Legitimacy and otherwise
One of the more jarring assertions made by members of the United Front Work Department at the press conference following the just-concluded ninth round of Sino-Tibetan dialogue in Beijing, was that the Dalai Lama is not the legitimate representative of the Tibetan people.
(Other jarring assertions could be saved for another blog, such as claims by Sithar – a Tibetan deputy director of the United Front Work Department – that the Tibetan people “deeply fear the return of a theocratic system. They have no wish to be serfs, and have no wish for their fundamental human rights to be abused.”)
The Dalai Lama’s “legitimacy” has never been questioned by the vast majority of Tibetan people themselves. His legitimacy within the culture and religious institutions of Tibet is woven into the very fabric of all that is Tibetan, and is derived from the belief that he is the living incarnation of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. He is regarded as “the sun” in Tibetan lore, and who would point at the sun and challenge its legitimacy? Statements by Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Chinese Communist Party officials that the Dalai Lama lacks legitimacy in Tibet, should be taken with a large pinch of opiates.
As of course should the announcement today that the Chinese choice of Panchen Lama – rejected by the vast majority of Tibetans as the “Panchen Zuma” or “Fake Panchen” – has been appointed vice president of the All-China Buddhist Association. The Panchen Lama, regarded as “the moon” in Tibetan lore, is the reincarnation of the Amitabha Buddha, the Great Scholar. The young boy recognized by the Dalai Lama in the mid-1990s to be the 11th Panchen Lama was almost immediately ‘disappeared’ by the Chinese authorities, who put their own “Panchen Zuma” in his place, and who is now being elevated to ever-higher positions in China’s political apparatus. One can see where this train of thought about the Dalai Lama’s ‘legitimacy’ is heading: the inherent absurdities and hypocrisies here are so blatant that they really don’t need to be spelled out.
But it also flags up the fascinating love-hate relationship that the Chinese government and Party has with the whole concept of “The Law”: what is “legal,” “lawful,” and “legitimate” – or otherwise – in the People’s Republic of China is, as in any other country, a deeply profound topic. In the PRC though, this topic is wholly dominated by the Party whose true legal expertise seems to be how to shift legal goal-posts and remain unaccountable while still reserving exclusive rights to ‘legitimacy’ for itself.
On the one hand, practically every legal decision in the PRC – whether criminal, civil or administrative – is tagged with the mantra “according to law”. So when Liu Xiaobo, for example, who drafted Charter 08 calling for sweeping democratic reform in China, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for “incitement to subvert the socialist system,” his verdict and sentence were delivered “according to law” as if there is some deference to a higher realm of reason that bestows a sheen of ‘legitimacy’ to jailing one’s detractors in order to shut them up.
On the other hand, Gao Zhisheng, a pioneering human rights lawyer who attempted to use the courts to hold police accountable “according to law” for the brutality meted out against underground Christians and Falun Gong practitioners, has simply disappeared. First he disappeared into police custody, held incommunicado for months, and now he has disappeared from police custody, with his friends and family fearing – quite legitimately – the worst. The only comment about his condition and whereabouts was a line delivered by a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who said “he is where he should be.” Ominously, the exact same line was once used to de-legitimize questions about the whereabouts of the young Panchen Lama recognized by the Dalai Lama.
One of the Chinese authorities’ most-often stated objections to the existence of the Tibetan Government in Exile in India is that it is against “Chinese law”. (It’s in India!)
Zhu Weiqun, the same United Front Work Department official who said that the Dalai Lama has no legitimacy to represent the Tibetan people, is also reported to have said after the previous round of Sino-Tibetan dialogue that his Tibetan colleague Pema Trinley, recently appointed Chairman of the TAR Government, is more representative of the Tibetan people than the Dalai Lama. Those comments brought a torrent of strongly worded protest from bloggers, refuting his claim and asserting Tibetan loyalty to the Dalai Lama.
It is worth noting too that according to Zhu Weiqun’s official biography, he was involved in the selection process for the Chinese choice of Panchen Lama. Nothing else is publicly known about the precise role he played, but it was almost certainly something to do with the poor child’s legitimacy…
(For fuller biographical information on Zhu Weiqun, see: A Great Mountain Burned by Fire, pp. 149-151.)
PHOTO CAPTION: A Xinhua stock image of “Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu,” installed by the Chinese authorities as the Panchen Lama.
2 Responses to “Legitimacy and otherwise”
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The more I learn about reincarnation, Tibetan Buddhism, and the lineage lamas and the authentic peaceful resolution proposed by HH the 14th Dalai Lama, the more resolute I am in the sacrifices I am personally willing to make for the Tibetan cause. I will be protesting the actions of the Chinese government until I am dead!
Absurd, hypocritical, delusional are certainly all “legitimate” words to describe the Chinese attitude to the Tibet issue and issues of human rights for both Chinese and Tibetan people. I find it ludicrous to hear of the Chinese government’s proposal of the 4 Not to indulge in Points directed at the Tibetan envoys. In response here are my 4 Not to Indulge In points for the Chinese government
1. cease and desist calling HH the 14th Dalai Lama a separatist when for decades now he has sought the PEACEFUL middle way approach despite the persecution of the Tibetan people
2. end the practice of jailing and torturing innocent Tibetans particularly holy people, monks and nuns
3. Stop raping the Tibetan plateau and ruining the environment
4. End the practice of causing the Tibetan nomads to be refugees on their land