He needs to bolster the idea of nativism/nationalism, because it's what his whole cause is based on. Tibet was a horrible backwater, and the encroachment of China at least had some positive economic effects. Not that that makes it worth it, China is still a huge threat to the world. What am I trying to say... this isn't surprising, because he needs to promote nativism, it's one of the only claims to the country. Claims that Tibetan independence is a moral necessity are dubious because the country hardly had a serious legitimate government that respected economic growth and civil rights. That doesn't make the idea of nationalism less important, in fact it just shows that it's more middle-of-the-road than the Lefties would have us believe, where even their sacred cow promotes it, whereas lefties want to tell everyone it's an ultra-hitler-nazi-klan idea. The conversation will never move forward until we get past such silliness