Here and Now: China, Tibet & The World

2008-04-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

A short while ago I realized that you can take a certain subject and subscribe to receive updates, articles and even videos about it. So, rather than spend more time looking through a plethora of pages, I decided to take the more efficient route and combine these updates with my own efforts.

It sure has been a struggle for everyone to deal with this issue, and yet still, nobody seems to understand the true message here.

I’m going to list some opinions I’ve come across that seem to be the main sources for peoples’ arguments.

Tibet:

-is not a part of China.

-once was a part of China but now is not.

-was a part of China, but, due to its location, it was able to maintain a steady autonomy, if not being mostly an independent country.

-is a part of China.

Before going on, I have to say that any claims of owning land are absolutely ridiculous. Such claims are only reflective of the egoism that has grown to run rampant in society. Mankind seems to have forgotten where it came from.

First of all, not only does Tibet have its own language, but it also had many other attributes that may as well have made it free if it weren’t already. That being said, the social structure of Tibet before the PRC’s involvement was indeed far from ideal. The rich were few, but they were powerful. Additionally, the historical British involvement in Tibet is not very pretty, either.

We can all sit here and dispute claims and actions, but, aside from severe procrastination and heightened tension, what does that accomplish? I’m not saying the past is the past, and therefore Tibet should be free and have nothing to do with China, because that stance would be far too narrow-minded. However, the fact is that this is what’s currently going on.

China reflects on the British, mentioning how they killed many Tibetans and treated them unjustly. That’s understandable, but it’s also over. If the British were still there, or even just trying to get there again, maybe that would be a bit more understandable, especially when used to reason current military occupation.

China also calls America out on their treatment of Native Americans. This makes complete sense in terms of comparison, but when used to support an argument it’s extremely faulty. I think most, if not all Americans know that the way the Native Americans were treated was completely out of the question. Furthermore, America is a melting pot, comprised of many ethnicities, religions, etc., and is frequently changing. I was born in America, but my ancestors weren’t. My ancestors did not fight the Native American presence, and they did not own slaves. Also, if I wasn’t involved, and I certainly wouldn’t like for it to have happened at all, nor happen again, why am I to blame? So saying that the early settlers’ treatment of Native Americans justifies the PRC’s presence in Tibet is illegitimate. In bringing up that issue, China basically said, “Yeah but you…” which can be compared to an argument with a young child. Also, if this stance was applied on a larger scale, it would mean that, for example, Germany should be prevented from standing up against anything remotely related to human/civil rights, even though its current views are monumentally different than what they once were.

China also has very Orwellian censorship. After the riots in Tibet, even news reporters within China were unaware. This censorship has to come under question when discussing facts, and separating them from the opinions sprouted from not knowing key components. China says that Tibet has always been a part of China, and

that there are many sources of evidence to support this claim. Yet, not only are there also documents that suggest Tibet’s independence, but also, how can you believe China’s claims when the restriction is so great? It’s quite clear that the censorship has provided those within China with a sense of solidarity in their views, and one must question how much control China has over its people. For, even if said documents were presented before the public, how would you know if they were fabricated or archaically obsolete?

Yet, from the other side, the USA has indeed allowed itself to commit similar acts of censorship. Among others, CNN was called out for cropping its images to promote an anti-China bias. Though the network apologized, additionally stating that the original photographs could be located within the gallery, it is still heavily criticized.

China has even described His Holiness The Dalai Lama as having a “human face and the heart of a beast.” The Dalai Lama has been calling for peace, and even threatened to leave his position as the head of the Tibetan government in exile if the violence continued, yet China still calls him a separatist. China has condemned His Holiness The Dalai Lama and his supporters, calling them the “Dalai Clique,” refusing to have anything to do with them, despite global efforts for China to have a discussion with His Holiness. China is also forcing Tibetans to publicly denounce the Dalai Lama.

Having said all that, I must say that this conflict is not completely one-sided. The recent treatment of Chinese by Tibetans is indeed disgraceful. Even though the Dalai Lama encourages nonviolence, Tibetans have injured, killed, or otherwise threatened the well-being of many Chinese people, committing the very acts that they protest. It is very clear that this is not right, but history is more useful in this case. Since the PRC’s occupation of Tibet: Monasteries have been destroyed (only to be rebuilt and exploited for tourism); important documents, religious artifacts, etc. have been looted, decimated or taken for public, foreign exhibition; and many Tibetans have been severely injured, killed or imprisoned and tortured for reasons such as practicing their religion (conducting ceremonies, celebrating, etc.), having a picture of the Dalai Lama, peaceful protests, etc. Granted, these reasons don’t apply to all cases, but certainly to many of them. The Chinese also continue to affect the fragile balance that exists in Tibet’s environment. The railway is in the way of animal routes, and it continues to bring in many Chinese that flock to Tibet because of the many promised high-paying jobs, thus running many Tibetans out of work and home. Even though many may say that this is not true, because of China’s attempts to stomp out the Tibetan language, many Tibetans are unable to find jobs at all simply because they do not know Chinese. The land is being used for reasons that are improper (ex. crops), and places that were once considered sacred have been turned into Red Light Districts for Chinese soldiers. It seems that China is focusing almost solely on numbers–the billions of dollars they’re investing in Tibet–without paying attention to the Tibetan people or Tibetan culture.

Why is it that China is just now clearing the air in Beijing? Why is it just now that all these efforts are being made to clean up? Should it not be that efforts are made only after the rest of the world is watching? If China wants to claim its rule over Tibet, they’re certainly doing themselves a disservice by handling it the way they are. Being so hostile towards His Holiness and his efforts for peace, and getting so enraged at other countries for having anything positive to do with him does not help China’s image at all. The actions of the Chinese people, even outside of China, are also detrimental to the image that China is attempting to convey. One of the hottest topics in relevance to this is, for me, the counter protest at Duke University. It was clear that both sides had an opinion, but the actions of the group in favor of China’s rule were completely uncalled for. Additionally, the maltreatment of a young woman who was only trying to mediate the conflict is even more disgraceful. Is this the way people will be treated if they don’t pick between black or white?

Everyone can play the name game, but it really comes down to a matter of action. The Chinese have accomplished some good things in Tibet, but they’ve taken it too far too fast, and don’t seem to acknowledge any of the mistakes they’ve made. With the recent publicity that the issue of Tibet has attracted, facts and constructive suggestions have been increasingly trampled over by people who base their arguments off of the gist of things that they (think they) know. There are many people who protest, but can’t even locate Tibet on a map. Who, then, do you need to go to in order to rationally discuss this issue and actually have it noticed?

It seems as though we’re led to believe that humans are the most progressive species, and that people have the power of decision and voice, yet when it comes to being heard, the world leaders are too busy gambling with our lives. It is in this day and age that we need to truly listen and understand, for if we judge too quickly we’ll only exacerbate things.

Tibet

2007-07-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

So I just read some news about Tibet that upset me even further. Not only is the railroad already an encouragement for poachers and the like, but now China is building a paved road on the side of Mt. Everest for the Olympic games in 2008. I don't even understand why we're sending our finest athletes to that polluted city, Beijing, anyway. It's hard enough to breathe there, let alone hold a competition, not to mention that the air alone claims thousands of lives. Also, the genocide is still a huge issue to me, seeing as how China has to make up excuses for it.

2007-06-06T17:48:00.001-07:00

Yay blogging!

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Here and Now: China, Tibet & The World

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