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Originally Posted by noodle
Why would you think Tibet is a nation?
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Quote:
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Tibet was Qing's important province because of "sinoized" Manchu ruling class who were Tibetan Buddhists of Dalai Lama's sect. Dalai Lama's political source was from Chinese rulers or Mongolian tribal leaders ever since Dalai Lama kicked out Sakyapa and other ruling factions.
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The definition of nation is not the same as definition of state.
A nation is a self-aware group of people often based on things such as, (but not necessarily) language, history, territory; who alse have political ambitions.
Not all nations have their own states, some exist within states (peacefully or otherwise). Some examples
-Palestinians
-Native Americans
-Maori
-Zulu
Similarly some nations by their
own self definition allow you to incorporate others
-Canadians
-Americans
-New Zealanders
-South African
Tibet is a nation as long as Tibetan people claim to be Tibetan. As long as Tibet wishes to be independent then I will support that.
The key here is not about what WE define them as. It's about how they define themselves.
Also I don't think the Dalai Lama wishes Tibet to be a part of China. When he came to New Zealand he came as the spiritual and exiled political leader of Tibet. He called for a free Tibet in many of his speeches.
I suppose a free Tibet
could be one in which China still administers them but they still have their own political will under some sort of constitution perhaps (agreed to by the Tibetans of course, Tibet could become like Scotland is to England maybe?). But that hasn't happened yet and frankly, I believe that as long as the Communist Party is in power in China that won't happen.