Beijing looks like it’s facing another ‘security headache’—the Dalai Lama has turned into a Chinese language Tweeter. The Tibetan monk who the Chinese establishment loves to hate has been on Twitter to answer 10 questions at a time on his new Chinese language Twitter account at Twitter:@dalailamacn. And he doesn’t shy from answering sensitive political questions, batting on the front foot (to use a cricketing analogy) when it comes to China’s soft underbelly—Tibet.
So far, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, which is in charge of internal security, has not apparently swung into action to attempt to block the Dalai Lama’s Tweets. One reason might be the infrequency of the updates—he has had just two Tweeting sessions so far, on May 21 and July 19.
The Chinese know very well that the West-backed Dalai Lamais hugely popular around the world (although his Twitter account posts a respectable but not remarkable 5,340 followers). And, it seems, he hasn’t so far been inundated with questions. For his last Tweeting session (July 19) he received just 326 questions.
Chinese policymakers must be keeping their fingers crossed that the Dalai Lama doesn’t dramatically increase the frequency of his tweeting sessions, something that could well boost his follower numbers. At the moment, Internet access in Tibet is free. Let’s see how long that stays true if the Dalai Lama keeps Tweeting about greater autonomy for Tibet.
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JohnG
But Twitter is blocked in China so how will Tibetan’s access the feed without going around the Great Fire Wall?
J.
harry
Who cares about what this CIA political monk think? No matter how much he cries China will never leave Tibet. There are two options for him:
1 Die in India and next Dalai lama will be appointed by the Panchen Lama.
2 Come back to Tibet cutting all ties with CIA and a foreign government and sit in his palace and be a good SPIRITUAL leader for Tibetans.
pankaj johar
res dalai lama ji pleeeeeeeeeease pleeeeeeeeeease go back from india with your peoples.
your peoples are spoiling india very badly
pankaj johar
john
Theocratic rule is over! It’s time has long pass and good riddance. The dalai lama can play the bubbly jolly monk for his CIA masters all he wants however not all of us westerners buy into his religious freedom cause because he’s suppressing his own Tibetan exile Shugden followers. I wonder how he would react if the Chinese government were to take him up on his bluff and really make Tibet a area of religious freedom and introduce Tibetans to Jesus Christ?