Last week, more than 400 Tibetans from 26 countries gathered at a Tibetan school in Dharamsala in northern India signaling the new wave of the Tibetan movement. However, Tibet's spiritual leader in exile Dalai Lama was conspicuous by his absence in the meeting which was chaired by Lobsang Sangay, an important political figure in the movement. The meeting was organised to send a strong message to China as it gears up to choose it's next leader in November during the Communist party's eighteenth congress.

The meeting also allowed Sangay, who was recently chosen as the Sikyong (similar to prime minister) of the Tibetan Government in Exile, to establish himself as the new leader among Tibetans in the region and around the world. This change of guards makes Beijing's problem more complicated, since China will now have to approach a more radical Lobsang for future talks, instead of the moderate Dalai Lama.

Although Sangay has formally expressed his commitment to Dalai Lama's 'middle-path', during the meeting he gave the Tibetan Youth Congress permission to run its Free Tibet campaign all over the world. Besides, some of the other decisions taken at the gathering, such as expressing solidarity with those performing self-immolation, as well as establishing ties with anti-Beijing dissidents in Taiwan and Hong Kong are sure to irk the Chinese government.

Despite having garnered global support for the Tibetan cause, the leadership in Dharamsala will have a hard time convincing powerful western governments to stand up to Beijing.