Published by Kodansha International Ltd., Tokyo
Interview with author
Flash Magazine, Tokyo
1. As an American, what piqued your interest in the China/Tibet situation? Are there many Americans concerned with this issue?
Like most Americans, I first became aware of the political plight of Tibet through the teachings and writings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. But in the late 1980s I began trekking in the Himalaya where I met Tibetans first-hand. This led to a profound respect for their culture, religion and history. Since writing Buddha’s Warriors, over 30 major American universities have invited me to their campuses to speak on the Chinese invasion of Tibet and the resultant rebellion. This, I believe, is a clear indication of the extent to which there is American concern. I am not a “voice in the wilderness”. Pro-Tibetan organizations currently flourish in the US: Students for a Free Tibet, International Campaign for Tibet, Tibet House, Tricycle Magazine, Tibet Justice Center, Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia (ARDA)—to name but a few—are dedicated to preserving the precious heritage and culture of Tibet which is suppressed and endangered under Chinese occupation.
2. What is the one thing that most upsets/angers you about China’s invasion of Tibet?
China’s re-writing of history to support its deplorable Han chauvinism. The tragic story of Tibetan Buddhists taking up arms to defend their nation, their religion, their culture, and above all, their Dalai Lama, may sit uneasily next to the popular Shangri-La image of Tibet, but the myth of a non-violent takeover of Tibet by the Chinese has been advanced by the communist propaganda machine and is still very much working for the Chinese propaganda machine today. That is why it so important to remember the extent to which there was fierce resistance in Tibet: to help dispel the fantasy China has spun about their bloody takeover. 1.2 million Tibetans lost their lives because of Mao’s takeover. To assert that the Tibetans invited the Chinese to take command of their country is a shameless fabrication and rewriting of history that, in spit of its absurdity, still thrives and remains largely unchallenged sixty years after the fact. China lies and my book was written to address those lies.
3. What part of the Tibetan resistance to China did you find most moving emotionally?
The aftermath. What happened after the resistance fighters fled Tibet. This can still be seen—the price they have paid—by simply visiting one of the Tibetan refugee camps in India and Nepal. These people have nothing. They lost everything and, with few exceptions, they still have nothing…no recognized nationality, no passports and few rights within their “host” nations.
4. Do you think that China poses a danger to Japan and other nearby countries? What are your reasons for this opinion?
China is drunk on its own power, its ability to make leading nations grovel, its economic growth and—above all—its sense of having been aggrieved by everything and every country that is non-Chinese. This allows the Chinese to feel they are morally superior to their neighboring Asian countries, which, in turn, allows them to justify any act of aggression they wish to initiate. Add to this the Han inclination toward expansionism and the fact that China is still a dictatorship, well, I would have to conclude that Japan and its Asian neighbors have every reason to view China with extreme trepidation. And let’s not be fooled into believing that Beijing’s dictatorship is a benevolent dictatorship, nor should we be hoodwinked into thinking that because they pay lip-service to Bush’s condemnation of terrorism, do the political leaders ever apply it to themselves because they don’t have a democratic bone in their collective body. China is a dictatorship: it can’t be repeated enough. The people of China have never been offered the opportunity to vote for current leader Hu Jintao. Beijing imprisons and executes its political foes. This is domestic terrorism applied to its own people. Imagine their lack of compunction when eyeing their neighbors...
5. As you probably know, relations between China and Japan are quite poor at the moment. From the Chinese side, Japan’s refusal to come to terms with the atrocities committed during the Imperial occupation of China, exemplified by the Prime Ministers visits to Yaskuni Shrine, is the main issue. From the Japanese side, the oppressive nature of the Chinese regime, Chinese military build-up and invasion of Japanese air and sea space cause great concern.
This question circles back to my previous observation that Chinese nationalism is, to a considerable degree, based on its sense of having been aggrieved from time immemorial. Imperial Japan’s occupation of China was a dark hour in Japanese history. There’s no secret there. But what the Chinese want to do is to exploit World War II events as a means of deflecting their own horrific occupation of Tibet—a damnable situation still in progress—and deflecting the woes of its downtrodden masses by inducing xenophobic hatred. It’s a clever ploy and no doubt useful to the dictatorship but, from where I stand, it’s intolerably hypocritical and morally insupportable. As for Japan’s concern about Chinese military build-up and invasion of your air and sea space—your misgivings are all too understandable. It’s a shame that the Western press is not giving more space to this growing threat.
But may I make a suggestion? The other salient point about the Chinese is that, deep down inside, they ardently want to be loved and respected by the international community. Witness how profoundly they treasure their hosting of the 2008 Olympic games. They wanted the spot light and now they are going to get it: This is a splendid opportunity for nations bullied by Chinese political posturing and outright lies to come forward and be heard.
