A M O S T A LT R U I S T I C P E R S O N
But to be frank, he is not an easy boss. And the yardstick with which he measures you is phenomenal. I’m very conscious that I work for someone who has high ideals. This is useful because it restrains me. I won’t cross certain limits in my personal conduct. “Let me tell you something that happened during the Tiananmen Square incident,” Lodi Gyari said. “I was his foreign minister when the tragedy occurred. At that time, despite several ups and downs, we were on the verge of starting a dialogue with the Chinese. Yang Minfu was the head of the United Front Works department, and somehow we had managed to reestablish contact. There was agreement in principle for a preliminary meeting in Hong Kong, which would set the actual venue and the date of negotiations.” I knew that there is nothing more crucial for the Dalai Lama and the other exiled Tibetans than to coax the Chinese to the negotiating table. Everything they have worked for in the past four decades is geared toward this objective. The consensus among many thoughtful Tibetans is that a genuine rapprochement with the Chinese is the only way to save the Tibetan way of life and stop Tibet from being swamped by a tidal wave of Chinese migrants. But despite the prodigious moral authority of the Dalai Lama, the Chinese have rarely shown signs that they’re willing to talk. Gyari continued. “I was busy preparing for that, and then Tiananmen Square happened. I remember it well. I was at home in Dharamsala. One of His Holiness’ drivers came with a vehicle to fetch me; I was wanted immediately in the palace. 79