Time to hit the Chinese where it hurts

Hit them where it hurts—this is the title of a detective novel by James Hadley Chase. This should be the motto of our <a href="https://indianarrative.com/tag/china-policy">China policy</a>. Even a discussion on Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang irritates the Chinese Communist Party. Obviously, criticism of their Tibet policy will infuriate them. Has our government started doing this? Perhaps.

Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports Kiren Rijiju’s wish to the <a href="https://indianarrative.com/tag/dalai-lama">Dalai Lama</a> on the Dalai Lama’s 85th birthday may be seen by the CCP bosses as an affront to their authority, as the breach of a red line that they have drawn for the world to respect, as an assault on their divine right to torment ethnic and religious minorities.

Normally, a minister wishing a world dignitary on the latter’s birthday is a routine exercise, but not when the minister happens to be an Indian and the dignitary the Dalai Lama—and certainly not when tensions are high on the India-China border.

“On the auspicious occasion of the 85th birthday of His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama, I offer my deepest reverence, prayers, and wishes for his long and healthy life. His values and ideals are the guiding light towards love, peace and compassion for entire humanity,” the Minister tweeted.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, and Ladakh Lieutenant Governor R.K. Mathur also greeted the Dalai Lama.

This is in contrast with the attitude the ruling dispensation exhibited till some time ago. In fact, we even did away with official contact with the Tibetan government in exile.

It looks like the Narendra Modi government is effecting a change in its China policy; it seems to be moving towards the red line the Chinese have drawn for the world. Therefore, the government needs to recognize the fact that there would be retaliation from Beijing; we must be prepared for that.

For the Chinese can’t tolerate anybody who has anything to do with the Dalai Lama. Even if that somebody is just a film star. Thanks to their massive influence in Hollywood—because China is a huge market whose keys are held by CCP bosses—they blighted the flourishing career of Richard Gere.

His crime? His devotion to the Dalai Lama and his support for the Tibetan cause. The actor who starred in, among other movies, Pretty Woman, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Runaway Bride doesn’t get engaged by the big studios, keen as movie moguls are to keep the Chinese in good humor.

“There are definitely movies that I can’t be in because the Chinese will say, ‘Not with him’,” he told the media in 2017. “I recently had an episode where someone said they could not finance a film with me because it would upset the Chinese.”

The fact that the Narendra Modi government is warming up to the Dalai Lama is good news. This will surely hurt the Chinese. Our government has to stay the course and cross the red line..