The Middle, Middle Path

Whilst French is no advocate of the Chinese cause, he does plead for a realistic assessment of their role in Tibet. After inspecting the files of the Tibetan government in exile, it became clear to him that the much-touted figure of 1.2 million Tibetans dead as a direct result of Chinese rule could not be accepted, and the death tolls in some of the more sparsely populated areas were "unfeasibly high". But while he now believes that the figure for those killed as a result of Chinese rule is probably half a million, he does go on to say that this is "a devastating enough figure, in all conscience, which in no way diminishes the horror of what was done to Tibet". He does not accept the allegation that Tibet is still a country ruled by terror. Although he has no illusions about China’s role in Tibet, he maintains they now rule by "constant mental supervision, the absence of freedom".

French believes it is important to be realistic about Tibet, that it has suffered for too long from "the well-intentioned projections of visiting foreigners". He rightly points out that the enormous goodwill these projections have created and of course the unique status the Dalai Lama himself has achieved through his charisma, courage and faith might well stand in the way of a settlement with the Chinese, which French believes was possible at one stage. "Now," he says, "the Dalai Lama has come to represent too much; his return to Tibet with the world’s media travelling in his wake, hoovering up the biggest story of its kind since Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, would be profoundly destabilising to Communist rule."

So what should the Tibetans do now? After meeting the Dalai Lama, French sensed "the only realistic hope for the future was for Tibetans to work within the Chinese system, to try to get as many of their countrymen as possible into good positions, and wait for the day when there was reform in Beijing, in the hope that Tibet would be permitted genuine autonomy and a reassertion of its own unique identity". That is a policy that only a leader with the unique faith, vision and courage of the Dalai Lama could follow. At this time when all over the world violence is being answered with violence, when oppression is being challenged by the gun, when state terrorism is matching religious and separatist terrorism, the Dalai Lama is the one leader who has stood up to the intense pressures on him from within his own community, especially among the youth, to sanction violence.

Although French’s book is a plea for realism, his admiration for the unique qualities of the Dalai Lama is undimmed, nor does he in any way lack sympathy for the Tibetan people. His first encounter with Tibet came when the Dalai Lama visited the school where he was studying. Since then Tibet has changed his life "socially and spiritually" and in spite of his plea for realism he still has "a lasting romantic vision of Tibet as a lost land, a place of dreams, a place to feel at home". That’s what makes this such an important book. It treads the traditional Buddhist path, the middle road between adulation of Tibet and denigration of its cause claiming it is an attempt to restore an outdated, uncritical, religious dictatorship. Tibet, Tibet is realistic but leaves room for dreams, and for myth, which is so undervalued in our absurdly over-rational world.