Tibet is a large plateaux region in Asia, situated north of the Himalayas. With an elevation of 14,000 ft it is literally the highest nation in the world! Until 1950 it was a sovereign state inhabited by six million people. By the end of 1950 it had fallen victim to a Chinese occupation which has resulted in the death of over one million Tibetans; the destruction of over 6,000 monasteries, nunneries and temples; countless cases of blatant human rights abuse; severe and irreversible environmental damage; and genocide. In short the Chinese government has enforced a non-democratic and authoritarian rule over Tibet which has lead to the mass exploitation of the Tibetan people. They have no say in any of this and lack all basic freedoms. All this has happened with limited criticism from the majority of the international community, who have ignored Tibet’s cries for assistance, despite the obvious injustices that have been prevailing for almost 60 years. Most governments – including New Zealand’s – do not recognize Tibet as an occupied state.
A Very Brief History
Over past centuries, some countries, including Britain and Mongolia have sought to exert control over Tibet, with periodic and partial success. International legal scholars agree that from 1911 until the Chinese invasion in 1950, Tibet was a fully independent state by modern standards. Since then the people of Tibet have struggled to regain their freedom and keep their culture intact.In March 1959, Tibetans rose up against their Chinese occupiers. The uprising was brutally crushed and the Tibetan leader, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, escaped to India after the governments’ of other countries, including neighboring Nepal (and the USA), offered little or no assistance. The Tibetan leader was followed by more than 80,000 Tibetans. Tens of thousands of Tibetans who remained were killed or imprisoned.
Tibet has been continually oppressed over the decades- always from the top down. During the 1960s and 1970s, repression took place under a state that was trying to exert total control over the economy. Today, private capital is a partner of the state, but the need for repressive methods remain. Tibet was never ruled under communism- the nation was first oppressed under state capitalism, now it is market capitalism. During the era of state capitalism, workers and peasants were ruled by Chairman Mao’s nationalist ideology, which forcefully bound China’s masses to its rulers. This is the reason for the continuous Tibetan oppression still now.
The UN general assembly has passed multiple resolutions condemning the Chinese government for violations of fundamental human rights of the Tibetan people and called on China to respect the Tibetan peoples’ rights – including their right to self-determination. This has been to no avail.
The situation in Tibet is now getting worse
rather than better. Close to 180,000 Tibetan people are now in exile. To
prevent any more the Chinese government is now paying the Neplese police to
arrest Tibetan exiles as they try to cross the border and send them back to the
Chinese authorities. Cultural restrictions are more severe and many Tibetans
cannot get employment due to their
ethnicity.
On Tibetan New Year's, which happens on the
22nd February, we would normally see images of the Dalai Lama, government
officials and reincarnated monks praying and reciting invocations. Tibetans
would be giving out offerings for good luck. The next fifteen days are
celebrated with singing and dancing to celebrate Tibetan culture. However this
hasn't been the norm for over 6 decades. The restrictions on the celebrations
this year were more restrictive than ever with a total ban on foreign tourists
and millions of Chinese troops surrounding the city of Lhasa.
This year the Tibetan Parliament in exile
and Tibetan communities across the globe observed a day-long hunger strike, in
solidaity with the 30 monks that have self-immolated since 2011. Their
sacrifice proves the severity of the situation in Tibet, and the fact that we
haven't heard it – its censorship.
The Dalai Lama and many Tibetans have had
to flee over the Himalayas to Dharamsala in northern India. Dharamsala, meaning
“resting place for travellers” in Hindi is only a temporary refuge where
Tibetans can live in relative freedom, waiting for the world to act.
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Shide Monastery, one
of the Tibets most venerable Buddhist monasteries,
was destroyed during the
Chinese invasion of Tibet in the 50s. Evidence of the wreckage like this
statue
of the Jigshe in now being cleared by authorities
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The Effect of the Occupation On...
1) The Tibetan
People
The effect of the
occupation on the Tibetan has been devastating. Fundamental human rights have
been abused with the imprisonment, torture and exploitation of thousands of
Tibetan people.
They have no
freedom of speech - There is
no free media and 4000 Tibetan political prisoners are currently being held by
the Chinese government. Arbitrary arrests continue. Many Tibetans that are and
have been imprisoned have been subject to torture.
They do not have
the right to assembly, movement and expression.
Genocide has been
committed in Tibet. In 1959,
the International Commission of Jurists found that genocide has been committed
in Tibet. With the help of new railways the Chinese government has got high
numbers of other people from China to migrate to Tibet, offering them
higher wages and other inducements. This policy is threatening the survival of
Tibetan people. Tibetans are becoming a minority.
Discrimination and
Racism. The Tibetans that
remain in Tibet suffer from discrimination from the new settlers. These results
in them not being able to get employment and support their families as well as
they should be able to.
Force Abortions, often late in pregnancy, and sterilization of
Tibetan women is common.
Their religion and
culture is monitored, limited and controlled - Over 6,000 monasteries, nunneries and temples to date have been
destroyed. New Chinese houses are being built to replace the Tibetan ones -
Tibetans are forced out of their homes into non-Tibetan houses and are then
required to take up loans to pay for it.
Exploitation of the
Tibetan people through mining, deforestation and tourism. Mining, logging, and tourism companies destroy
take huge profits – none of which get back to the Tibetan people, who, are in
most cases unable to work for these companies in the first place.
Tibet has been
heavily militarized. There is
one Chinese armed troop for every ten Tibetans. One quarter of China’s nuclear missiles are
situated in Tibet. This is a huge intimidation tactic by the Chinese government and devastating for a
peace-loving people like the Tibetans.
Mining and
Deforestation has lead to irreversible environmental damage. Almost half the tree that were in Tibet fifty
years ago have been chopped down leading to soil erosion and the
extinction/endangerment of many species. Mining leaves damaging by-products
that are not cleaned up and are bad for the health of the people living near
them. It also contributes to destroying the habitats that may species depend on
to survive – species that are found nowhere else in the world.
Tibet is being used
as a dumping ground for nuclear waste.
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| From Top to Bottom: An SFT protest in San Fransisco; A poster from an SFT campaign; Protests in New York; the Tibetan Flag |
The 'Free Tibet' Movement
The Free Tibet Movement is set up for
anyone who wants to support the Tibetan
people. It raises funds for various different charities, organises and leads
local and international campaigns and fights for human rights. It has done lots
of every important work over the last two years in building awareness of the
Tibetan cause, especially in 2008 over the Beijing Olympics.
Students for a Free
Tibet (SFT) is one of the largest and argueable more successful groups with active
chapters working around the world. They work in solidarity with the Tibetan
people in their struggle for freedom and independence. Through education, grassroots organizing, and
non-violent direct action, they campaign for Tibetans’ fundamental right to
political freedom. Their role is to empower and train youth as leaders in the
worldwide movement for social justice. In Their work for Tibetan independence
they also aim to inspire and enable people, especially youth, to create a just and equitable world, free of oppression, in which there is respect for
the earth and all living things.
This is exactly what
groups outside of Tibet need to do in order to successfully support the Tibetan
people. Through their work, especially
through protests, they show solidarity with Tibetans; demonstrate the power
that people have to change society; increase visibility of the cause; build active
relationships with others who what to
make a positive change; and energize participants to carry on organizing and
fighting for the cause. This is the same as what OGNA tries to do in its work.
Problems Within the Movement
Unfortunately a small minority in the Free Tibet
movement have run campaigns with anti-Chinese feelings. Many of these look at
imperialist powers, such as the US, to intervene. As has been shown in
Afghanistan, Iraq and countless cases in the past, imperial powers only intervene when it is in
their interests- and even then, living conditions and human rights abuses only
get worse. In the case of Tibet, the US’s support for the Tibetan people is superficial; offering nothing to
them of any substance- it serves as a platform for the USA to stick its middle
finger up to China. The only good it can
do is to raise awareness of the Tibetan situation. This generally encourages
people to help in none productive, reformist rather than revolutionary
ways. Relying on the United Nations is
an example, multiple reports on the plight of Tibet have been released, but in
the last 60 years things have yet to change.
In the U.S., people
need to continue to expose the hypocrisy of politicians who decry the abuse of
human rights overseas as they pursue their own violent course to exploit the
world’s people and resources, from New York to Baghdad. These worldwide
purveyors of oppression are up to no good in their support for the Dalai Lama.
The experience of other oppressed nationalities has shown that U.S. support
represents a hazard in the struggle
for self-determination, not an advantage.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and how a Positive Change for Tibet can Come About
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| From Top to Bottom: A Free Tibet protest in Delhi; His Holiness the Dalai Lama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989; A monk protesting in Kathmandu Nepal |
The
movement in Tibet has always been non-violent. This strategy has huge popular
support. It is unlikely to change as the whole
essence of Tibetan culture is based on Buddhism – a philosophy focused
on ending the suffering of all living things. The Tibetan non-violent approach
is principled rather than pragmatic.
With
popular support and a mass movement behind them, backed especially by the
working class of China, there is no need for violent resistance. This idea is
especially ridiculous when you take into
account that the Chinese army is 3 million strong, with highly sophisticated
weaponry well out of the grasp of poor Tibetans.
The Tibetan movement is not just about
Tibetans. It is linked to the millions of poor, oppressed and exploited people
who live under the rule of the Chinese government including those in East-Turkistan,
Inner Mongolia and many of the Chinese themselves! The Chinese working class,
some of the worst treated workers in the world, are capable of delivering real
liberty as they can strike the biggest
possible blow to the government’s control. They can do this by striking, and shutting down production and
vital services, and through non-cooperation with the government, taking away
its power. In recent times Chinese workers have started to fight back against the
Chinese authorities, organising in unions, and partaking in effective strikes.
This, if it continues, offers hope to the Tibetan people who can then assist
through their own action in Tibet.
The control over the
future course of resistance in China is up for grabs. The political views that
develop in China among workers, peasants, and the oppressed will make the
crucial difference. A Chinese movement
for genuine socialism and liberation is possible on the basis of antiracist
unity against all oppressors—unity that
equires an adamant defense of the right to self-determination for oppressed nationalities. The efforts of
solidarity activists in the West would also benefit from adopting the same sort
of politics.
The occupation of
Tibet has lead to a state of control – an authoritarian, non-democratic system
that exploits and harms the Tibetan people. They get no profits from the
companies that destroy their land. They get no say and no freedom.
At least one million
Tibetans have died as a direct result of the Chinese government’s policies
since 1950 - through starvation, torture and execution. Thousands more have
died in East Turkistan and Inner
Mongolia. Millions of people in China live in abrupt poverty. The
Tibetan struggle has been non-violent for almost 60 years and their courage in
the face of sustained persecution and world-wide apathy deserves the support of
those with the freedom to do so but ultimately – for them to be liberated and
truly freed from oppression – they need support from the lower class of Chinese
society and solidarity with others around the world. They, ultimately, are the
only people who can help Free Tibet. Not the undemocratic, exploiting
governments of the West.
Help. Free Tibet. Join OGNA and Students
for a Free Tibet and make a difference.
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