Its government in exile in Dharamsala, India is more than a symbol and a prototype. It has working ministries of health and education, for example that provide care and schooling for thousands of refugees.
Through its schools and cultural institutions, it is preserving such riches as Lhamo opera and thangka painting from extinction - not to mention the Tibetan language and literature. When I visited Dharamsala earlier this year, I stayed a few steps away from the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics. The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives contains more than 80,000 books and documents.
The elected Tibetan parliament in exile has developed a secular-democratic constitution that would serve as the basis for the country’s law if Tibet were ever to regain its independence. People who say that Tibet would revert to a feudal theocracy if it weren’t for its occupation by Communist China are misinformed.
It’s funny that apologists for China are always saying that it takes a long time for an Asian country to develop into a mature modern democracy.
Isolated and impoverished Tibet did it in less than half a century, despite the fact that it had to do so in exile, in a little complex of plain concrete buildings on a remote hillside in India. China, which is infinitely richer, more stable and better-connected, ought to be able to develop even faster. China’s government resents Taiwan and Tibet because they have shown just how possible democratization is.
The talks between this exiled Tibetan government and the Chinese government have broken down - not that there was ever any real prospect that they would succeed. The Dalai Lama’s middle way - peaceful dialogue leading to an autonomous Tibet within China - has failed, because China has absolutely no incentive to negotiate.
So the Dalai Lama, in evident dismay, has convened a special meeting of hundreds of Tibetans from various parts of the diaspora.
The meeting began in the third week of November in Dharamsala. The Dalai Lama said in a public message that “all the participants, as Tibetan citizens, should discuss in a spirit of equality, co-operation and collective responsibility the best possible future course of action to advance the Tibetan cause.”
He has said he wants the meeting to be “a forum to understand the real opinions and views of the Tibetan people through free and frank discussions.”
China has asked India to prevent people from even attending the meeting in Dharamsala, which tells you a lot about the Chinese government’s attitude toward participatory democracy and the freedoms of mobility, association and expression - not to mention its attitude toward interfering in other countries’ affairs.
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