In 2015, the Dalai clique launched many celebratory activities around the 14th Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday aiming at increasing publicity. The Dalai Lama himself continued to visit countries around the world, where he constantly talked about his “reincarnation” and sensationalized the “Middle way” approach. During these visits, he also touched upon some topics of global concern such as “climate change”, “environment” and “anti-terrorism”. The Dalai Lama, who is used to being a “star”, had been trying every possible way to catch the world attention over the year. But it seems that people already see him as a “nobody” and the “topic of Tibet” has gradually been marginalized.

This past year saw the Dalai Lama being successively refused entry to South Korea, Russia, Mongolia and South Africa. In other parts of the world, the Pope refused to meet him, so did state leaders of the U.S. and European countries, who were busy with global governance, international hot topics such as “terrorism” and “refugees” and regional security issues. So no one had time to pay attention to this former “Nobel peace prize” winner.

Within the Dalai’s clique, the Dalai Lama is now merely seen as a deceitful sign for Buddhist believers and those seeking for foreign support. Meanwhile, people in the “Tibetan Youth Congress”, which was set up by the Dalai Lama himself, publicly criticized his “Middle way” approach, believing that “the Dalai Lama is wrong”.

Then let’s take a look at the Dalai Lama’s own family. His second elder brother, Gyalo Dondrup, who was once in charge of contacting the CIA, pointed out in his autobiography that the reason the United States and India support the so-called “Tibetan independence” is due to their own interests and not for the sake of Tibetans. And the Dalai’s younger brother, Tenzin Chogyal, was even blunter in saying that once the Dalai Lama dies, “it would be an end for us.” We doubt what the two brothers have said are what the Dalai Lama is unable to say himself.
In fact, the Dalai Lama’s claim of “Middle way” approach is simply “Tibetan independence” in “two phases”. And he is merely a “politician draped in a religious cloak to cause chaos in Tibet and the Tibetan-inhabited areas and religion”.

It is certain that the 14th Dalai Lama’s era is over. Even so, the Central Government and the Chinese people have given him several choices. Up until now, the Central Government still insists that, if the Dalai Lama truly abandons his position and activities aimed at splitting the motherland, they can contact and talk to him, but only about his own future. Time is running out for the 80-year-old Dalai Lama to decide whether to continue down the wrong path or return to the correct path.

(Note: The author is a researcher at the China Tibetology Research Center, Source: Global Times)