China: Tibet

Tibet is located at the centre of Asia and is known for housing the world’s highest mountains.  This vast plateau of rivers and valleys is home to six million Tibetans.   Tibet is historically divided into three provinces of Amdo, Kham, and U-Tsang.  Under Chinese rule these divisions have been altered into the provinces of Quinghai, Gansu and Sichuan.  The TAR, or Tibet Autonomous Region, created by the Chinese government is formed by the Tibetian provinces of U-Tsang and Kham.  Tibet, when the term is used by Tibetians, is specific to the three provinces of Amdo, Kham, and U-Tsang, before the invasion of the Chinese.   Demographic and economic manipulation by the Chinese government is seen by many as an attempt to fatally alter the Tibetian identity.  Occupation, repression, and discrimination by the Chinese government has all been in the efforts of controlling the Tibetian identity.

¨I am a simple Buddhist monk – no more, no less¨  said the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet in an interview in The Times.  The Dalai Lama is considered both the spiritual and state leader of Tibet.   He was born in 1935 and identified at age 2 as the reincarnation of the Buddha of Compassion.  The title of the 14th Dalai Lama required a new name: Holy Lord, Gentle Glory, Eloquent, Compassionate, Learned Defender of the Faith, Ocean of Wisdom.  Educated by monks in Lhasa, his studies focused on philosophy, medicine and metaphysics.   When the Dalai Lama was 15, he assumed complete powers as Head of State, due to the invasion of the People’s Liberation Army of China in 1950.  The Dalai Lama was forced to flee Tibet nine years later, after brutal supressions  of civilian protests by the PLA.  The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in Dharamsala, India since 1960.

In 1989, The Dalai Lama recieved the Nobel Peace Prize.  The Dalai Lama advocates autonomy for Tibet and not succession, angering a younger generation of more radical Tibetians who view the Dalai Lama as a figure too concillatory toward an oppressive Chinese Government.  The Dalai Lama, though reccently taking a harsher attack, stated that the Chinese Communist Party has transformed Tibet into a kind of ¨hell on earth¨.  He is condemned as a “splittist“ by China because of his belief that Tibetans need greater autonomy to properly practice their religion.

Tibet has been the scene of periodic strife ever since it was seized militarily by China.  A place with a unique culture, history and identity, Tibet has been changed dramatically by the Chinese invasion and occupation. Tibetans in Tibet today do not enjoy basic human rights and the Chinese government has introduced policies by which Tibetan culture, language and natural resources are being systematically and irrevocably damaged.

The invasion of Tibet began in 1949. Chinese occupation has resulted in the death of over one million Tibetans, the destruction of over 6,000 monasteries, nunneries and temples, and the imprisonment and torture of thousands of Tibetans.

The Chinese government increasingly encourages Han Chinese to migrate to Tibet by offering higher wages.  This policy is threatening the survival of Tibetan people. Tibetans are becoming a minority in the TAR.  Thousands of Tibetans still flee from Tibet every year, by making the difficult journey over the Himalayas.  Every year as many as 3000 Tibetans escape into exile by making a perilous journey across the Himalayas to reach Nepal and finally India.  Up to one third of Tibetans escaping are young children who are seeking education free from Chinese propaganda.  Many others are monks and nuns seeking to further their study of Tibetan Buddhism, something that is becoming impossible in Tibet due to increasing restrictions on religion and official surveillance in monasteries and nunneries.

Historically the first recorded contacts between Tibetans and Chinese took place in the 7th century.  This encouter was following the unification of Tibet under King Songtsen Gampo and the establishment of the Chinese Tang Dynasty.  There are two incidents which are frequently mentioned in examination of this period: the marriage of a Chinese princess to Songtsen Gampo in 641, and a peace pledge signed between the two countries in 821, recorded on stone pillars.

These incidents, this marriage and an alliance, is a large part of the Chinese claim to Tibet.  The Chinese claim that these historical events have "cemented political and kinship ties of unity and formed close economic and cultural relations, laying a solid foundation for the ultimate founding of a unified nation" (Tibet: Its Ownership and Human Rights Situation, China White Paper, 1992, p.3).

Others argue that these incidents indicate the opposite and instead clearly establish that at this time Tibet and China were independent states of equal strength.  The marriage alliance of 641 was sought by the Chinese after Tibetan armies had captured towns in Sichuan province (Tibet: A Political History, Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, 1967, p.26).  Despite its familial language (the so-called "uncle-nephew" relationship), the treaty of 821 actually defined relations between two "fully sovereign states" (Tibet and Imperial China, Josef Kolmas, 1967, p.11).

The invasion of Tibet by troops from the People's Liberation Army in 1949-50 is described by the Chinese government as a "peaceful liberation".   The Seventeen Point Agreement was signed between the Communist Chinese Government and Tibetan officials in May 1951, which, according to official Chinese History, "enjoyed the approval and support of the people from every ethnic group in Tibet" (China White Paper, p.14).  Because it was signed under duress, the agreement was void under international law. The presence of 40,000 troops in Tibet, the threat of an immediate occupation of Lhasa and the prospect of the total obliteration of the Tibetan state left Tibetans little choice.

In March 1959, growing Tibetan resistance exploded in an uprising against the Chinese occupation.  The 14th Dalai Lama fled into exile in northern India, and the subsequent Chinese crackdown in Tibet was brutal.  Chinese figures record 87,000 deaths in the National Uprising and its aftermath; Tibetan sources suggest as many as 430,000 were killed in the Uprising and subsequent years of guerrilla warfare.

The Chinese government’s most criticized act is the introduction of patriotic re-education in monastaries and the enforcement of martial law.  The Dalai Lama spoke out specifically against the patriotic re-education act, ¨The Chinese insistence that we accept Tibet as having been a part of China since ancient times is not only inaccurate, but also unreasonable.  We cannot change the past no matter whether it was good or bad.  Distorting history for political purposes is incorrect.¨

In 1996 the ‘strike hard’ campaign by China was introduced in Tibet. The most striking element of this patriotic campaign is the re-education campaign.  The re-education campaign is known as ‘love your religion, love your country’, and is aimed at instilling in monks and nuns the notion that they must love the motherland and place it before their religion.  In 2006 the program was re-introduced and intesified by the Communist Party Secretary of the TAR, Zhang Qingli.  This new program focused on the study of Communist ideology and forced monks and nuns to denounce Tibet’s independence as well as the Dalai Lama.  Many monks and nuns were subsequently expelled because of refusal to denonuce the Dalai Lama.  There have also been many restrictions placed on the practice of Buddhist rituals.  Monks and nuns are forbidden from performing rituals in people’s homes as well as any other place outside of the monasteries.  Restrictions have also been placed on the movement of monks and nuns outside of the monasteries.  Monasteries are also now required to make money through tourism.  Some traditional Buddhist rituals and festivals have also been outlawed.

Chinese has replaced Tibetan as the official language. Young Tibetans are re-educated about their cultural past, with references to the history of Tibet before the Chinese occupation being omitted. The education given to Chinese children in Tibet is superior to that available to Tibetans. Few Tibetans are able to graduate to a secondary school.  This is because all secondary school are exclusively taught in Mandarian and the entrance exams to Universities are also only in Mandarian.   Therefore Tibetans are in a highly disadvantaged position to get further education than their Chinese class mates which in turn perpetuates poverty among Tibetans. There are more and more Tibetan parents sending their children to Chinese language primary schools. Those children often end up not being able to read or write or even speak Tibetan. While China claims massive investment in Tibet the level of education of Tibetans remains extremely low.

The Gormo-Lhasa railway opened in June 2006.  This railway provides a link between Tibet and the rest of China.  It is the world’s highest railway.  It is a political project (as stated by China’s former president Jiang Zemin), meant to consolidate a strong Chinese presence in Tibet.  The railway has accelerated Han Chinese migration into Tibet.  The Dalai Lama recently noted that the rise in Lhasa's population from 60,000 to 300,000 (of which 200,000 are Han Chinese) represented a form of “demographic aggression” and has described the railway as “some kindn of cultural genocide”.  This railway has also provided the means for the militarisation Tibet and easier access to Tibet’s natural resources of copper, iron, lead and zinc. The railway also facilities an ever growing number of tourists as well as Chinese settlers into Tibet. China encourages Han settlement by offering various favourable conditions for migrants such as tax incentives. As more and more Han Chinese migrate to Tibet the imbalance will continue to exist and be exacerbated. The Chinese authorities have imposed a one-child policy on all Tibetan government workers.  This law is imposed in mainland China as well.  For city-dwelling Tibetans who do not hold government jobs, there is a strict limit of two children.  Tibetan Nomands though are currently allowed to have three children.

Tibet's environment is also endangered by Chinese government policy of strip-mining, nuclear waste dumping, and extensive deforestation within the TAR. The Chinese government aggressively seeks foreign investment for its “Go West” campaign, with use of these international funds to develop Tibet as a resource extraction colony and consolidate regional control.

Buddhism was introduced from India to Tibet in the 6th century.   It eventually replaced the local Bon religion and became the official religion of the state in the 8th century.  Tibetan Buddhism belongs to the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and is strongly influenced by Tantric (Vajrayana) Buddhism.  There are four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism: Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug.

According to Tibetan Buddhism the objective of one’s spiritual development is to achieve enlightenment (buddhahood).   By achieving anlightenment, on is able to help all other sentient beings attain this state and will thus avoid ‘samsaric’ or wordly sufferings through endless rebirths.  These rebirths are known as reincarnations.  On the path to enlightenment one must live compassionately and gain wisdom through meditation and critical thinking on the nature of reality.

Before March 2008 there were an estimated 150 Tibetan political prisoners according to independent observers, the majority of which were monks and nuns.  After an unknown number of Tibetans were arrested during the 2008 protests, possibly thousands, it is now difficult to ascertain how many political prisoners are being held in Tibet today.