9 replies to this topic

[Time_Traveller]

I think they will eventually be free and become a proper country, What do members think?

Edited by Time_Traveller, 31 January 2012 - 10:46 AM.

[Caiman]

Well any viable nation should have the right to self-determination, if that’s what the population want. China don’t really seem to be shifting on their position and in a sense, you can see why they fear a ‘free tibet’ – China is the amalgamation of literally hundreds of distinct eastern cultures under an age old empire and if they allow Tibet to go, could it start a snowball of other movements popping up?

[Dead Redshirt]

I certainly hope so. But if what we've seen before the Olympics is any indication, it won't be anytime soon.

[Nick1984]

Can't see it happening, China's investing billions on infrastructure in Western China.

[antovador]

Don't forget Tibet had a theocratic regime before Chinese presence as any European countries in the Middle Age. A free Tibet only have a sense if his regime is democratic and allow freedom to his citizens and I am not in favour about a Budist version of Saudi Arabia regime.

[truthiness]

Hm... that's an interesting thought, isn't it? A Buddhist Saudi Arabia... Could such a thing be possible? Buddhism has got to be a solid contender for the most peaceful religion on Earth (unless you count us atheists, of course). Lets see... nations that are expressly Buddhist... there's Thailand, Cambodia, and Bhutan. Those are the only three countries where Buddhism is the state religion. Of those, I think the closest comparison to what a free Tibet might look like would be Bhutan. The only thing that I've ever known about Bhutan is that they measure Gross National Happiness, as opposed to Gross Domestic Product. That seems like a plus to me. Maybe they've got their priorities straighter than we do.

Or, maybe not... Wikipedia says that in the 80s and 90s the (Buddhist) Bhutanese monarchy kicked out a fifth of the nation's population in order to preserve its national culture and identity - maybe that fifth just weren't happy there. Of course, Bhutan isn't beheading people for shoplifting or practicing witchcraft, and they don't have religious police that will imprison people for such crimes as driving while female. At worst, a free Tibet might show the door to the Uyghers (Central Asian Muslims), and to the Han Chinese and to the Hindus, but I doubt they'd even be able to do that much. Tibet would be a big country with a very small population and very harsh terrain. Any Tibetan state would have a hard time kicking out any group, even if they wanted to.

[Craven]

[truthiness]

Ah, Penn and Tellar... those guys are great...

Sounds about right though... "It would be like Old Tibet, but maybe with a few reforms".

So, religious rule, but reformed in order to maintain good relations with their benefactors in the West. (read, less eye-gouging)

At any rate, I really don't think it'll happen. No country would actively support a Tibetan independence movement against China, beyond a few words now and again, and everyone knows it.

[Craven]

Let's not forget that they took over Tibet in 1912, with paramilitary forces, by surprise. UN never recognized Tibet as a country.

[Guyverman1990]

The UK ruled India for roughly a century. If we're lucky China might change it's ways by 2040, according to this site's predictions. By then they'll allow a referendum for Independence.