Tibet PM ready to make plea for independence

The prime minister of Tibet’s exiled government said today that leaders would push for Tibetan independence if a key meeting of exiles this week decides to drop the Dalai Lama’s measured path of compromise.

More than 500 Tibetan exile leaders held closed door discussions as part of a weeklong meeting, the first major re-evaluation of their strategy since the Dalai Lama in 1988 outlined his Nobel Peace Prize-winning “middle way,” which pushes for autonomy but not outright independence for the Himalayan region.

The Dalai Lama has expressed frustration over years of fruitless talks with China and prominent Tibetan leaders have said the conciliatory approach “has failed.”

Samdhong Rinpoche, the exile prime minister, said the “emotionally charged meetings” that began yesterday could lead to a dramatic new path for the Tibetan movement.

“If the outcome of the present meeting is we should switch over from the 'middle way' to independence, we will gladly follow that,” Mr Rinpoche said today.

He said any decision made this week would be taken to the exile parliament which will have the final say.

“We are sincerely committed to a genuine democratic system to reflect public opinion,” he said.

China insists Tibet has been part of its territory for 700 years, although many Tibetans say they were effectively independent for most of that time. Chinese forces invaded shortly after the 1949 communist revolution and the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 amid an unsuccessful uprising.

Large numbers of Tibetans remain fervently Buddhist and loyal to the Dalai Lama.