The visualization of snow-capped Himalayas Ranges, amiable, simple-minded and staunch Buddhist followers, nomads chasing herds of yaks, an isolated geographical location on the top of the world isolated for the past few decades--all these descriptions portray a picture of Tibet and its people. Tibet has ultimately in the past few years come out of isolation and emerged into the international arena, attracting a tremendous amount of curiosity and support among the many nations around the globe, though ironically not a single independent nation has yet to declare public, formal support for the recognition of Tibet. Despite that, Tibet is still getting much publicity through well-organized, prolonged, and often time arduous promotion by the world-renowned political leader H.H. Dalai Lama-- also recognized as the reincarnation of the Buddha of compassion and supreme religious guru by the Tibetan people.

Anyone who has met with the Dalai Lama always remembers his child-like, friendly and straightforward persona. His eloquent repertoire and vast knowledge on various subjects, covering such fields as science, literature, philosophy, even politics, touches their hearts and draws them towards him. After rising to the highest political hierarchy of Tibet at a tender age, the Dalai Lama's political career has trailed on a rocky path ever since. The Tibetan issue has been in the highest priority in the communist regime's agenda for the past few decades. The watershed in the relation between Tibet and Mainland China reached its pinnacle when in 1959 the Dalai Lama left Tibet after an abortive uprising by Tibetans against the communist Chinese occupation of their homeland. Ever since then both sides have been carrying out harsh propaganda attacking each other: the Tibetan government in exile blaming and accusing the Chinese regime for the plundering and illegal occupation of Tibet, and the Chinese putting the blame on the Dalai Lama and exile government for evoking a separatist movement within Tibet to overthrow the Chinese government.

After many years of voicing support for the Tibetan issue, the Dalai Lama has captured the hearts of many in the West through his preaching of Buddhism. Even many Hollywood stars as Richard Gere, Steven Seagal, Harrison Ford, and so on, have become friends and disciples of the Dalai Lama. During all these past years the Dalai Lama has personally been involved in international diplomacy to internationalize the Tibet issue, to make the world know about the atrocities being committed within Tibet, to leverage support from powerful nations, particularly U.S.A. and European nations. The internationalization of the Tibetan issue has not brought any substantial results so far due to the strong warnings from China to take repellent steps to those countries that support the Dalai Lama's claim for Tibetan independence. Many countries, including the U.S., have to bend down to protect their business and economic interest in the region. As the opening and liberalization of China on economic fronts has made it one of the largest and fastest growing and potential markets in the world, the Dalai Lama also needs to accept this reality and make necessary changes in his policies for a peaceful solution of the Tibet issue.

A peaceful solution is the path the Dalai Lama wants to take to solve the problem, though Chinese counterparts still refuse to show any sign of restraint or concession. Meanwhile as these events were unfolding, Taiwan was facing the hegemonic threat from Mainland China to settle the dispute between the two strait regions by force. Communist China carries out missile tests now and then in the near waters of the Taiwan strait to intimidate pro-independence forces from gaining support within the Taiwanese populace. This kind of threat was imminent when Taiwan chose its first president through democratic voting last year. In Mainland China's view, this was a sign of Taiwan moving towards Taiwanese independence. Although there may be many differences between the situations in Tibet and Taiwan, in both cases the struggle is for territorial rights and legitimacy of the governments.

Ironically, Tibet doesn't have any diplomatic relation with the Taiwanese government. In the past few years there have been some unofficial contacts between the two sides. The Dalai Lama's elder brother Gyalo Lundup made many private visits, during which he met with government officials. On one visit Gyalo met with President Lee Tung-hui and Prime Minister Lien Chen. These unofficial visits were the first reports in Taiwanese media that contact existed between the two sides. In fact, both sides have maintained some kind of contact dating to a long time back. And recently the possible visit by H.H. Dalai Lama sent a stir in the Taiwanese media. The Taiwanese Buddhist community is very eager to full-heartedly welcome such a visit. What should be the most appropriate status of the Dalai Lama during his visit is a subject of fierce discussion. The Taiwanese government openly refuses to welcome the Dalai Lama as the political leader of Tibet but rather invites him as a spiritual leader. This is on one hand not to anger Beijing, and on the other hand to maintain its legitimate claim as the sole representative of all of China, including Tibet. This has added stress to the already complicated situation. For the Dalai Lama, coming to Taiwan is not an easy decision to make, for fear of disgruntling the faction within the Tibetan community that wants no less than independence. Also in the past, the exiled Tibetan government was against any visit to Taiwan by Tibetans, labeling these groups of people as betrayers, since Taiwan still claims sovereignty over Tibet.

But in recent years, as evident from the possible visit by H.H. Dalai Lama, there is a drastic shift in the antagonistic approach towards Taiwan. In fact, after talks with Mainland China bogged down in the past few years, the Tibetan government in exile found it pretty hard to get back on the negotiation table to discuss the future prospect of the Tibetan issue. During this period of time, the Dalai Lama's stand on the Tibetan issue has been shifting more towards the center. Not demand for total independence but an autonomous self-rule region. Despite the softening on this stand, China has relentlessly kept up the personal attack on the Dalai Lama.

Meanwhile, Taiwan has also been going through tremendous political changes. It has become a center of democratic liberalization, contrary to the autocratic communist regime on the Mainland. Similar to the Dalai Lama, the President of Taiwan, Lee Tung-hui, has always been marked as a political leader advocating Taiwan independence, although always denied. Finding themselves in a more-or-less similar situation, Tibet and Taiwan have both constantly faced the oppression by Mainland China in the international arena.

Therefore, the Dalai Lama's trip to Taiwan on March 22, 1997 will give a good boost to publicizing the Tibetan issue in the international media. Similarly, Taiwan will also benefit from announcing its presence and credibility to the outside world. This can also be a good chance for the Dalai Lama to announce to the world that he is not against the Chinese people, only struggling for an autonomous Tibet with more freedom and democratic rights for the Tibetans. For the past few years, the Dalai Lama has been shifting his stand more towards the center, not asking for total independence. This notion has not garnered the support of his Mainland counterparts, who believe he is still promoting dissident movement within Tibet. This trip to Taiwan is significant to the Dalai Lama in terms of his support for democracy. Often times, he has admired and praised Taiwan for its democratic reforms and liberalization. Promoting democratic liberalization might be a good platform for the Dalai Lama to settle the dispute of Tibet with Mainland China.

Despite the fact that this trip has been dubbed as a religious trip, the opposition party in Taiwan, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is going to leverage from this trip to promote their interests, that is to publicize Taiwan as an independent country. From the Dalai Lama's side, they are trying their best to down-play the political tone, but the DPP has already started to bring up this issue, not only to the public but also to the legislative yuan, the highest law making body in Taiwan. This may be risky to the Dalai Lama. Instead of helping to solve the decades long misunderstanding between the Tibetan government in exile and the Taiwanese government, if the political tone surpasses the religious promotion, it will very likely anger the Mainland and evidently be detrimental to the already-bogged-down negotiation with China. Wisdom and a tactical approach can be the only solution to avoid these dreadful pitfalls.

Besides these lurking risks and pitfalls, the Dalai lama also wants to take this trip to screen out the misunderstanding between the two sides. If the trip goes successfully, the lack of official contact with Taiwan seen in the past few decades surely will come to an end, and in the not-too-distant future a liaison office of the Tibetan government in exile will likely be established in Taiwan. This will mark a new era of cooperation between the two sides. In the view of the exiled government, the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC), the highest cabinet body representing Tibet, has been engaged in poisoning the Tibetan societies, primarily in India and Nepal, with dissident propaganda. They are also blamed for channeling a lot of money to a minority of selected Tibetans who commit espionage on the exile government and promote conflicts within the Tibetan societies. How much truth in these allegations is yet to be verified. But one thing is sure, the Dalai Lama doesn't want to establish any relation with the MTAC directly. This also reflects one of the transitions in local politics taking place in Taiwan. The upsurge of the support for abolishing MTAC is getting stronger within the Taiwanese people and government.

Therefore, the Dalai Lama wants to talk directly with the central government, without the involvement of MTAC, to start a new era of mutual communication, cooperation and learning from each other. How much will be achieved and established in this trip is yet to be seen. Surely, this landmark trip will pave a way to a very successful mutual interaction between the two sides. Both sides have lot to share and give to each other. The Dalai Lama can contribute to the promotion of Buddhism in Taiwan, and Taiwan can in return teach the Dalai Lama and his people about democracy. The spring of a relationship founded on mutual respect, communication and assistance is surely getting off to a positive and strong start.

Tashi Gelek is a young Tibetan currently living in Taiwan. He was born in Nepal to a family that originally came from Kham, the eastern region of Tibet. He received high school education in India and went to college in Taiwan. Tashi was one of the first readers of Mandala. We are delighted to feature his contributing article on this groundbreaking event.