Dalai Lama changing tack, US cables show

The Dalai Lama urged Washington to engage Beijing on climate change and other environmental issues in Tibet to give it new leverage over an increasingly assertive China, cables from WikiLeaks revealed yesterday. The Tibetan spiritual leader told a top US diplomat in India last year that acute environmental problems in the Himalayan region should take precedence over politics, citing his concerns over China's economic and energy expansion on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau . In one of the cables, dated August 2009, the Dalai Lama told US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer that 'the political agenda should be sidelined for five to 10 years and the international community should shift its focus to climate change on the Tibetan plateau'. It was believed to be the first time the exiled leader has made it clear that priority should be given to pressing environmental concerns rather than a long sought-after political solution to the Tibet issue amid growing pessimism over Tibet's future. Although he did not elaborate, analysts said it revealed a new strategy for rallying international support for his exiled government and breaking deadlocked negotiations with China. In a comment at the end of the cable, Roemer said the Dalai Lama's message may signal 'a broader shift in strategy to reframe the Tibet issue as an environmental concern'. He said the Dalai Lama 'appears intent on leveraging closer US-China relations to address the pressing environmental challenges and problems in Tibet'. But Thubten Samphel, a spokesman for the Tibetan government-in-exile, yesterday denied that interpretation. 'The Dalai Lama has always been deeply concerned about the impact of China's development on Tibet's culture and environment. It does not indicate any shift or any change of focus, as those environment concerns have always been there,' he said. But he supported the Dalai Lama's view that environment issues should take precedence over politics, saying: 'It makes no sense to raise human rights issues if the environment is totally devastated.' The Dalai Lama listed Beijing's dam construction in Tibet and adjacent areas, melting glaciers, deforestation and increasingly polluted water from mining projects as major environmental problems on the world's highest plateau that 'cannot wait', while he said Tibetans could wait five to 10 years for a political solution, according to the cable. He recommended that Beijing compensate Tibetans for disrupting their nomadic lifestyle with vocational training, such as weaving. After the massive anti-government unrest that started in Lhasa on March 14, 2008, the Dalai Lama made a desperate plea to Washington to take action that would 'make an impact' in Beijing in order to 'end the current crackdown on Tibetans immediately', the cables also revealed. According to one cable dated April 10, 2008, the Dalai Lama embraced a US embassy official at the end of their 30-minute meeting and made a final plea shortly before his US trip: 'Tibet is a dying nation. We need America's help.' The Dalai Lama was reportedly convinced he could reach a deal with Beijing on the release of Tibetans detained after the rioting if he supported peaceful transit of the Beijing Olympic torch through Tibet. But the deal apparently never happened. The cables also revealed how Tibetan leaders perceive mainland authorities. The Dalai Lama and his senior exiled officials were quoted in the cables complaining about Beijing's arrogance and 'narrow mindedness' and expressing frustration over the lack of progress in talks between Beijing and the exiled government over the past decade. They said the mainland's economic boom had negatively impacted the international community's ability to pressure the regime on human rights. The spiritual leader also envisaged a joint political future for Chinese and Tibetans based on 'common sense and common interest'. 'The European Union and United Kingdom were examples of countries uniting for these reasons, while preserving national identity,' he was quoted as saying. The cables also revealed US findings that 'a widening generational divide finds Tibetan leaders unable to resolve growing dissatisfaction among younger Tibetans'. US diplomats expressed concerns over a growing political impatience among Tibetans with the Dalai Lama's moderate approach, which does not seek independence in exchange for Beijing's acceptance of genuine regional autonomy in Tibet. Lian Xiangmin, director of the research office at the central government-backed China Tibetology Research Centre, questioned the authenticity of the intelligence, saying Beijing saw no change in the Dalai Lama's strategy.