ISAS Working Papers

China’s reactions to the visit by Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh in April 2017 symbolises a deeper shift in China’s perception of the Tibet issue and India’s role in it. The Chinese view the unrest in Tibet as part of the unresolved border issue between India and China. The intensification of the Chinese rhetoric over Tibet is backed by newfound confidence from the Chinese diplomatic victories in recent years over the Dalai Lama issue. With the rising Chinese economic influence, China is increasingly able to isolate Dalai Lama in the international arena and the Tibetan cause he expounds. India’s diplomatic signalling of using Dalai Lama may prove to be counterproductive, because China is using it as an anti-India tool, which helps it to mobilize the Chinese nationalists against India’s support to the Chinese Tibetan “separatists”.