Free Tibet

To whom it may concern,

It is a very precarious situation in Tibet. 50 years ago the People’s Liberation Army moved into Tibet, a strategic military position over Asia, and literally burned the culture to the ground. Thousands of years of written history were destroyed when they leveled every Buddhist monastery in their path. During subsequent uprisings, the sheer size and force of China overpowered the ill-equipped Tibetan resistance. Now, we see the economic force of China capitalizing on Tibetan culture, diluting it, and creating a minority of the Tibetan people. If this course continues, it is only a matter of time before Tibet is only a geographic name in China. Although it has been a long time since China invaded Tibet, the act was committed against international law, and it was unprovoked. Why this has not generated more international furor, attention, and action, I do not understand. Is there a non-violent means to liberating Tibet? I believe that the Tibetan people and their spiritual leaders should follow in the footsteps of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and demand their rights, freedom, and independence through civil disobedience and non-violent action. Like both of these movements, the leader, the Dali Lama, must be out front and center. The Chinese have threatened to arrest him if he ever returns to China. I say let him return and have the Chinese arrest him, and then see what the world community does. If such a populist movement does arise, will the United States turn its back on China and support the Free Tibet movement? Will this administration assist in any way it can to politically and economically leverage China towards this end?

GUNNAR HAND, AICP