The Tibetan government-in-exile’s diplomatic point man, Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, explains that only with the Buddhist leader alive can stability in the region be guaranteed. He calls on Beijing to grant his people greater autonomy.

Dharamsala (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Tibetan question “must be solved in the Dalai Lama's lifetime”, otherwise the whole region might be destabilised, said Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, the Dalai lama’s special envoy.

Gyari stressed the Dalai Lama's commitment to greater autonomy within China, rather than independence, but said that in return, the central government should redraw provincial borders to unite ethnic Tibetans in one region.

“The Chinese government has redrawn internal boundaries when it suited its needs and could do so again in the case of Tibet to foster stability and help ensure Tibet's characteristics remain intact,” he said in an address to the Brookings Institution in the United States.

About half of China's Tibetans live in the Tibetan Autonomous Region , and the remainder live in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan, which are considered part of a historical, or cultural, Tibet.

Uniting Tibetans in those regions was not an effort to create a “greater Tibet”, Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari said, but stemmed from a desire to restore the integrity of Tibetans as a distinct nationality within China.

“The window for resolving the issue could close with the death of the Dalai Lama,” he said. “In the absence of the Dalai Lama, there is no way that the entire population would be able to contain their resentment and anger.”

 

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