London ( CNN ) -- While President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping enjoy the Californian sunshine this week , a different kind of heat threatens Xi in his troublesome backyard , Tibet . Nearly 120 Tibetans have doused themselves in gasoline and set themselves alight in protest against Chinese occupation and repression . Most have died . Theirs is not the only form of protest . In November , students gathered in their hundreds in Chabcha ( known in Chinese as Gonghe ) county , Qinghai province , to protest the use of Mandarin , rather than Tibetan , as the language of education . In April , unemployed Tibetan graduates in Machu county , Gansu province , protested that Chinese immigrants were taking jobs , while last month , thousands of Tibetans converged on a pilgrimage site on Naghla Dzambha mountain to prevent a Chinese company mining it . The default Chinese response to protest is to use force . In its official human rights report this year , the U.S. State Department described repression in Tibet as `` severe , '' noting abuses such as `` extrajudicial killings , torture [ and ] arbitrary arrests . '' In March , the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee described Tibet as among the world 's `` most repressed and closed societies . '' The cycle of repression and protest goes on . Just last week Tenzin Shirab , a 31-year-old nomad , died after setting himself on fire . In 2011 , the self-immolation of another young man , Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia , was said to be the catalyst for the Arab Spring , an outpouring of long-repressed desire for freedom that was hailed by world leaders . But you will search in vain for any stirring words on Tibetan freedom from President Obama or other world leaders . Western politicians perform a careful dance in relation to Tibet . Those who elect them want them to speak out for freedom and human rights ; China , reported to hold more than one-fifth of the United States ' total foreign-held debt , wants them to shut up . Realpolitik dictates appeasement : electoral politics requires tough talk . The result is a mess . There have been countless official `` expressions of concern '' about the situation since the self-immolations started to spread two years ago , and we are constantly reassured that private channels are being used to apply pressure to China . Officials and junior ministers are permitted to issue calls for restraint . But there is a ceiling above which such statements do not go : leaders remain mute . President Obama has not publicly addressed the issue of human rights in Tibet since taking office . Secretary of State John Kerry has made one careful comment since his appointment , but there is no evidence he raised Tibet during his visit to China in April . China recently threatened commercial consequences for the UK unless Prime Minister David Cameron apologized for meeting the Dalai Lama in private last year . His response -- while falling short of an apology -- reassured them that the UK views Tibet as part of China , and failed to mention human rights at all . Sinologists -- and spin doctors -- in Washington or the UK 's Foreign and Commonwealth office may argue that Tibet will benefit from a sensitive approach . Late last year , however , two British government ministers who had been leaned on not to meet with the Dalai Lama for fear of offending China again , finally lost patience with that view , writing that `` where Tibet is concerned , the Chinese government does not respond positively to any conciliatory gesture ... but instead interprets this as a sign of weakness and so makes further demands for concessions . '' What goes for London goes for Washington -- and Berlin , Paris and Ottawa for that matter . Western policy on Tibet is pleasing no one -- not China , not the electorates , and certainly not Tibetans . It must be changed . China 's economic engine is slowing , and Beijing is acutely conscious that without growth , its 1.3 billion people will be far less tolerant of continued dictatorship . Between 250 to 500 public protests are already estimated to take place every day in China -- foreign trade and investment will dry up if China starts to look like an unstable place to do business . Reform is in China 's interests . China also seeks legitimacy as a full member of the world community and is undoubtedly sensitive to criticism on human rights . This year , it seeks election to the U.N. 's Human Rights Council ( HRC ) . While economic muscle helps it win nations ' votes for the HRC election , it still needs to offer its potential voters some tokens of sincerity . More tellingly , China actually accepted 42 out of 99 recommendations to improve its performance on human rights following its last full human rights review by the UN in 2009 . In choosing not simply to reject that kind of external assessment , China has also accepted the need to demonstrate progress . It faces another such review this year . Beijing has not gone soft , however . It will not choose to show progress on Tibet , unless it is called to account for Tibet . No one expects President Obama to embarrass his guest this weekend with tasteless honesty or Arab Spring-style rhetoric on Tibet . But bringing Tibet to the table will show China and the American people he represents that he recognizes the old model has failed . China , the U.S. and Tibet all stand to benefit from that . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Eleanor Byrne-Rosengren .
Eleanor Byrne-Rosengren : Obama should raise issue of Tibet during meeting with Xi . She says world leaders have been silent , despite wave of Tibetan self-immolations . China has accepted the need to improve its human rights performance , she says . `` China , the U.S. and Tibet all stand to benefit '' from addressing the issue , she says .