Free Tibet?
Tibet has been freed, from slavery, and from theocracy.
95% of the populations in old Tibet were serfs, bounded to their masters’ land for life and lived in abject poverty. Virtually all the land were owned by the lamas (yes, the monks…shocking) and aristocrats who made up the other 5%. Most of these former slave masters went into exile after a failed uprising in 1959.
Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth, by Michael Parenti
Tibet: The Truth (A Political History)
Did China invade Tibet in 1950?
No, China has legitimate claim over Tibet.
Tibet has been under Chinese influence for 800 years, and Chinese control for 300 years. It declared independence from China in 1913, but was recognized by neither China nor any other government in the world. Today, Chinese sovereignty over Tibet is recognized by all nations, except for the UK. But even the UK does not recognize the Tibetan government in exile.
The United States considers the Tibet … as part of the People’s Republic of China… Moreover, U.S. acceptance of China’s claim of sovereignty over Tibet predates the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. In 1942, we told the Nationalist Chinese government then headquartered in Chongqing (Chungking) that we had “at no time raised (a) question” over Chinese claims to Tibet.
U.S. State Department Wiedeman Tibet
Melvyn C. Goldstein is considered the most prominent scholar on Tibet in the world. In his book the Lion and the Dragon, he gave a mostly balanced and concise account of the history of Tibet. Wikipedia does an ok job for brief review.
Had 1.2 million Tibetans been massacred under Communist rule?
This is a much publicised myth.
Tibet had only about 1mn people in the TAR (or 2+mn if Tibetans from nearby provinces were included as well) back in the 50’s. The natural population growth rate of the US has been around 1% per annum. If Tibet had indeed suffered such a drastic population loss, how is it possible to have 3mn+ Tibetans (or 6mn for all Tibetan nationwide) now?
Patrick French, who had campaigned for the Tibetan cause for 20 years and was the head of Free Tibet Campaign in London, was given access to the original documents that purported to support this massacre claim. Unfortunately he found them full of holes and came away with
the unwelcome conclusion that this survey was a statistically useless attempt to satisfy Western demands for data and tabulation
so that the Government in Exile could drum up western sympathy and support. [Tibet, Tibet, 2003]
French had subsequently resigned from Free Tibet Campaign.
Was there a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in Lhasa?
It was NOT a crackdown, but merely an act to bring back law and order after deadly riot broke out.
The protests were initially peaceful and left alone. However when it turned ugly on March 14, 2008, and 20+ innocent civilians had already died at the hands of rioters, what is the magical number of deaths to make police presence legitimate? 50, 100, 300? By booting out all journalists, the government made a major PR blunder and people naturally assume the worst. But all eyewitness accounts from independent travelers and the lone western journalist in Lhasa during the riots corroborate with government reports. It is the government’s responsibility to maintain law and order, just like in Los Angeles or Paris.
Eyewitnesses Recount Terrifying Day in Tibet from the Washington Post
CNN’s interview of James Miles, from the Economist, and the only foreign journalist in Lhasa during the riots
Footage of protesters attacking Chinese Town from Canadian Television.
Footages of rioting in Lhasa, from independent travelers and CCTV.
Are Tibetans being oppressed?
No, this is not true.
Tibetan families are permitted to have up to three children, whereby the Hans are limited to one. Tibetan families in Tibet average 3.8 children, larger than Tibetan families in India. There are also many other types of affirmative actions on education and health care. There’s definitely room for further improvement, though the living standard of the average Tibetan has improved greatly over the last few decades. Their average lifespan has increased from 35 in 1950 to 68 in 2000 due to higher living standard and better access to medical services, and infant mortality has dropped from 43% to 0.661% during the same period.
As a comparison, the lifespan of Lakota men in the US averages less than 44 years.
Do Tibetans enjoy religious freedom?
Barry Sautman, a leading scholar on Tibet, argued that religious institutions are being regulated mostly to avoid them being used as vehicles of separatism. Sautman said that there is now 1 monk or nun for every 35 Tibetans,
the highest of any Buddhist country in the world, and much higher than the relation of ministers and priests to parishioners in any Christian country in the world, where the ratio is often 1 to 1,000.
And unlike in Christian countries, these clergies are paid by public money and heavily subsidized by tax revenue from China proper.
Do Tibetans enjoy religious freedom?
Barry Sautman, a leading scholar on Tibet, argued that religious institutions are being regulated mostly to avoid them being used as vehicles of separatism. Sautman said that there is now 1 monk or nun for every 35 Tibetans, “the highest of any Buddhist country in the world, and much higher than the relation of ministers and priests to parishioners in any Christian country in the world, where the ratio is often 1 to 1,000.” And unlike in Christian countries, these clergies are paid by public money and heavily subsidized by tax revenue from China proper.
Dalai Lama and the Persecution of Dorje Shugden
The Dalai Lama’s government in exile, while complaining loudly about modern Tibet’s lack of religious freedom, has banned the worship of Dorje Shugden.
Dalai Lama & Dorje Shugden, in 3 parts, by the Swiss Public Television
Why do thousands of refugees risk their lives to get to India each year?
Most people crossed the boarder to seek better education in English, as well as to receive a blessing from the DL. Over 60% of these are under 25 years old and thousands return to Tibet each year. Therefore, it’s more appropriate to call these pilgrims instead. But of course it is to the benefit of the exile government that these visitors remain “refugees”.
Does Tibet suffer from cultural genocide?
This is such a vague term that can be tossed around casually. But when you modernize a place, obviously some of the older cultural or religious practices fall by the wayside. Culture is a living, breathing thing, and Tibet is not a museum. One popular accusation is that Tibetans are forced to study Chinese in schools. This is complete falsehood.
there is a two-track school system in Tibet, with one track using standard Chinese and the other teaching in the Tibetan language. Students can choose which system to attend.
Testimonies from the US State Department
Anyone who’s been to Tibet can testify how rarely do Tibetans speak Mandarin Chinese. In fact, this lack of language skill has now handicapped them in the job market. The exile govt. adopted English as the main language of instruction in their school system in Dharmasala, India. Are they guilty of cultural genocide then, for teaching everything in English? If there is a cultural genocide going on, it’s more likely a result of globalization rather than anything else.
At war with the utopia of modernity from the Guardian
If people are not being oppressed, why did they riot?
The uprising did not have broad-based support. The highest media estimate of Tibetans who participated in protests is 20,000 — by Steve Chao, the Beijing Bureau Chief of Canadian Television News, i.e. one of every 300 Tibetans. Compare that to the 1986 protests against the Marcos dictatorship by about three million, one out of every 19 Filipinos.
The fact that Hui Muslims, who are also minorities, were targeted (stores razed and a mosque was set on fire) in the riots indicated that the root cause was more likely to be economic competition. Tibetans have legitimate grievances about not having enough help in competition for jobs and in business with the Han or Hui migrants. Market forces have also exacerbated income and wealth differentials, and rampant corruption.
