The Dalai Lama has, in recent years, been telling the world he has stopped 
seeking "Tibetan independence" and turned towards a "middle way". 
By this, he says, he means "high-level autonomy" or "real autonomy" in Tibet 
and other Tibetan-inhabited areas within the framework of the Chinese 
Constitution. Only by doing so, he has argued, can Tibet best protect its unique 
traditional culture, religion and eco-environment, and can the unification and 
unity of China be maintained. (On March 10, 1959, the reactionary upper class in 
Tibet staged a counter-revolutionary armed rebellion. When it was suppressed, 
the Dalai Lama and his men fled to India, where he made March 10 as a 
remembrance "Resurrection Day".) 
On March 10, 2006, he followed his usual practice of delivering a speech, in 
which he said: "Making the Tibetan race become the real masters of their own 
fate and enjoy real autonomy constitutes my only wish. And this wish could be 
materialized as the PRC Constitution contains special stipulations for this." 
What the Dalai Lama says sounds reasonable at first glance; and he has given 
up the "independence of Tibet" and turns to work for the interest of the 
Tibetans. However, if one takes a closer look at the background of what the 
Dalai Lama has put forth regarding this "middle way", its major contents and the 
Dalai Lama's explanation, and then compares this with the PRC Constitution, one 
will instantly find nothing new, only old wine in a new bottle. 
People who know Tibetan history well know that the Dalai Lama stands for the 
"independence of Tibet" when he has fled to India in 1959. On June 20, 1960, he 
held his first press conference in India, and vowed to "restore freedom and the 
special status Tibet enjoyed before the Chinese invasion in 1950". Thereafter, 
he made speeches on March 10 each year, vowing to win the "independence of 
Tibet". 
Moreover, the Dalai Lama set up his "government in exile" overseas and worked 
out a "Tibetan constitution" (later renamed the "constitution for Tibetans in 
exile"). He built up a rebel army in Nepal for border harassments in the ensuing 
years. In the name of "organizing armed troops to fight their way back into 
Tibet", he collaborated with the Indian military and American CIA to organize 
the "Indian Tibetan special border troops", set up "representative offices" in 
some countries, and organized the "Tibet youth congress", "Tibet national 
democratic party" and "Tibet women's federation." All these organizations have 
engaged in separatist activities overseas. 
From the 1970s to the mid-1980s, the international situation underwent 
changes with India and the United States all working to improve ties with China. 
As a result, the Dalai clique got less public support internationally. It faced 
economic difficulties and was riddled with internal feuds. It was against this 
background that the Dalai clique told the Central Government it could "give up 
efforts seeking Tibetan independence and return to China". 
In 1987, the Dalai Lama delivered a speech to the US Congressional Human 
Rights Committee, putting forth his "five-point scheme for Tibetan peace"; in 
1988 he tried but failed to address the European Parliament in Strasburg, and 
instead spoke in the hall of the parliament, where he declared his "seven-point 
new schemes" (hereinafter referred to as the "five points" and "seven points"). 
In the two speeches the Dalai Lama made his statement with regard to the "middle 
way", and the two speeches served as the most authoritative explanation of this 
approach. 
It is the "five points" and "seven points", as well as other explanations 
made by the Dalai Lama and his like that show the world the "middle way" goes 
against the Chinese Constitution and law. Here are four aspects related to this 
conclusion: 
The first is that the Dalai Lama still refuses to recognize the fact that 
Tibet is part of China. The PRC Constitution stipulates in its preface that the 
PRC is a multi-national country founded by peoples of various ethnic groups in 
the country. Article 4 of the Constitution goes further to say that various 
regions exercising national regional autonomy in China are an inalienable part of 
the country. However, the Dalai Lama said in his "five points" that "Tibet was a 
completely independent state in 1949 when the PLA entered". In his "March 10" 
statement of 1995, he said: "The reality of today is that Tibet is an occupied 
country under colonial rule". At an Indian seminar called "support for Tibet", 
he declared: "Buddhism entered Tibet from India, and so did many other aspects 
of Indian culture. From this point of view, I hold that it is more reasonable 
for India to own sovereignty over Tibet than China." In recent years, the Dalai 
Lama has changed his tune by saying that the issue can be turned over to 
historians for discussion; we should refrain from talking about the past, and 
instead focus on the future. 
It is an historic fact that Tibet has since the ancient times been an 
inalienable part of the Chinese territory, and the Central Government of China 
has exercised indisputable and effective rule over Tibet. During the Yuan 
Dynasty (1271-1368), the Central Government set up the Xuanzhen Yuan to take in 
charge of the Buddhist affairs in the whole country and the military and 
administrative affairs of the Tibetan region. It exercised effective rule over 
Tibet by conducting census, setting up post stations, collecting taxes, 
stationing troops, appointing officials, and introducing the Yuan Dynasty 
criminal law, astronomy and calendaring to Tibet. During the Qing Dynasty 
(644-1911), the 5th Dalai Lama and the 5th Panchen Erdeni of the Gelug Sect of 
Tibetan Buddhism all received honorific titles from Emperor Shunzhi and Emperor 
Kangxi. From then on, the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Erdeni of the future 
generations all got the honorific titles and established their political and 
religious leadership in Tibet. And it becomes a historical precedence for the 
Dalai Lama and the Panchen Erdeni to receive honorific titles during the 
Republic of China (1912-1949). The 14th Dalai Lama himself was confirmed and 
enthroned with the approval of the Central Government of the Republic of China. 
Governments of various countries in the world declare that "Tibet is part of 
China". This constitutes the common knowledge of the international community and 
the political basis for China to develop bilateral ties with other countries. We 
see that the Dalai Lama publically refuses the fact that Tibet has since the 
ancient times been a part of China, and then says that he does not have to talk 
about this issue. He does all these to impress the others he has made 
concession. As a matter of fact, however, he is turning a known-to-all 
historical fact and a political principle related to state sovereignty into a 
historical and academic question that exists and does not have to be discussed. 
Admitting what the Dalai Lama has said means acknowledgement regarding his 
statement that Tibet has been an occupied country after 1949. Legally speaking, 
the so-called "Tibetan issue" will not then be an internal issue of China; it 
will then be related to "colonial issues" whereby the Tibetans could enjoy the 
right to independence through "national self-determination" according to 
international convention. This, of course, goes against the historical fact that 
China enjoys sovereignty over Tibet and the principle set forth in the PRC 
Constitution that areas exercising national regional autonomy are inalienable 
parts of China. The Central Government naturally is staunch in attitude and all 
people with a sober mind can see that what the Dalai Lama does is his plan to 
dish out his "Tibetan independence" when conditions ripen again according to his 
own standards. 
The second point is that the Dalai Lama attempts to refute the current 
political system followed in Tibet according to the Constitution which states 
that the socialist system is the fundamental system of the PRC; no organization 
or individual is allowed to undermine the socialist system; in the PRC, all 
power belongs to the people, and the NPC and the People's Congresses at various 
levels are the organs of power through which the people exercise State power. 
And the PRC Law on National Regional Autonomy stipulates that national regional 
autonomy is the basic political system of the CPC to solve China's ethnic issues 
using Marxism-Leninism. The above legal stipulations undoubtedly apply to Tibet. 
However, the Dalai Lama declared that "the autonomy China follows is not real 
autonomy". According to what he has said, Tibet should achieve "high-level 
autonomy" or "real autonomy" according to the "one country, two systems" 
principle, and the scope of "autonomy" should be larger than that for Taiwan, 
Hong Kong and Macao. In his "seven points", meanwhile, he argues that "a Tibetan 
government should be set up in Lhasa and should have an elected administrative 
chief and possess a bicameral legislative organ and an independent judicial 
system". In November 2005, the Dalai Lama said in the United States: "The 
Central Government should take care of defense and foreign affairs, because the 
Tibetans have no experience in this regard, but the Tibetans should have full 
responsibility for education, economic development, environmental protection and 
religion". In a nutshell, the CPC leadership, the socialist system, the people's 
congress system and the national regional autonomy in Tibet, which have been in 
place in Tibet for decades in accordance with the PRC Constitution, should all 
be refuted, and a whole new system introduced according to what he says "real 
autonomy". This is obviously different from what he claims for Tibet to work 
"within the framework of the Chinese Constitution." The PRC government white 
paper entitled National Regional Autonomy in Tibet issued in 2004 made it clear 
that, unlike Hong Kong and Macao, Tibet is not faced with question related to 
the exercise of sovereignty and the possibility of re-introducing another social 
system. Any endeavor to destroy and change the current political system in Tibet 
runs counter to the PRC Constitution and law. 
It is known to all that the "one country, two systems" refers to the fact 
that the mainland follows the socialist system while Hong Kong and Macao 
continue to follow the capitalist system they had followed before. However, no 
capitalist system existed in Tibetan history; what was followed in the region 
was a feudal serfdom featuring temporal religious administration. In its own 
"constitution of Tibet in exile", the Dalai Lama advocates the reintroduction of 
the old system featuring "temporal religious administration". According to the 
system, the Dalai Lama is the government and religious leader enjoying the final 
say on major matters. In old Tibet, the Gashag set up by the Qing Dynasty in 
region, or the local government of Tibet, was composed of four Galoons. When the 
Dalai Lama had fled overseas, his government in exile continued to follow the 
system, with the role of chief Galoon of the government in exile continueing to 
be assumed by a high-ranking lama. These are the people who are advocating the 
"one country, two systems" approach for Tibet. What they can do? Only restore 
the feudal serfdom, and nothing else! 
The third point is that the Dalai Lama sticks to "Large Tibetan Areas"that, 
however, does not exist in history. Articles 14 of the white paper on national 
regional autonomy says that matters concerning areas following the regional 
national autonomy, such as the title and regional border line, should be 
determined through full consultations among the State organs and local relative 
power organs and representatives of ethnic groups concerned in accordance with 
the law, and result of the consultations be submitted to departments concerned 
according to procedures set forth in the law; the areas following the system 
should not be disbanded or annexed without going through proper legal 
procedures. The Dalai Lama, however, persists in bringing together the areas 
where people of the Tibetan ethnic group live to form an "enlarged Tibet 
autonomous region" which would cover one-fourth of Chinese territory. People 
with knowledge of Chinese history know that, during the Yuan Dynasty, the three 
areas where the Tibetans lived saw the establishment of three pacification 
commissioner's offices for governance. The three areas refer to U-Tsang-Ngari 
(the bulk of the Tibet Autonomous Region today), Amdo (mainly southern Gansu, 
Aba of Sichuan Province and the bulk of the Tibetan-inhabited areas in Qinghai 
Province), and Kham (largely Yushu of Qinghai Province, Garze of Sichuan 
Provinice, Deqen of Yunnan Province and Qamdo of Tibet). The three areas became 
the basis for the division between Tibet and other Tibetan-inhabited areas in 
China. The ensuing Ming Dynasty followed the Yuan approach in ruling Tibet. 
During the Qing Dynasty that followed, the Central Government supported the 5th 
Dalai Lama, leader of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, to build up a regime 
in Tibet. Thereafter, further efforts were made to delineate the border between 
Tibet and the Tibetan-inhabited areas in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan. 
From this we see the Tibetan-inhabited areas outside Tibet had never been put 
under the rule of the local government of Tibet. So, there is no ground for the 
establishment of an "enlarged Tibet".