ABSTRACT
Much like the former Soviet Union, China is a multi-ethnic empire with a government that strives to be totalitarian. In the meantime, however, Chinese-controlled Tibet already qualifies as one of Asia’s most destructive and tragic ethnic conflicts. The civilizational clash in Tibet, therefore, is primarily between recently-arrived Han administrators, soldiers and settlers and native Tibetans. The case for an independent Tibet becomes far less compelling if Tibetans are a minority in a mostly Chinese province, and governing it will be easier as more of its citizens accept the central government’s legitimacy. Tibetan tribalism and its immediate consequences, animosity between Tibetans and Han and the Tibetan separatist movement, have important ramifications for Chinese national security. In most instances, that loyalty goes to Dharamsala, the seat of the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile across the border in India, instead of Beijing, which is the final manifestation of Tibetan tribalism.
