The Guardian 24 October, 2007
A "poke in the eye"
In what can only be described as a deliberate provocation and a "poke in the eye" was last week’s presentation of the top US Congressional honour to the Dalai Lama by President Bush.
The fact that it was timed to coincide with the Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasises how deliberate it was. Furthermore, it was not merely an initiative of President Bush as the award was decided by an overwhelming vote of both parties in Congress.
Despite the repeated assurances by the US government that it was not intended as an interference in the internal affairs of the People’s Republic of China and that it stands for a "one China policy" this act alone is sufficient to show that behind these assurances lie a continued support for the breaking up of China and the separation of Tibet from China.
For his part the Dalai Lama declares that he does not want independence for Tibet — only autonomy. However, as a political activist who campaigned over many years for independence from China his conversion to the lesser objective of autonomy is much more likely to spring from a realisation that independence is a pipe dream rather than any genuine conversion.
He overlooks the fact that Tibet already has a government of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Chairman of the Regional government says that The Dalai Lama should concern himself with the development of Tibet and the well-being of the Tibetan people rather than independence. He said that the human rights situation in Tibet when the Dalai Lama exercised the rule of feudal serfdom and theocracy was the worst in the world. He said that only after the central government introduced the policy of regional autonomy for ethnic groups in Tibet did they begin to exercise their ethnic affairs and enjoy democracy.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress of China also criticised the US Congress for honouring the Dalai Lama.. "The provocative move ... is highly offensive to the Chinese people", he said.