Full Text: Tibet's development a historical necessity

Nevertheless, the central government continued to offer solutions. In 1997, the central authorities stated, "The central government is willing to contact and negotiate with the 14th Dalai Lama over his own future as long as he genuinely abandons separatism and any activities likely to divide the country, and openly admits that Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable parts of China and that the government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China." The central government has continued to follow these basic principles to this day. In 2003, the central government made it clear that the leadership of the Communist Party, the socialist road and the system of regional ethnic autonomy should be upheld in Tibet. These are stipulated in the Constitution and are the paramount political facts in Tibet as well as the fundamental principles for contact and negotiation. The central government emphasized two premises for contact and negotiation. One is that the central government will only talk with private representatives of the Dalai Lama. No matter what it is called or who is in charge, the "government in exile" is essentially a separatist political group, cannot represent the people of Tibet, and does not have the legitimacy or qualifications to engage in talks with the central government. The other is that the talks are aimed at discussing the future of the Dalai Lama and some of his followers at most. To be specific, any negotiations will be limited to seeking solutions for the Dalai Lama to completely abandon separatist claims and activities and gain the forgiveness of the central government and the Chinese people, and to working out what he will do with the rest of his life. As the political status and system of Tibet is stipulated by the Chinese Constitution and laws, the "Tibet issue" and "a high degree of autonomy" are not up for discussion.

The central government received 13 visits by private representatives of the 14th Dalai Lama between 1979 and 2002, and ten visits from 2002 to January 2010. To the disappointment of the central government, the Dalai Lama has remained committed to his "middle way," which runs counter to the Constitution and aims at splitting the country. Moreover, he has planned and instigated activities of sabotage, including violent disturbance during the Beijing Olympic Games, violence in Lhasa on March 14, 2008, and incidents of self-immolation. In 2011, the Dalai Lama announced his "political retirement," followed shortly by the announcement of "resignation" by his private representatives who had kept contact with the central government. Since then, the Dalai group has declared that it would only talk with the central government in the name of the "government-in-exile," thereby destroying any basis for contacts and negotiation, which have now been halted.

Over the past 30 years and more, the Dalai Lama and his supporters have adjusted and altered their strategies along with changes in the national and international situation. They have unilaterally broken off contacts and negotiation with the central government on several occasions. When they thought the situation was working to their disadvantage, they would call for contacts with the central government; when they thought the situation was in their favor, they would break off these contacts. None of the negotiations were conducted in good faith - it was always the intention of the Dalai Lama and his supporters to divide China and achieve independence for Tibet.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the central leadership led by President Xi Jinping has reiterated, "The central government has followed a clear and consistent policy towards the 14th Dalai Lama. Only when he makes a public statement acknowledging that Tibet has been an integral part of China since antiquity, and abandons his stance on independence and his attempts to divide China, can he improve his relationship with the central government in any real sense." The central government hopes that the Dalai Lama will put aside his illusions in his remaining years and face up to reality, adapt his position, choose the objective and rational path, and do something of benefit to overseas Tibetan compatriots in exile.

The wheels of history roll forward and the tides of the times are irresistible.

Tibet's path of development is one imposed by history and chosen by the people. Experience proves to us that only by upholding unity and opposing separatism, only by upholding progress and opposing retrogression, only by upholding stability and opposing turmoil, can the future of Tibet be assured. Any person or force that attempts to resist the tide will simply be cast aside by history and by the people.

The "middle way" advocated by the Dalai Lama and his supporters, with "Tibetan independence" as their ultimate goal, is just such an attempt. It places itself in opposition to the prevailing realities of the nation and in Tibet. It contravenes China's Constitution and its state systems. The only sensible alternative is for the Dalai Lama and his supporters to accept that Tibet has been part of China since antiquity, to abandon their goals of dividing China and seeking independence for Tibet, and to begin to act in the interests of Tibet and the country at large.

The future of Tibet belongs to all the peoples of Tibet and to China as a nation. Tibet has every prospect of a brighter future. In the years to come, the people of every ethnic group in Tibet, along with others in the greater family of the motherland, will progress on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, striving to build a new, united and democratic Tibet, to celebrate the brilliance of its culture, to develop a prosperous, harmonious socialist society, and to join with their fellow Chinese in accomplishing the Chinese Dream of the great renewal of the nation.