Trapped! (the person claiming to be a Tibetan from Chengdu) is the one who introduced the term “Tibetan extremist” (along with Han extremist). Why don’t you ask him what he meant by that term?

And yes, the only question I’m looking to answer is how to better “love China” (the China of 56 brother/sister nationalities). Difficult or not, that’s the only solution I’m interested in. I would be interested in hearing Trapped!’s proposal for making that happen.

Many people, especially Chinese, are wondering what the non-extremist zangzu are thinking right now. Unfortunately, there are too few non-extremist zangzu voices out there. I believe it’s not because all Tibetans are extremists… it’s only because the extremists are loud. Of course the government is partly responsible, for not giving non-extremist zangzu enough chance to speak.

Well, you have a chance here to speak, if you have something to say. My only rule for this blog: write an entry with the point of view of loving China. Loving China doesn’t mean you can only defend it; if something in China is wrong, then loving China would mean giving ideas on how to change China. So if you write… tell all of us, both hanzu and zangzu, how we can all do a better job of loving China.

If you’re not ready for a real entry for now because you haven’t decided… well, there is no hurry. Keep thinking about it, the offer is open.

Who did give you that name, The Trapped?
When i read your posts here i think you are trapped, do you like to be free?
You should know there is no one higher than the other, thats only illusion.
What will happen if you are in the desert and have the illusion of water only?
Yes, you have nothing to drink.
The Dalai Lama, can not support life!
You say the Dalai Lama is a special, a higher one, and someone says he is a liar, who is right?

Instead of just copying your comment here to the top… would you be interested in writing a full blog post for us, as the point of view of someone who is Tibetan and Chinese? What are your fears for the future? What do you like, what do you hate? What do you want for China? What do you believe is the likely future of both China and Tibet? I would really enjoy seeing that.

If you’d like help refining what you write in English, we’d be happy to help, but the choice is up to you.

I really, really appreciate your comments.

Please keep in mind that whenever people have differences while discussing online…its very easy to escalate into an argument. And when it comes to the issue of Tibet, it can be very sensitive and emotional. Every single one of us: you, me, and Leo have had debates on this issue with hundreds of other people… some of whom were completely unreasonable. We all have this shadow of bad interaction in our minds.

But please believe me that no one here wants to anger you for no reason, and I really hope this discussion can continue in a cooperative spirit… it will be good for everyone. I think we all should remember about watching our 民族情结.

If you did not join us, I would have to search out comments like yours from other forums in China to prove the “other point of view”.. (I only know of bbs.tibetcul… are there any other forums commonly used by Tibetans?) But since you are here, we can show the Western world that we don’t have to hate each other, that even if we disagree, we also have the wisdom to hopefully find agreement.

I will repost your thread at the very top of this blog, so that it can get more attention.

I did not denounce you and label you. I denounce your words and action and label them accordingly. The Japan-China/US-Iraq rhetoric is always persistent in the Tibetan pro-independence camp. If you want to avoid confusion, drop them!

Regarding your “The Party knows that’s the DL’s proposal. That’s why the Party always keeps away any speech of him, even a single sentence, away from mass Chinese public because otherwise people will also have the same idea as you have and then start to sympathize him. “, I want to remind you the most Chinese come to this forum did read or watch the most, if not every, statements and interviews by the DL. I even have access to a lot of periodicals pulished by the GIE as next to me is a Tibeten studies department set up by DL guys.

I understand your point completely, and I’m also watchful whether he is really “an amicable compatriot”. But let’s give him a chance to say what he wants to say. I don’t want to make assumptions or put labels on him; let his own words be his label.

You ask a good question though.

“The Trapped!”, what is your opinion of Tibetans who believe in one China, who believe zangzu and hanzu should be united in supporting zhonghua minzu?

I am against The Trapped!’s opinion because he uses the Japan-China, US-Iraq, as well as the following Gaza Strip nonesense, to suggest Tibet is not a part of China and Tibetans are not Chinese citizens. So I don’t see any ground to consider him an amicable compatriot just with a slight ethnic grudge. And his “denounce your religioius leader will result mass rebellion” polemics are equal to “if you don’t follow my al-Sadr, I will kill you” logic.

In this blog these guys will pretend to be innocent Tibetans who are wrongly forced to denounce DL. But in those blogs like Woeser’s, you know, it is often these guys who actively denounce Tibetans and lamas who want to distance themselves from DL as race traitors and apostates.

I don’t agree that we should call “The Trapped” an extreme nationalist. He hasn’t made any extreme, or nationalistic comments at all. He is complaining about what he is seeing around him, but he has the right to complain as much as any other Chinese citizen. We should give him the basic respect we give all Chinese.

@The Trapped!,

I firmly believe you that the situation for Tibetans in Tibet and southwestern China is a very tense, very uncomfortable one right now. I think this is a shame, a horrible situation that I hope will end soon. I am also strongly against forcing religious Tibetans to denounce the Dalai Lama. I believe there instead should be more legal education; if China is going to be a legal society, that has to be the basis.

And for the sake of the Tibetans in China (and no one else), I hope a compromise solution can be worked out with the Dalai Lama that allows him to return. I’ve talked before about what this compromise solution would look like. I hope it’ll be a solution that preserves Tibetan religion, language, and culture. But I also hope it is a solution that makes impossible the political ideology that the Dalai Lama has pushed publicly and privately for years.

You draw a comparison to Japanese imperialism in China and American imperialism in Iraq. Let me point out what I see as the difference.

- The Japanese empire never saw other Asians as their true equals; other Asians were forever second-class citizens. For most Chinese (not all Chinese, but MOST), Tibetans should be our equals. You are not second-class citizens; in fact, the Han are the second-class citizens in much of China. I would fully support a Tibetan president of China, if he or she is most qualified for the job.

- The United States certainly doesn’t see Iraq as their true equals. Can Iraqis move to the United States? Can Iraqis become American citizens, with the same rights as anyone else? The debate in the United States on Iraq doesn’t care whether Iraqis will die, and doesn’t care about the livelihood of Iraqi people; the focus is almost entirely on the number of Americans that might die.

In China and Tibet, regardless of the history, we all have an option right now. We can all choose to be citizens of one China, and work together to make our country better together. And that means I fight and argue for your equal rights as a Chinese citizen, and you respect and preserve my equal rights as a Chinese citizen. I hope enough Tibetans stand up to do that, and I hope the Dalai Lama decides to make a historic commitment in that direction. If it happens, we will both win.

But unfortunately, because the Dalai Lama *is* both a religious and political leader, if he does not decide to make that commitment… many Tibetans will follow his example. Then we will all lose, we will all suffer.

Buddhists are Buddhists, not Dalai-Lamaists. Those DL-ists who claim to be Buddha’s followers while spreading rumors and racial hatred should reexamine their belief principles. DL is only the head of Gelugpa. There are other sects and Bön which don’t deem him as religious leader. Outside Tibet, there are Han and Mongolian Chinese Gelug followers, who don’t make any fuss about DL issue. It is independence-leaning Tibetan nationalists who are noisy all the time. Many of them are not at all Gelugpa followers. DL issue is fundamentally a political issue, not religious.

Between 1950-1959, the Central Government did nothing to touch Tibetan theocracy and serfdom. It was DL and his loyalists who rebelled and declared independence. After 1959 it would be ridiculous if the Central Government took over the role of god king and slave-owner and went on as if nothing happened.

It is Tibetan extreme nationalists like you who make a Gaza Strip out of nowhere then blame it on Han Chinese.