In 1996, I asked a senior Chinese foreign ministry official in Beijing about human rights for Tibet.

That question sparked a tirade against Tibet’s Dalai Lama that was too vituperative to forget. “Some politicians and journalists claim the Dalai Lama is a fighter for freedom and human rights,” the official railed, “but have you any idea of how, before 1958, he used human skulls to hold wine?” (The Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India in 1959.)

The official fulminated further: “We all know that some servants of Washington (presumably the Dalai Lama) played trumpets made of human bones.”

I’ve recalled these quotes while reading about China’s bloody crackdown on protesters in Tibet.

Chinese officials have become far more polished in their presentations over the past 12 years. In January, at the Davos World Economic Forum, I watched scores of talented, English-speaking Chinese entrepreneurs, journalists and officials mingle with the global business elite with an ease unimaginable a decade ago. Wu Jianmin, president of China’s Foreign Affairs University, told a panel on geopolitics that China represented the global trend toward cooperation, not confrontation.

Of course, this ignored the question of Chinese warmth toward Sudan, whose government has tolerated genocide, or toward the repressive government of Myanmar. It also begged the question of Chinese human-rights violations at home.

Wu, however, was promoting China as a future global leader. The Beijing Olympics in August were supposed to be China’s coming-out party on the world stage.

Events in Tibet reveal a dark side that undercuts China’s carefully cultivated image. The violence – in which hundreds may have died – reminds the world that China is still an authoritarian country whose future behavior is unclear.

The Tibet events are already dogging the Olympics. As the Olympic torch was lit in Greece on Monday, demonstrators unfurled a banner protesting Chinese restrictions on coverage of the Tibet story. On April 9, the torch will reach San Francisco – its only stop in North America – where demonstrators are organizing on Tibet and other issues.

Unless China quickly applies some of its new global sophistication to its Tibet policy, the Olympics could turn into a nightmare rather than a celebration. Contrary to Chinese government charges, the fault will lie with its policies, not the bias of the world media.

The Tibet eruption was an explosion waiting to happen. Most Chinese believe they brought civilization to Tibet when they invaded in 1950. In reality, they brought a colonial mentality that rewarded Han Chinese migrants to the region, and repressed the culture and economic prospects of Tibetans.

“In other parts of China, economic development has benefitted the population, and you have the development of a real middle class, which tamps down grievances,” says China expert Josh Kurlantzick, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

But “Tibet hasn’t had the same kinds of opportunities,” Kurlantzick says. “State subsidies favor ethnic Chinese migrants, and most of the boom there has benefitted a tiny minority.” Tibetans have some of the highest poverty rates in China, as well as one of the highest infant mortality rates.

Repression of Tibetan culture and religion is intense, including imprisonment and torture of monks; the Dalai Lama has accused China of “cultural genocide.” Yet Chinese government hostility toward the Dalai Lama is intense; it charges him with trying to “split” China.

The Dalai Lama, however, has repeatedly said he wants only greater autonomy for his people, and preservation of their culture – not independence. “One hundred times, thousand times, I have repeated this,” he told reporters last week.

Beijing has failed to take advantage of his moderation. Talks with members of his government-in-exile have gone nowhere. This stalemate drives the younger generation of Tibetans to reject the nonviolent approach their leader supports.

The current crisis, however, offers Chinese leaders the chance to show the world that they are ready for prime time. Now is the moment for China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to talk directly with the Dalai Lama about peacefully resolving Tibet’s problems.

The Olympics have put China’s leaders in the global spotlight. They can act with the vision befitting their new global role. Or they can cling to an outdated xenophobia toward Tibet that will inflame protesters before and during the Olympics.

The choice lies with Beijing.