Opposite to China's government and religious circle's reporting on the status quo of the self-immolation cases, the oversea separatist forces and their allies put forward "clichés" punitive responses and commentary on nearly all Chinese news and documents regarding the issue.

Almost equally eye-catching are the alleged "third party" or "neutral party" of some westerners including some right-wing personages such as the newly-elected Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, and their demonstration of supporting the 14th Dalai Lama and his separatist clique. On second thought, a reflection of their "tinted glasses" and "double standards" toward China can be fathomed.

"Kashag" cannot represent the public (Tibetans in exile)

The tension evoked by the self-immolation cases in China and foreign parties is gaining unprecedented heat.

On the one hand, China is putting efforts to investigate the brutal inciters and crackdown suspected groups with the sole aim to end the horrific act and maintain social stability; on the other hand, the "Tibet government-in-exile" is sparing no efforts to sell their campaign such as "self-immolations represent a new threshold of Tibetan despair and resentment" by the "exiled leader of Kashag", which is described as "jargons" that has been "bereft of any real meaning" in a recent news article on Phayul.

The article titled "Tibetans need inspirational leadership" was posted on January 17 on Phayul. It was written by a Tibetan entrepreneur based in South India who held a degree in Masters of Commerce from Delhi University. The article mainly discussed the spiritual crisis of exiled Tibetans in India, expressed their universal disappointment towards the "Tibet government-in-exile" and the Dalai Lama, and called on an "inspirational leadership" who really cared about the public (exiled Tibetans) interest.

In the beginning, the author called those involved with the "Tibetan cause" as activist who complained to him "against the Tibetan people for not showing enough enthusiasm and passion for our struggle (for the Tibet cause)".

Such complaint does not come from nowhere. There seems to have been a longstanding fence between the "activists" and the "public" exiled Tibetans. According to a news report on the Global Times in November last year, the common exiled Tibetans live a rootless life due to the refugee identity, struggling between the cracks of legal citizen communities without any insurance of shelter and livelihood while the "exiled government officials" busy fighting for the reign of power in the "post-Dalai Lama era". Thus, it is quite normal for the activists to feel an unsupportive attitude from the common exiled Tibetans.

In this Phayul article, it is further pointed out that "every time Tibetan leaders and activists visit Tibetan settlements to give lectures on our struggle, the public is not paying much attention."

This, to a large extent, overturns the recurrent allegation of "representing the interest of six million Tibetans" by the "leader of Tibet government-in-exile".

Illusion to fact, result of "tinted glasses"

It may be bizarre for these pro-"Tibet independence" people and parties who have long believed in the propaganda of the "Tibet government-in-exile" and held a punitive discourse toward China's report and China's media. They might ask why the fact runs so far from their illusion.
The article explains the problem does not lie with the public but with the "leadership" and the "(Tibet) cause" whose relevance to the public is still pending.
"We both agreed that the narratives in our cause have become clichés, often bereft of real meaning. Words such as human rights violations, religious freedom, Middle-Way, Communist China…have become jargons…" The author wrote.

Seemingly, even the exiled Tibetan community has a common knowledge that the "Tibet cause" is a flubdub used by the self-appointed "representative of six million Tibetans" to win over some western financial support for themselves but not for the common Tibetans.

Besides the weak and selfish "leadership" of the "Tibet government-in-exile", another eligible explanation to the dilemma faced by the pro-"Tibet independence" camp might be their habit of wearing "tinted glasses" to look at China and things related to China, which lead to their absolute trust with the "Tibet government-in-exile" and mistrust with China.

Though, there are supportive tokens regarding the contribution of China to the world economy as reflected also from the Davos world economic forum concluded on Sunday, there are always critical colors in terms of the so-called "Tibet issue".

Double standards: "Chinese media reports are untrue"

First, there seems to be a unanimous "tacit agreement" that all that reported by Chinese media and Chinese government are mostly fabricated and untrue so that some western media would add "the communist mouthpiece say..." and "This hasn't been verified" to news regarding Tibet.

Dating back to the Lhasa riots on March 14, 2008, we may find such terms in many western news quoting Xinhua and China Daily's report. Even though, the cruel actions of rioters astonished all people with conscience and values, when punitive announcement toward the separatist group who masterminded the riots mouthed by Chinese media, a judging and suspicious attitude came out right away on some western media. Instead of denouncing the brutal rioters, they noted "China's oppression in Tibet" and stressed "these data haven't been verified".

By whom? Western reporters who support "Tibet independence"?

Why?

Isn't it always highlighted by western people that "every man is born equal" and "people are created equal"? Isn't it always suggested by western culture that racial discrimination runs against human rights? Then, why Chinese people are lesser trusted? Why Chinese reporters are suspicious of no work ethics to report truth and facts? Are there double standards that one is used universally while the other is used exclusively for China because it is a communist country?

"Old Tibet" to "Shangri-la": "Medieval" darkness sank to oblivion

Second, there also seems to be a "common sense" that the "old Tibet" which is like the "Medieval Europe", as noted by the 14th Dalai Lama himself, should not be mentioned because it could undermine the "Kashag", the "Tibet government-in-exile" and the "His Holiness the Dalai Lama".

No matter how hard the Chinese government and Chinese scholars, including Tibetan and the Han people, try to present the interview videos and transcriptions, the documentary tapes, and human body parts stored as sacrificial or punishment items to show the darkness of the serfdom Tibet, the western world mainly utters suspect and even "rage" at China's "fabrication". The deeds of taking parts of human body to be religious instrument and human sacrifice are fully described also in western scholars' books such as A History of Modern Tibet (Goldstein, 2007) and The Making of Modern Tibet (Grunfeld, 1996). Yet, these have never been mentioned as "human rights" violation while the 14th Dalai Lama and his oversea debt collectors reproach China with the "human rights" slogan.

The sole prevalent vision of the "old Tibet" to these modern westerners seems to be a mysterious Shangri-la where people live in Utopia and was destroyed by "the PLA's entry into Tibet". Interestingly, they forget to note "this hasn't been verified", but single-mindedly believe in what the "exiled leaders" say.

The 99 self-immolation cases do not occur to these people that setting oneself alight is not only a horrible scene but also an injury to the immolators' family; instead, they become more anxious vilifying China and Chinese government. When news came that Chinese police arrested self-immolation inciter suspects, they said Chinese government is "enhancing repression" and violating Tibetan people's human rights.

Compared with a by-stander taking pictures and busy delivering them to overseas websites for the splittist forces, those putting down the fire and putting efforts to stop the horrific action are accused by these pro-"Free Tibet" people as violating human rights.

A professor from the Institute of World Religion noted, "The basic human right is the right of life, without which one cannot enjoy other rights such as religious freedom." The question is: why the by-standers who did nothing to rescue the self-immolators are not denounced as to be "indifferent toward human life", not to mention human rights?

The professor gave an understanding attitude towards the biased westerners, explaining that since China is marked with communism which advocates atheism it is understandable that some westerners who are mostly religious do "not like" Chinese people. However, the professor also pointed out that western religions such as Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, and Islamism all have commandments prohibiting killing and suicide. Yet, their religious circle rarely makes any statement toward the self-immolations in China, but rather takes an observant role; some even align their stance with the "Tibet government-in-exile", simply denouncing China and not mentioning a single aspect of cherishing life.

The absurdity is distinguishable but difficult to decode.

Incoherency of some world leaders' deeds and words

Thirdly, many countries such as the US, the UK, and even Switzerland who has the reputation of being a "neutral state" in international matters, deliberately "secretly" providing support for the "Tibet government-in-exile" for their conducting splittist activities against China, breaking their vows of acknowledging China's sovereignty over Tibet.

Many western parties and people use "aggression" and "invasion" to describe China's sovereignty over Tibet, living behind their acknowledgment as a state on another state's territorial integrity. Such bold defiant remarks and actions are not once-in-a-blue-moon, for which the US president and the newly-elected Japanese prime minister are prototypical examples. As world leaders, they have been accustomed to making speeches and lectures stressing honor and integrity, but they do not seem to care about the incoherency of their deeds and remarks related to China's Tibet, a legal Chinese territory acknowledged by the UN and countries worldwide.

Moreover, some state's administrations including the EU parliament repeatedly expressed their calls for "a fact-finding visit to Tibet", insulting China's territorial integrity and embellishing their interfering in China's internal affairs as "human rights investigation", openly talking about the "Tibet issue" as an international issue.

Isn't that an aggression and invasion to Chinese territorial integrity and national unity?
To answer all these questions, a suggestion is recommended to the biased groups, people from the "civilized cultures with religious belief", and people who are very well-educated, that it is time to take off the "tinted glasses" and put away the double standards, and to respect China and the Chinese people with justice and fairness.