so many foreign sovereigns over the years. The man from Xinhua became a little more sociable and suddenly he said with a sigh: Yes, the Dalai Lama is terribly popular among the Tibetans. The same thing I heard from many other Chinese during the time that followed. Quite many had heard about my proposal - in spite of the fact that Xinhua of course had not added anything to their report. But there are other channels, for instance foreign radio stations, media from Hong Kong and Taiwan that are partly available, and of course the Internet. A man of high position told me about a visit to Tibet by the sister of the Dalai Lama some years ago: People threw themselves on to the ground and kissed her feet! Testimonies like those show that the Chinese tactics have gone completely wrong and that is the principal line of my argumentation: He is more dangerous outside than inside! As long as he is outside the dream and the myth will stay alive and all the time you will lose in the opinion which is very important now when you wish to become a member of the world community. If he becomes a civil governor and not only responsible for the souls of the Tibetans but also for the quality of their roads the issue will gradually come in another position. After my return I was attacked by a putative Tibet-friendly MP, Olivier Dupuis from the Radical Party, who demanded my resignation since I had not only expressed condemnations but also had tried to find solutions. Actually I also handed over lists of alleged political prisoners compiled by the Human Rights in China and the Falung Gong. That was not very popular among the Chinese. But they received them.Only condemnations, however, do not lead anywhere in such a huge country as China. After my return I checked up the situation with the Greens' Tibet expert number one, the South Tyrolese and mountaineer Reinhold Messner who is a close friend of the Dalai Lama and has visited Tibet dozens of times. He gave me his full support. If there is an opening in the Tibetan issue, I do not know. But everybody I speak to is startled by the proposal to make the Dalai Lama provincial governor. South China Morning Post published it well visible and asked a number of foreign diplomats. They designated the proposal as "elegant but unrealistic". Also CNN Asia found it so interesting that I was interviewed in live broadcast. Certainly one might be skeptical, certainly it might seem unrealistic. But who thought, a few months ago, that it would be realistic to arrange a meeting for the presidents of North and South Korea? And how long did it not take before the Israeli Government accepted Yassir Arafat as a negotiation partner? , Despite occasional setbacks we are living in the epoch of negotiations. Sooner or later the government in Beijing must realize that.