[Buddha-l] New York Review blog about the Dalai Lama (fwd)

[JKirkpatrick]

Dear Donna

Thanks for posting this.

"But it provides an indication of the centuries of mistrust that
must be overcome ..."

The Chinese government today is imbued with excess arrogance and
authoritarian practice, similar to that of European empires'
governments in the past. However, globalization today is the new
empire-maker. They took over Tibet in 1950, and since then have
extended their commercial and international development influence
into the whole of southeast Asia, backing up to the wall of
India; so between these two there is a lot of mistrust and
paranoia. As the new Asian empire, they cannot brook competition,
and the spiritual power of Tibetan lamas and HHDL are the thorn
in their side so far as Tibet goes. 
If one were researching centuries of mistrust, a lot could be
discovered about all the ancient Asian governments' secret doings
over the centuries. It wasn't only the Tibetans; but since they
are China's bête noire, they get the most attention (with Taiwan
a close runner-up). 
That they could even think that the 14th Dalai Lama could succeed
in having his death kept secret, in these days of world-wide
communications, leaks, etc., is both hilarious and also testimony
to the delusions to which their official and unofficial paranoia
of power aggrandizement subjects them.

Joanna