Ashley Yang, scholar from University of Southern California of the US published an article on Feb.22, 2013, giving his voice over self-immolations as follows:

Blindly asserting that Tibet deserves freedom from China is misguided. To contend that Tibet should “secede” from China means that every other ethnic minority should claim independence as well.

The standard of living in Tibet was greatly improved in the early 1950s. The national government poured vast amounts of capital into building roads, erecting power lines and pumping clean running water to the plateau, all of which provided jobs for the local people and enabled them to enjoy basic services essential to life in the modern age.

It is inappropriate and insulting to portray Beijing as the "evil straw man that holds Tibet under its foot." China continues to work to bring modern resources, like education and healthcare, to this once impoverished land. Though Tibet’s standard of living still pales to that of cosmopolitan areas, it would be much worse had China not intervened.

Regarding cultural and religious aspects, he said that "but every ethnically homogeneous nation has its struggles with cultural self-determination of minority groups.The many cracks in the status quo do not amount to the failure of China to uphold the social contract to its people."

"Self-immolation is a horrifying extreme for Tibetans to be driven to, but its underlying purpose is to play on the emotions of the West, whose entrenched ideals of freedom and egalitarianism hinder a purely logical analysis of the individual situation," he said.

"Tibet must also acknowledge the benefits that they have received under Chinese governance."