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As Crisis Bites, UK Changes Stance on Tibet

After a century of hedging, Britain says region is part of China

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 25, 2008 8:25 AM CST

(Newser) – Last month Gordon Brown called on China to pump more money into the International Monetary Fund, whose coffers are nearly bare as more nations succumb to the global financial crisis. Only a few days later, writes Robert Barnett in the New York Times, the British government quietly announced a change to a century-old policy: It explicitly recognized Tibet as a part of China.

Britain had ambiguously recognized China's de facto control over Tibet, but not its complete sovereignty—a view the government called a colonial "anachronism." Whether or not China demanded a tit-for-tat, Beijing has won its biggest diplomatic victory on Tibet since Nixon's day. The result is a substantial weakening of Tibet's hand as China steps up its opposition to Tibetan autonomy, and a testament that "Western powers should not rewrite history to get support in the financial crisis."

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A monk sits close to on spare altar in his small room witha framed portrait of the Dalai Lama, at the Labrang Monastery in Xiahe, Tibet, Monday, Nov. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/ Elizabeth Dalziel)

Tibetan worshipers have a picnic next to a stupa at the Monastery in Hezuo, China, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008. Inside China, Tibetans' devotion remains strong. (AP Photo/ Elizabeth Dalziel)

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama addresses a press conference in Dharmsala, India, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

Zhu Weiqun, who heads the Chinese government department in charge of talks with representatives of Dalai Lama. Zhu accused the leader of trying to split Tibet and China. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Yang Jiechi, left, the Chinese Foreign Minister, and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, talk during a joint press conference in London, on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007. (AP photo / Frantzesco Kangaris, Pool)

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown answers questions during a press conference in Shanghai, China, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

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The financial crisis is going to do more than increase unemployment, bankruptcy and homelessness. It is also likely to reshape international alignments in ways that we would not expect. - Robert Barnett, director of Columbia's Modern Tibetan Studies Program

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As Crisis Bites, UK Changes Stance on Tibet