The Dalai Lama's presence in Lhasa would provide the Tibetan people not only wisdom and spiritual sustenance, but also help them face their day-to-day problems with confidence and resolve.
Over the decades, the constant stream of writings, seminars, workshops and demonstrations on the Tibet issue—by the Tibetan government-in-exile, various support groups, and interested scholars, journalists, and activists—have all centered around the issue of Tibet independence. In fact, so much so that they have drowned out the one voice that matters most: that of the Dalai Lama.
Over the last 16 years, the Dalai Lama has not advocated Tibet independence. He has advocated the Middle Way Approach. The Dalai Lama's motive is pure: the welfare of individual Tibetans. He is not concerned with abstract and antiquated notions of independence and sovereignty. He is concerned with the quality of life of individual persons.
The Middle Way Approach seeks to balance and harmonise the interests of the Tibetans and the Chinese. The Chinese are not inherently evil, nor the Tibetans inherently saintly. They are two different cultures which must learn to live together in peace. Not a forced peace, but a natural and just peace: a peace with dignity. As such, this approach could just as well be termed the "Taoist Approach", for it seeks to balance opposing forces.