unwinkinggaze
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06:21:41 pm on April 6, 2008 | # |
I think this could be a fast moving story. The question is whether the Chinese government are going to be able to withstand the pressure over the next five months. Have a look at this statement from the Dalai Lama. I wouldn’t exactly say he is pulling his punches but he is reiterating, more than once, the importance of keeping to non-violence - I think this is very politically astute as he must keep the sympathy of the world with him and non-violence is the way to do that. Witness the efforts of the Chinese state media in trying to refocus the attention on the violence from the riots.
So the Dalai Lama is keeping the 9 member Chinese politburo on the backfoot. Question is how will they react? Incidentally I think a boycott of the Olympics could well backfire, making the Tibetans hated in an already febrile nationalistic atmosphere. And lets face it, this issue is going to take a long time (way past the Olympics) to sort out.
