ABSTRACT
The pervasive tendency of both the Tibetan exiles and the Chinese leadership to describe events in Tibet in either black or white—horrendous oppression or magnificent reform and development—pressures the nonspecialist to choose one side and accept its version in entirety. The disturbances in Tibet are the manifestation of the longstanding conflict over what the political status of Tibet vis-a-vis China should be: the “Tibet question.” Throughout the 20th century China and Tibet have sparred over this issue, each shifting positions and strategies, gaining temporary advantages but unable to achieve the elusive goal both seek—a permanent, mutually agreeable solution. The ethnic and territorial basis of the Tibet question transcends a particular form of government or a particular set of leaders. Solving the Tibet question in the 1990s on one level requires terms that would be acceptable both to the Dalai Lama and the exiles and to Beijing.
