Review by Jon Dorschner
Voice for the Voiceless: Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for my Land and my People by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2025
Voice for the Voiceless could not be more relevant and should be of particular interest for American diplomats regardless of their geographic specialization, for it documents a case study of how the international system functions (or fails to function). World War II traumatized the world, and the United States emerged from the conflict as the world’s most powerful state, both economically and militarily.
Our country’s leaders, blessed with a visionary outlook, conceived and brought into being an international system to prevent the outbreak of another disastrous worldwide conflict. The postwar international system we constructed changed international norms and has held sway over 70 years. World War II was caused by fascist dictatorships who insisted they could threaten, invade and conquer sovereign states. The new norm rendered such behavior out of bounds. International institutions, most particularly the United Nations, and a series of collective security alliances, the most powerful being the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) made the price of such aggression so prohibitive preventing would-be aggressor states from attacking other sovereign states.
Most of us were taught that this system successfully prevented such aggression in all instances, but it failed to deter the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from invaded the Himalayan state of Tibet. Tibet had no Air Force and a tiny army of only 8,000 troops, with no artillery, armor, or mechanized forces. China quickly compelled to Tibet to surrender.
Voice for the Voiceless is the Dalai Lama’s account of how he, as the religious and political leader of the Tibetan people, responded to this catastrophic development. China claimed that its action was not an invasion, as Tibet was not a sovereign state, but rather a Chinese province. The Dalai Lama makes it clear that Tibet has always been a sovereign state in its own right, with its own rulers, and its own language and distinct culture, and that Tibet’s relationship with China was a conventional bilateral relationship between two sovereign states under international law. In one of the most useful sections of the book, the Dalai Lama clearly states the Tibetan position on this issue.
China has made it clear that its invasion could have only one outcome, the total absorption of Tibet into the PRC, and that Tibet’s independence has been forever lost. The Dalai Lama initially remained in the Potala Palace in Lhasa in hopes of negotiating a Chinese withdrawal from Tibet. He also turned to the international system, most particularly the United Nations, for support. While the world community decried the invasion, it did not compel the Chinese to withdraw. The Dalai Lama details how his efforts were fruitless because the Chinese never intended to seriously negotiate with him. Instead, the Chinese stuck to a one-point platform throughout. They were only interested in compelling the Dalai Lama to negotiate away all hopes of Tibet ever regaining its independence.
The Dalai Lama has played this frustrating game with every leader of the PRC, from Chairman Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping. He provides a fascinating account of a process that, at times, seemed to be moving along, only to come to a halt, with no concrete progress. Throughout, it has been the Tibetan people who have suffered incredible hardship, humiliation and an assault on their identity and dignity. The Dalai Lama’s account of what transpired in Tibet during the Cultural Revolution was overwhelming. During this period, the Chinese state attempted to destroy Tibet’s culture, and religion, and used brute force, torture and violence to intimidate the Tibetan population and crush all resistance. While this was a particular low point for Tibet, this goal has remained the same from 1950 until the present day.
It seems that with each passing day, Tibetan identity is being eradicated, and Tibetans compelled to accept cultural domination by the Han Chinese majority. Since the invasion, Chinese negotiators have met with the Dalai Lama and his representatives, held out the prospect for a loosening of the state of occupation, and made some initial gestures, only to arbitrarily end negotiations and go back to naked oppression. The Dalai Lama has then tried to remonstrate with the Chinese, pointing out specific atrocities and how Chinese behavior contravenes the Chinese constitution, national laws, and stated Chinese policy regarding the treatment of ethnic minorities in the PRC. These missives are met only with silence from China.
The Tibetan population chafes under this yoke of oppression and a particular outrage, such as the massacre of Buddhist monks and Lamas and the destruction of monasteries results in an uprising, which is then brutally crushed using military force. The Chinese blame the outbreaks on the Dalai Lama and use this as a pretext to halt negotiations, and the situation reverts back to square one. On March 17, 1957 the Dalai Lama disguised himself and fled to India. On March 20, the PLA launched a well-coordinated attack on the people of Lhasa, killing hundreds of people. The Dalai Lama has lived in exile ever since.
By 1974, the Dalai Lama concluded that he must compromise or face the prospect of endless fruitless talks. He announced that he would no longer demand Tibetan independence. Instead, he would pursue what he called the “middle way.” Tibet would gain the right to maintain its own autonomous government, and retain its language, culture and religion in exchange for accepting autonomous status within the PRC. This is another useful section in that the Dalai Lama explains the middle way in detail and provides the exact documents he submitted to China when making this proposal. He also analyzes the Chinese constitution and its policy pronouncements on autonomy, to make his case. The Chinese government has rejected the middle way as a stalking horse for independence and refused to negotiate.
The Dalai Lama has acknowledged that things have gotten worse. He differentiates between the various Chinese leaders, stating that some have been more moderate and reasonable than others. Shockingly, he states that Xi Jinpeng and his policies have been the most oppressive since the dark days of the Cultural Revolution. As a mark of Xi’s ruthlessness, the Dalai Lama points to China’s policy of compelling over a million Tibetan children into boarding schools where they are forbidden to speak their language, or practice their religion, and are indoctrinated into accepting the superiority of Han Chinese culture.
In addition, the postwar world order established by the United States is currently being dismantled and disavowed by the Trump Administration, while Vladimir Putin has renounced the international system by invading the sovereign state of Ukraine. The Dalai Lama now fears that these developments could convince China to invade and conquer Taiwan, just as it has done with Tibet.
What I found amazing about the Dalai Lama was his refusal to embrace despair and his ability to keep hope alive in the darkest hours. Without delving into Buddhism, he lays out the philosophical precepts that help him maintain his optimism. This makes for interesting reading indeed.
His optimism is also based on some factors which he believes will assist Tibet to weather this storm. He points out that as an absolute dictatorship and totalitarian state, China is fragile and could unravel quickly, as did the Soviet Union. He notes that Tibetans are only one of 55 ethnic minority groups in China that suffer under Xi Jinping. He points to the systematic attack on the Muslim Uyghurs of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, and the aspirations of the Mongols of the Chinese state of Inner Mongolia who aspire to become full-fledged members of the sovereign state of Mongolia.
In addition, the Dalai Lama notes that by invading and conquering Tibet, China has extended its international border to India. This has aggravated a border dispute between India and China and made the entire region more tense and increasing the possibility of interstate conflict. He has proposed that Tibet be demilitarized and declared a “zone of peace,” which he argues would help defuse this conflict.
I highly recommend this book on my levels. It does have some shortcomings, however. The Dalai Lama repeats his charge of cultural genocide by China against Tibet many times throughout the book. This constant repetition undermines the book’s effectiveness. The documents in the appendices section often mirror language found in other places in the book and makes it appear that much of the language of the book is derived directly from these documents. This repetition of language is again counterproductive.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Jon P. Dorschner, PhD is a native of Tucson, Arizona, and currently teaches at the University of Arizona. Prior to joining the University, he was a career Foreign Service Office from 1982 until 2011, serving in Germany, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, the United States Military Academy at West Point and Washington.
Jon earned a PhD. in South Asian studies from the University of Arizona, has taught South Asian studies at the University level and publishes articles and books on South Asian subjects.
American Diplomacy is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to American Diplomacy.