The question is whether mass suicide is likely to move the Chinese politburo to compassion? The answer is *obviously not*.  It’s a story with no possible happy ending. So, while it is distressing to hear about monks committing suicide by burning themselves, I can’t help feeling depressed knowing that the gesture is futile. It get’s worse because suicide is a weighty negative karma. Unlike Muslim suicide bombers who expect to go to paradise, the suicidal monks cast a pall over their society because in murdering themselves they are destined for a stay in hell (though not permanently). The gesture is worse than futile, it actually makes the situation bleaker. Monks are looked up to by the ordinary people. Now not only are they are oppressed,  but the monks have lost hope and are committing suicide instead of sicking to their vows. 

I don’t think there’s any parallel with Vietnam in the 1960s. The Chinese overlords are an entirely different animal. They really don’t care what the world thinks of them, and they are quite prepared to sacrifice the few for the good of the many. The old Confucian ideal of stable society being more important than any one individual has not been erased by Communism, only enhanced. 

The Karmapa’s statement is a study in helplessness. He can’t afford to be political for fear that China will lean on India to withdraw their support for the Tibetan diaspora. He even admits that Tibet is more prosperous than it was. The Chinese govt has brought material prosperity to Tibet and this only confirms the rightness of what they are doing in their own minds. It is the fulfilment of their duty.

So pity the Tibetans, because as many Syrians are killed by their own leaders, they at least have some hope of deliverance. The Tibetans are well and truly fucked.