Penpa Tsering, and James Himberger
After three-quarters of a century under Chinese occupation, Tibet still hopes for genuine autonomy.
Editors’ Note: On October 27, James Himberger, the managing editor of The National Interest, interviewed Sikyong (President) Penpa Tsering of the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile during the latter’s visit to Washington, DC. They discussed the legacy of the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the life of the Tibetan exile community, the future prospects for Tibetan autonomy, the Dalai Lama’s succession strategy, the deterioration of Tibet’s natural environment, and even the Sikyong’s impressions of the US government shutdown. The following conversation has been edited for style and clarity.
James Himberger (JH): Sikyong Penpa Tsering, thank you for taking the time to sit down with The National Interest today during your visit to Washington, DC. Seventy-five years ago this month, in 1950, troops under the leadership of Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party entered Tibet and began an occupation of the region that persists to this day. Nine years later, the Dalai Lama fled to India and established a self-declared government-in-exile, which would later become the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in 2011. What are the goals of the Central Tibetan Administration?
Penpa Tsering (PT): Seventy-five years ago, on October 7, 1950, China invaded Chamdo [in Eastern Tibet]. On November 17, 1950, His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, at the age of 15, had to take over the temporal and spiritual leadership of Tibet. And then, six months later, we were forced to sign the so-called 17-point agreement. His Holiness, at a very young age, tried to live under the provisions of the 17-point agreement for eight long years. Within those eight long years, His Holiness went to China in 1954–55, met with Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Zhu De, all those leaders of those times. And he also witnessed how the communist government functioned. Everything looked very orderly, but there was no freedom to speak your mind.
Then, in 1956 and 1957, His Holiness was in India. India was in its nascent democracy just ten years after independence. His Holiness went to the Indian parliament, found it quite chaotic, but everybody had the freedom to speak. So, His Holiness wanted to introduce democracy [to Tibet], not even one year after coming into exile under very difficult circumstances. It has been since 1950, as you say, it’s been 75 long years. We never imagined that we would have to live in exile for this long. So one of the main responsibilities of the Central Tibetan Administration or the Tibetan government-in-exile is to resolve the Sino-Tibet conflict peacefully.
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