An historic opportunity for political change in China

From a perspective of world political systems, liberty is better than confinement, light is superior to darkness, democracy is superior to despotic rule. From a religious and cultural view, religion has historically cast a tremendously profound impact onto temporal politics, regardless of one’s opinion as to whether its effects are progressive or regressive.

The Islamic Revolution of Iran overthrew the Pahlavi Dynasty in 1979, and the immense prestige and influence of Pope John II accelerated the dissolution of the Communist Eastern Europe. Back in the East, Chinese autocracy may well meet its demise in the future, when Buddhism unleashes its innate empowerment - the individual's power to take a stand.

The key figure to trigger this change can be none other than the 14th Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet.

China is a country which has been a welcoming host to the Buddhist legacy for almost 2,000 years. Nevertheless, traditional Chinese religious culture has endured an unprecedented and protracted catastrophe since the establishment of the People's Republic of China by the Chinese Communist Party.

Tibetan Buddhism, in contrast, was exempted from this by continuing to develop and flourish in exile in India for more than 50 years. There is no doubt that Tibetan Buddhism, which is currently headed by the leadership of the Dalai Lama, represents the highest divinity of the Buddhist world.

Generally, world trends are moving towards light and progress, but freak reversal tides still emerge to halt the progression of ethical advancement in our history. Last century communism and fascism plundered the lives of mankind on a horrendous scale. Fascism declined into dust after World War II, and some communist dictatorships were defeated. But an inferior cousin, the tyrannical clique of the Chinese Communist Party, is still standing in the East, clinging onto power in desperation.

The terrorist attack of 9-11 at the beginning of this century heralded a new world political landscape. The Western democratic world has been compelled to fight, simultaneously, on two battle fronts. The West has not only encountered the religious fundamentalists, the extremists and the terrorists that arose among the Arabic nations in the Middle East, but they must also face the Chinese Communist dictatorship reincarnated as nationalism.

The West is combating enemies in two directions, while many of the key leaders of the Western democratic world are repeating the practice of Chamberlain and Daladier's policy of appeasement. We do, however, have hopes that the Obama administration will change this approach.

It is extremely difficult for the West, headed by the US, to fight on two sides, and the West has its unique view of the future global political situation, in that the Western leaders are organised and united in their major approach, although the details and individual policies may differ.

The advocates for democratic movement within China, the democratic forces which represent China's future political progress, are too weak and scattered to form a robust political power to compete in the global arena. The reality is that the forces which represent the future direction of Chinese progress are not being paid due attention or being supported by the Western democratic society, even though this movement against in the Communist Party in China has simmered for more than 30 years.

The Chinese Communist dictatorship is the common enemy of many organisations who are concerned with the rights of the people: the Chinese democratic movement, the democracy of the Republic of China which has retreated to Taiwan; Free Tibet (which strives for meaningful autonomy); the Uighur people of Xinjiang province; and representatives of other ethnic nationalities within China.

However, we should also see the reason why Western capitalists were so keen on China, and that is the Chinese double digit economic annual growth for the past 30 years. It has been profitable to invest in China. Furthermore, because of the prevalence of a New Appeasement, many Western political leaders have an illusion about the nature of Chinese communists. Westerners have double standards, dealing with them in a different way to, for example the former USSR. This is implemented at the expense of moral obligation and fundamental principles.