Things have changed dramatically since 1992. Neither government is interested in making a political side at the expense of the other, like they were in 1992. Both sides are looking to create a double-win, period. Beijing is calculating that social and economic integration will make reunification inevitable, and Taipei has decided that it's a distant enough issue that it doesn't care.
If the Dalai Lama returned <strong>and</strong> the independence movement dissipates, and if he along with Beijing is able to negotiate a system so that our help is directed in a channel that Tibetans can support, then I think we will have achieved a double-win that no one would want to change.

[buxi,[b] the double-win[/b] outcome you described would be a nice goal to strive for. But will it work? This is really a question about what kind of person the Dalai Lama is today. Does he really want to do something useful for the well-being of the 5+ million Tibetans, even at the expense of his own interests? Did his behavior over past 5 decades make us believe that he could after all be such a selfless person who cares about the lives of average Tibetans? By returning to China and trying to make a contribution to the development of the Tibetan society, at the same time playing by the laws of PRC, He would have to give up all the goodies that come from his current lifestyle of being the international star among the western societies, where he enjoys spotlight, good-will, money, fame, fashion sunglasses, partying with Hollywood movie stars, and being able to making irresponsible, outrageous comments about "cultural genocides" without being subject to direct challenges and scrutinization.