Rift With Beijing Reveals Two Tibets
By MICHAEL CONNOLLY
The tensions underlying Tibetans' protests against tight Chinese control reveal the deep split that exists between the Tibetan elite, which cooperates with the Chinese government to rule the region, and many everyday Tibetans.
As Shai Oster in Lhasa and Gordon Fairclough report, the monks and lay people who have taken to the streets of Lhasa and other Tibetan settlements across western China in demonstrations over the past two weeks are dissatisfied with the Chinese government's limits on religious expression and frustrated by their relative lack of economic success.
But many in the Tibetan elite, which includes tens of thousands of senior religious figures, government officials and businesspeople, have grown prosperous and powerful by working with Beijing. These partnerships between the government and its Tibetan allies require difficult compromises and remain fraught with distrust.
Read our penetrating analysis of the underlying issues in the conflict by Shai Oster in Lhasa and Gordon Fairclough in Shanghai:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120664118219169105.html?mod=djemasialinks
Read Shai Oster's latest report on his continuing visit to Lhasa:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120664118219169105.html?mod=djemasialinks
