| Thanks for the pictures. President Hu has declared that Tibet is a matter for internal Chinese discussion and I will respect that. But it would be good to learn how Westerners can help to establish some bridging social capital institutions that help build respect and trust between ethnic Tibetan Chinese and Han and other ethnic Chinese (and now of course the distrusted West). Apparently there is some resentment about economic issues. No doubt China will have to invest in the West of China instead of the megacities of the east now, and Westerners want to know how to help make that a win-win situation. Consider that investment in American real estate is not too good an idea now. For example, the Internet. In the American West, currently the Navajo Indian reservations are having great difficulty maintaining Internet service in their large open space. They now rely on federal government grants transferring income from big telecommunication companies, satellite stations, and wi-fi. But it is difficult to contract for investment and there are problems, many of which I assume are shared in the Tibet Autonomous Region. But it seems that solving such problems is critical if economic development is going to go forward, so what can we do? Can there be a leapfrog into 4G or WiMax, and some intensification of satellite service? Should the investment be from (Han) state-owned firms, or led by local, smaller firms so that ethnic Tibetans can preserve some autonomy? I just think that such efforts are really important if we are to move forward and away from futile nationalist independence arguments. If ethnic Tibetan Chinese have a stake in improving their lives as they would wish, then they are likely to forget about the aristocrats who fled in 1959. In the future I would like to go to Tibet and neighboring regions. I have been to Buddhist temples all over east China (including the "Lama Temple" in Beijing) and unlike many Westerners respect the Chinese for preserving religious freedom and traditional culture. Maybe Chinese do not always understand that after a lot of struggle, religious orders such as monasteries in the West have been separated from the state and the monks have to work to live instead of being paid by the state. I think if the 14th Dalai Lama decided to follow through on his beliefs and statements and became a simple monk with no politics, everyone would be happier, as the Buddhist practices of meditation, compassion, and non-violence can be fine philosophical ideals even if difficult to carry out in practice. |
My Experience of Culture and Religion in Tibet