Rev. Danny Fisher

The Associated Press and the BBC are reporting that the hundreds of Tibetan leaders who met in Dharamsala this week to discuss the future of the Tibetan cause have decided to continue to follow His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way” approach to China. The AP reports:

“There was a majority for the middle way,” Dolma Gyari, deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament, told reporters after the conference. But she said if China does not respond positively, “there is no other option left to us then to go for independence.”

The delegates also agreed to temporarily stop talks with China because Beijing was not taking them seriously, Gyari said.

“Looking at the doings of China in recent times, we will not send the envoys for further contact,” she added.

[...]

Participants had said the meeting was unlikely to result in a dramatic break with the Dalai Lama’s approach. A number of delegates called for taking a harder line against China, but the consensus seemed to hew toward a more conservative strategy.

As a result, the meeting has become a dress rehearsal in democracy as the Tibetans try to formulate a plan without the guidance of “His Holiness,” a man they view as closer to a god than a mere leader.

The delegates “reaffirmed that they will follow the Dalai Lama in whatever path he deems most appropriate,” said Tenzin Tethong, a former prime minister. The Tibetan parliament, which convenes in March, must approve the agreements reached in the meeting, Tethong said.