Apr 09 2008
Tibet via Chengdu
I did a little research on Tibet few years ago, as a by product: I was gathering info on one of my great great grandfather who’s Viceroy of Sichuan during the Qing dynasty. In his memorials 奏折 to the Emperor or the edicts from the Emperor to him, Tibet occurred rather frequently, hence my research. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan and the logistic point between the court in Beijing and Tibet. So the Viceroy shouldered many responsibilities of that area. Even today, the State Department or the American consulate in Chengdu manages the affairs in Tibet [for the US]. My point of view on Tibet is not unfounded. The romantic inkling the western media showers on Tibet and Dalai Lama - a sect leader - is stemming from either ignorance or the resentment toward China’s rapid surge. The Dalai Lamais, above all, what we want him to be. The Western world most wants him to be a fairy tale — a saffron-robed young leader from Shangri-La, where we think a hunk of spirituality is tossed in with every drought of hot butter tea. To the Tibetan people, he is regarded as a god, but to the outside world he is “a secular divinity of sorts, and for that there is less precedent.” .. To the Chinese, he’s a rogue separatist. I gave him the credit of knowing how to work the media and sentiment, I gave credit to the various special interest groups (mostly human rights I reckon) that can hold China hostage to its coming out party.