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Dalai Lama threatens to 'resign'

Joanna writes: The Dalai Lama has threatened to 'resign' over the protests in Tibet. He said that independence from China was "out of the question" and his only option would be to resign as the spiritual leader of Buddhism if violence escalated.

Technically, he cannot abdicate in this way, since he is honoured as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. But the threat is a measure of the severity of the situation.
A good piece by Rosemary Righter in The Times today on why the Dalai Lama's power terrifies Beijing.

She writes: "The Chinese are paranoid about the Dalai Lama for essentially the same reasons that the rest of the world respects him: as the humbly persuasive spiritual leader of a leading world religion whose lack of temporal power diminishes in no way the loyalty and love he commands. He is the main reason why China's methods of ethnic colonisation, fairly effective with other minorities have failed in Tibet. Not only is Tibetan culture too far removed from Chinese for assimilation to be feasible; it revolves around religious loyalties that the State cannot reach."

Gordon Brown yesterday refused to say whether he would meet the Dalai on his visit to the UK in May. The British government has been reluctant to make links with him for fear of jeopardizing relations with China.

Tibet: monks in the front line of protest

As in Burma, so now in China,  Buddhist monks are taking to the streets, their most recent protest ( for a free Tibet and freedom of worship ) quashed by the authorities. The picture shows monks in exile protesting to commemorate the anniversary of  the  March 10 Tibetan uprising 49 years ago.  Students for a Free Tibet blog says
“The Chinese government is trying to use the Olympics to gain acceptance on the world stage and to legitimize its illegal occupation of Tibet,...The human rights situation in Tibet and China is getting steadily worse and yet the Chinese government continues to deceive the world by depicting Tibetans in its Olympics propaganda as happy and prosperous under Chinese rule.”  Reports suggest that monasteries around Lhasa have been surrounded by armed police. As the Olympics approach, the situation can only get more tense.