While most believe China is a relatively stable country, the pace at which recent labour protests gripped international media attention is noteworthy. Watchdogs have long warned of gross mistreatment of workers in China, at both state-owned and private factories. But the media had by and large failed to report on the matter until two incidents earlier this year: strikes at the carmaker Honda's plants in China, followed by suicides at Taiwanese companies that make iPods for Apple. Although journalists are now writing about Chinese workers, there is much to undo in the long framing of China – despite the contradictions inherent in the 'capitalism with Chinese characteristics' model – as the ultimate destination for manufacturers.
Something similar happened with the 2009 demonstrations inside Tibet, which saw the most widespread airing of anger in decades, followed by the largest show of military might on the plateau since the 'liberation' of the area in 1950. While large-scale protests continue to occur every decade or so (and Tibetans do not manufacture iPods on overtime), there has been little analysis of why such demonstrations occur on a regular basis. Some say political freedom or democracy, others cite economic inequality, while some others attribute the ongoing discontent to the denial of religious freedoms. In his biography, Arjia Rinpoche emphasises the importance of thinking that Chinese and Tibetans are indeed facing the same predicament. As such, he says, it is important to 'free China, before freeing Tibet.'
That is easier said than done, however. In June, during a speech to the Tibetan community in Minneapolis, he seemed quite pessimistic about the pace of change with regards to Beijing's policies, thanks to the rigidity of the Chinese system. Still, change is not to be ruled out entirely, particularly under certain scenarios. By some counts China is extremely unstable, particularly if one considers that the country experiences, by some counts, an estimated 80,000 protests every year. 'What if even half of those protests happen in one place, in one day?' he asked.
Rinpoche, who fled Tibet in February 1998, has a unique story to tell. That tale includes his birth to nomadic parents, his recognition as the reincarnation of the Seventh Arjia Rinpoche (one of Tibet's leading monks) in 1952 when he was just two, the takeover of Tibet by Chinese forces, his life in Kumbum (in Amdo) during the Cultural Revolution, his meteoric rise through the higher echelons of Beijing's power circles and, finally, his escape into exile. Perhaps the most important element of Rinpoche's story is how he narrates his ringside account of one of the most important events in the history of modern Tibet, the controversial reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, the second highest-ranking monk in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy. The details of the event, normally reserved only for the coterie of high-ranking lamas, add much colour to his narrative.