Opinion: Pushing China's buttons

Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan is an unnecessarily provocative act against China.

HDS GreenwayAugust 31, 2009 11:54Updated May 30, 2010 12:06

Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, prays on Aug. 31, 2009, for the victims of Typhoon Morakot who died during a landslide in Hsiaolin village, southern Taiwan. The Dalai Lama, on a controversial humanitarian visit denounced by China, steered clear of talking about Tibet but said he was dedicated to the promotion of democracy. (Nicky Loh/Reuters)

BOSTON — There is nothing like a good flood, and an imperfect governmental response, to set off people’s ire.

George W. Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina four years ago erased any lingering credibility he had with the electorate, and they took it out on his party in the next election.

Nearly 40 years ago a monsoon storm in the Bay of Bengal brought flooding and great loss of life to what was then East Pakistan. The people’s ire morphed into revolution and, with the help of India, East Pakistan split away to become Bangladesh.

The Taiwan government’s reaction to the recent typhoon, that that did so much damage and killed upwards of 600 people, was also bitterly criticized and has brought political trouble down on President Ma Ying-jeou’s head.

Unfortunately, flood politics have now involved the Dalai Lama who is making a tour of the devastated south of Taiwan this week. The Dalai Lama has visited Taiwan before, but his visit comes at a delicate time. Ma’s government had been improving relations with the mainland, with direct tourist flights and shipping across the Taiwan Straight without having to first transit Hong Kong. A considerable number of Taiwan citizens live and work in China now, and China has become Taiwan’s biggest trading partner.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan, however, favors formal independence while Ma’s Kuomintang party does not. It is no coincidence that the invitation to the Dalai Lama comes from seven southern cities, badly hit by the typhoon, whose leaders happen to belong to the DDP. It is said that Ma, who turned down a previous visit by the Dalai Lama, didn’t feel he could risk further unpopularity by doing so again when tempers are so high. Many Taiwanese citizens are Buddhist, but the Tantric Buddhism of Tibet is very different.

The two most sensitive subjects for Beijing’s leadership are independence for Tibet and Taiwan. The Dalai Lama advocates autonomy for Tibet, not full independence, but Beijing doesn’t believe him and employs its most venomous rhetoric when referring to him. Feelings left by anti–Chinese riots in Tibet a year ago are still raw

As for Taiwan, it was occupied by the retreating forces of Chiang Kai-shek after the civil war in 1949. Beijing holds that Taiwan is a part of China and has said China would go to war rather than see Taiwan declare independence.