There is a deepening global concern about China’s recent bloody crackdown on protesters in Tibet. According to foreign media reports, around 40 institutions were confirmed to have been damaged, with some 30 people dead. Anger and rebellion among Tibetans are sizzling more than ever against the Chinese government’s crackdown. It is distressing to see no near end to the vicious cycle of the independence movement’s attempts to be heard and armed crackdowns following China’s annexation of Tibet.

The Chinese government should immediately give up its forceful means of responding to the protests and rather try to resolve the issue of Tibetan autonomy with dialogue. Some insist on Tibet’s independence, but that seems to be a tall order considering Beijing’s insistence on holding the region under its wing using all possible means. Such arguments for immediate independence do not help to ease the current tension. Tibet is a very important strategic region for China in terms of its relations with India, a key rival competing for hegemony in Asia. Tibet also has a tremendous amount of natural resources. In addition, any moves toward independence in Tibet could stir up a similar sentiment among China’s 55 other ethnic minorities. China knows this very well, and it was the reason why Beijing clamped down on two previous uprisings for independence in the region. In the first, a demonstration in 1959 that took place when the government-in-exile was established in Dharmsala, India, sources said that around 100,000 people died. In the second, Hu Jintao, who was at the time the party chief for Tibet, led a crackdown on a protest in 1989.

As if taking such complicated situations into consideration, the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, opted for a more practical request: autonomy, rather than political independence. He once asserted that he is not a separatist and just wants Tibet to gain autonomy. Despite his request, however, the Chinese government has ratcheted up its oppression of Tibetans. It has even intensified its crackdown on Buddhist leaders, including the Dalai Lama, in order to distance them from the general public, and has continued work to include Tibet in its own history. At the same time, the Beijing government has forced people to move to Tibet en masse as part of colonization efforts. All in all, it has continued to trample on the dignity of Tibetans. The most recent incident has stemmed mainly as a reaction to the same kinds of oppressive measures taken by the Chinese government, which sets it apart from the previous two uprisings.

As China argues, there are some foreign factors, including those who want a divide in China, which could have played a role in causing the current situation. Indeed, anti-Chinese sentiment is rising in many countries as Beijing has begun accelerating its preparations for the Olympics in August. However true those arguments may be, China cannot justify its cruel crackdowns on protests in Tibet, which do not allow for its autonomy, let alone its independence. Against this backdrop, China will not become a respected world nation, even if it holds the Olympics over and over again.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]