$6 Million in ‘US Aid’ Cannot Change Plight of Dalai Lama

Published in Huanqiu
(China) on 26 December 2015
by Lian Xiangmin (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Nathan Hsu. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
Several days ago, the U.S. Congress passed its budget for fiscal year 2016, in which it allocated a funding package of $6 million for Tibetan communities in India and Nepal, double the assistance given in 2014. While some have wondered at this sudden gesture on the part of the United States, such a move comes as no surprise to those who have long observed U.S. actions in Tibetan affairs.

Americans accustomed to playing the "Tibet card" have grown anxious at the plight of the Dalai Lama and his followers, and taking the stage to play their hand in securing U.S. aid is an act of desperation. The year 2015 marked the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan Autonomous Region's creation, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the 11th Panchen Lama's enthronement. China's international prestige is on the rise, the economies of Tibet and the four provinces (Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan) are developing, their societies have stabilized and peoples’ livelihoods are improving. The 11th Panchen has grown in health and received the heartfelt well-wishes of the believers who follow him.

Meanwhile, the 14th Dalai Lama is now 80 years old, and may pass on before long; the so-called "Central Tibetan Administration" operating in exile in India has begun to make its selections in preparation for a changing of the guard. Since the beginning of the year, the Dalai Lama and his followers have sought to use the aforementioned commemorative occasions to foment chaos within China's Tibetan regions, win sympathy from foreign nations and apply pressure on the central government. But after a year of frustrating toil, all they have witnessed is stability in Tibetan regions, the Dalai Lama's skulking sojourns abroad being received with decreasing enthusiasm and fewer Chinese worshipers gravitating toward extra-national Buddhist assemblies. And all the while, those among the Dalai Lama's followers seeking compromise have grappled with those pressing for independence, and the so-called "Sikyong" (the leader of the Central Tibetan Administration) has not made good on a single one of the promises made when seeking his position in 2011, while he has instead only become more adept at undermining the Dalai Lama's authority. One could say that the separatist activities of the Dalai Lama's faction are raising fewer and smaller waves. Even the efforts of the 14th Dalai Lama himself have garnered scant attention in recent years.

History has eloquently proven time and again that the old fallback of "U.S. aid" does little. Prior to the Tibetan uprising of 1959, the CIA specially trained Tibetan operatives at Camp Hale in Colorado, provided them with arms and airlifted them back into Tibet to participate in the rebellion. It was these commandos who escorted the 14th Dalai Lama as he fled to India following the failed uprising. In the 1960s, the CIA helped the Dalai Lama's cadre re-establish the Chushi Gangdruk (Four Rivers and Six Ranges, the short form of the Kham Four Rivers, Six Ranges Tibetan Defenders of the Faith Volunteer Army) and provided funds to India and the Dalai Lama's followers to jointly form the Indian-Tibetan Special Frontier Force, which harassed Chinese residents and troops along the Tibetan border. According to declassified files, the United States spent as much as $1.7 million per year for these projects.

After U.S.-China relations warmed in the 1970s, the CIA ceased funding arms subsidies for the Dalai Lama's faction, but the U.S. government did not stop interfering in Tibetan affairs. In 1979, the year that the United States and China established official relations, the United States agreed to receive the 14th Dalai Lama. On Sept. 21, 1987, the U.S. Congress provided a platform for the 14th Dalai Lama to propose his "middle way." Only six days later, heavy rioting began in Lhasa. Since the 1990s, the level of U.S. interference in China's Tibetan affairs has steadily increased. In April 1991, President George H. W. Bush set a precedent by personally receiving the Dalai Lama. The U.S. State Department created the office of Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues in 1997. And in 2002, Congress passed the Tibetan Policy Act, which went into effect in 2003. Pursuant to the act, every year the U.S. government submits to Congress a "Report on Tibet Negotiations" and has provided large amounts of financial support to the Dalai Lama and his followers.

Every time China's diplomatic standing with its neighbors improves, the United States reappears to manufacture what it deems to be a suitable amount of tension. In Chinese internal affairs relating to Tibet, the United States likes to pick its moments to give the Dalai Lama some encouragement. U.S. behavior this time around does nothing more than prove the point once again.

The author is a research fellow at the China Tibetology Research Center.


  美国国会日前通过2016年度财政预算,专门为印度和尼泊尔的藏人社区拨出上限为600万美元援助款,比2014年翻了一番。有人不禁会问:美国为什么在年底突然来这么一手?实际上,对长期关注美国在西藏事务上所作所为的人来说,这根本不足为奇。
  习惯打“西藏牌”的美国人对达赖集团的窘况看在眼里,急在心里,终于走上前台,在年底打出 “美援牌”,实属无奈。2015年正值西藏自治区成立50周年,也是十一世班禅坐床20周年。我国国际地位不断提高,西藏和四省藏区经济发展、社会稳定、 民生改善。十一世班禅健康成长,受到信众衷心拥护。
  那边厢,十四世达赖已年届八旬,前去时日无多;流亡印度的所谓“藏人行政中央”举行换届预 选。从年初开始,达赖集团就一直想借上述纪念日做文章,妄图搞乱国内藏区,博取外国同情,对中央政府施压。然而,辛苦折腾了一年,达赖集团看到的却是国内 藏区局势稳定,国外窜访越来越不受人待见,境外法会对境内信众吸引力日趋下降。与此同时,达赖集团内部中间道路派和急独派纷争不断,所谓“司政”2011 年“就职”时承诺的任期目标一事无成,挖达赖墙角的功夫倒日益见长。可以说,达赖集团的分裂活动越来越掀不起大浪。即使十四世达赖本人使尽气力,也越来越 难吸人眼球。
  历史一再雄辩地证明,故伎重演的“美援”牌起不了作用。1959年西藏叛乱前,美国中情局在科罗拉多州海尔训练营专门训练藏族特 务,并为其提供武器,空投回西藏策划、参加叛乱活动。正是这些人在叛乱失败后,护送十四世达赖外逃印度。上世纪六七十年代,中情局帮达赖集团重建“四水六 岗卫教军”武装,资助印度与达赖集团共建“印藏特种边境部队”,袭扰我国西藏边境居民与边防部队。根据解密文件,美国为此每年花费的资金高达170万美 元。
  中美上世纪70年代初改善关系后,中情局停止了对达赖集团的资金和武器资助,但美 国政府并未放弃干涉西藏事务。就在中美建交的1979年,美国首次同意十四世达赖访美。1987年9月21日,美国国会为十四达赖提出“中间道路”提供讲 坛。仅6天后,拉萨发生严重骚乱。上世纪90年代后,美国对我国西藏事务的干涉力度不断加大。1991年4月,美国总统布什首开美国总统会见达赖先例。 1997年起,美国国务院开始设立“西藏事务特别协调员”一职。美国国会2002年通过《西藏政策法案》,2003年开始实施。据此,美国政府每年向国会 提交《西藏谈判报告》,为达赖集团及达赖本人提供大量资金支持。
  正如每逢我国周边外交形势良好时,美国就会跳出来制造“适度紧张”,在西藏这一中国内政问题上,美国也总喜欢挑时间点,给达赖一点“盼头”。这次美国的所作所为,只不过再次印证了这一点。
(作者是中国藏学研究中心研究员)
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