Tibet: The heart of the problem is Chinese colonialism

_{By: Sai Wansai, 22 March 2008}

While the Chinese view the games as a vehicle to upgrade its international standing as a world power, the Tibetans see this as a rare opportunity to make their stance, grievance and just struggle for rights of self-determination known to the world.
 
The heart of the problem is a classical clash of the combination of “territorial integrity” and “non-intervention” notions against the “rights of self-determination”.
 
Rightly or wrongly, most influential international stakeholders seem to embrace the Chinese claim of Tibet being part of China from time immemorial, while the Tibetans see themselves as an occupied nation, since the Chinese invasion in 1950.
 
It is foreseeable that the Tibetan uprising will be ruthlessly crushed like the one in Burma and the seemingly normal atmosphere would soon be restored, which in turn will be accepted generally and life will go on as if nothing has ever happened.
 
The core argument or cause of this conflict would, however, remain until it is accepted that the Tibetan and Chinese are two different nations and the Chinese treatment of the Tibetan as its colonial possession is unacceptable and should be appropriately addressed.
 
To do this international stakeholders should ponder on defining colonialism in a broader sense.

Points of discussion should include, among others, the following:-

(a) The Alien Concept and alien-ness should not be limited to only Europeans and Westerners but should also include African, Asian and Latin American, irrespective of skin colours.

(b) Maintenance of the former largely, European colonial boundaries as irreversible and sacrosanct  national state boundaries should be reviewed on a case to case basis. This is an unending source of ethnic conflicts affecting international stability.

(c) The question of geographical separateness or "The Salt Water Doctrine" between coloniser and colonised should not be the sole factor, but cultural, ethnic, linguistic and historical factors should be also taken into account,  in determining the "alien-ness" of the coloniser.

(d) The cases of one colonial regime replacing another are also contributing factors to many of the existing conflicts in the world today. A large number of oppressed and non-state nations are experiencing this type of colonialism, when one dominant ethnic group took over the mantle of the former coloniser and monopolise state power at the expense of the other ethnic groups.

Failing to address the conflict nature in a wider sense and refusal to accommodate the rights of Tibetan self-determination would only postpone the issue for a while, which will definitely return back to haunt the Chinese ruler.

_{The author is the General Secretary of the exiled Shan Democratic Union - Editor}