Here’s a real clue as to what’s going on inside China: The government is stirring up hatred of Tibetans, which is what is always done in war. Meanwhile Chinese dissident Wang Lixiong (married to a Tibetan and recently featured in the New York Review of Books [subscription needed to read]) has made a bold call for peace.

Last weekend, when the Chinese government starting filling the nation’s homes with seemingly non-stop televised images of Tibetan rioters pillaging and killing in the streets of Lhasa, Wang worried about the spiral of hatred being stirred up. He and a group of friends – Chinese writers, scholars, artists and lawyers – drafted a petition calling on the government to dial down the rhetoric, reflect on its policies and deal directly – and peacefully – with Tibetans’ leader-in-exile. The petition also called on Tibetans not to engage in violence. A well-known novelist and environmentalist, Wang was the petition’s first signatory. “Too many people are being inspired by propaganda now to hate the Tibetan people,” he says.

Thank you for subscribing to Tricycle! As a nonprofit, to keep Buddhist teachings and practices widely available.

This article is only for Subscribers!

Subscribe now to read this article and get immediate access to everything else.

Subscribe Now

Already a subscriber? .