A senior correspondent who has interviewed the Dalai Lama four times said that while the Tibetan issue has become internationalized, the window of opportunity to resolve disputes between Beijing and Dharamsala is closing.
Simon Kei, senior correspondent of Hong Kong-based Asia Weekly, most recently interviewed the Dalai Lama in early August, after the latest round of dialogues with Beijing. Kei told an audience in Hong Kong that the issue of Tibet has become internationalized partly because Beijing has not shown kindness to the Dalai Lama, and it will be the focus of every major international event in the future if negotiations continue to yield no real results. While Beijing said the latest round of dialogues in early July made progress, Kei said that the Dalai Lama was very disappointed that no progress was made. Kei said that Beijing has miscalculated its strategy for dealing with Tibet by underestimating the Dalai Lama’s ability to gain international support and urged China to resolve the issue while the Tibetan spiritual leader is still alive. However, Chinese authorities rejected the criticism and said it is time for the Dalai Lama to respond to Beijing’s kind gestures.