The People’s Republic of China has labelled the 14th Dalai Lama a “jackal,” a “feudal serf-owner” and a “wolf in monk’s clothing,” among other colourful epithets. And now, against the backdrop of the exiled Tibetan leader’s planned visit to Canada, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa has delivered an even harsher indictment: The Dalai Lama is a Quebec separatist.
“The issue of Tibet is neither a religious issue nor an issue of human rights, but rather a matter of principle concerning China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the embassy fumed in a statement protesting against Paul Martin’s decision to become the first Canadian prime minister to meet the Dalai Lama. “We hope Canada, which has its own problem with Quebec, will understand our position.”
Just how are Tibet and Quebec similar? To give China its due, there are clear parallels. Both are home to linguistic and religious minorities struggling to preserve distinct cultural identities in the face of much larger, economically dominant groups. Both are home to nationalist movements. Both are cold in winter. Both have mountains.
But there are minor differences, too. The Quebec Act of 1774 enshrined Quebeckers’ right to practise their faith, Roman Catholicism. It protected Quebec’s distinctive Napoleonic civil code and seigneurial land-holding system. Enacted a mere 15 years after Wolfe defeated Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham, this law ensured that francophone culture and political institutions would remain a fact in North America for centuries to come. In modern times, the debate over Quebec’s place within Confederation has been marked, for the most part, by civility on both sides. Quebec sovereigntists have twice had their project put to a popular vote, with Ottawa’s tacit approval.
Moreover, both the Supreme Court and the federal government have acknowledged Quebec’s right to secede, given a clear majority vote on a clear question. During the Trudeau era, Ottawa responded to Quebec’s complaints of alienation by making the whole country officially bilingual at the federal level, right down to the cereal boxes — while Quebec remains officially francophone under provincial law. Avowedly separatist Quebec politicians are given a place in the nation’s Parliament, and are paid about $100,000 in federal tax dollars a year, including allowances for expenses and housing.
And Tibet? According to credible independent observers such as Human Rights Watch, as well as numerous academic experts, Tibet has for half a century been subjected to one of the most brutal assimilations in history. Since October of 1950, when 40,000 Chinese soldiers invaded the Himalayan kingdom, between half a million and 1.2 million Tibetans have died. Some 6,000 Buddhist temples have been destroyed. Thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns have been imprisoned, tortured or killed. Hundreds of thousands of Han Chinese have been encouraged to migrate to Tibet, so that ethnic Chinese now outnumber Tibetans in many towns. The traditional Tibetan strain of Buddhism, which includes veneration of the Dalai Lama as a living god, has been outlawed. This even though the Dalai Lama himself — unlike, say, Jacques Parizeau — has disavowed separatism. He prefers to seek greater autonomy and religious freedom for his people within China.
Note to the Chinese embassy: Your analogy is ridiculous, odious and insulting to Canadians.
