The Dalai Lamas enslaved the Tibetan people for centuries.
There was a 35 year life expectency in Tibet in the 1950's, now it is 67 years. China may be bad, but the Feudal system that they had before was worse. Torture, starvation, disease, slavery, rape of girls and women, no education, no health care, and other horrors were the norm for most of the people. The upper classes, including the monks, were living a charmed life off the miseries of the majority.

It's easy for rich Hollywood stars like Richard Gere to say that the Dalai Lama is "His Holiness", but Gere didn't have to starve, toil, and get tortured under the rule of their empire. It took the 14th Dalai Lama decades to even speak out against some of the policies of his predecessors.

Here is a rarely heard perspective on the issue of separating Tibet from China:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9QNKB34cJo[/youtube]
Breukelen advocaat Reviewed by Breukelen advocaat on . Obama urges Bush to boycott Beijing LEVITTOWN, Pa. - Barack Obama joined Democratic presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday in calling for President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies for the Olympic Games in Beijing. Clinton had commended British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for announcing that he will skip the August ceremonies in China's capital, and called on Obama and likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain to join her in urging Bush to do the same. Obama did later in the day; his campaign Rating: 5