Lingxi Kong is a Chinese inventor and classics graduate of Columbia University; he is currently doing research on ancient literary criticism. He met Dalai Lama this spring. He writes in the Far Eastern Economic Review:
In the short run, China’s government may claim triumph over this great, old sage: They might force him to live out the rest of his life in exile, or they might leave him with no option but to return to China as a private citizen, without even permission to live in Lhasa. He may well comply, perhaps to avoid large-scale bloodshed. But his life-long commitment to democracy and openness is sure to remain a creative force in the national life and thinking of our generation: It is planting seeds of hope and vision among the next generation of Chinese and Tibetan youths. In the future, though nationalism will still persist, I see in our small group and our brief meeting signs that young leading intellectuals and activists from this generation are emerging in China who will grow up with an active engagement in public life and with a lasting respect for reason, tolerance and cultural diversity.
