Students for a Free Tibet UK

The Dalai Lama has called life for Tibetans in Tibet “hell on earth” and when you start digging under the surface, it’s clear why the Chinese regime goes to such lengths to block access to Tibet, cut phone lines, employ complex internet controls and ban journalists and foreign tourists from traveling in Tibet. China knows there’s a lot to hide, and while the Chinese Communist Party continues to invest in its endless propaganda drive to convince the world that there is nothing untoward happening in Tibet, it makes it all the more important for us to expose the true face of the regime.

Rights violations

Over 1.2 million Tibetans have died as a direct result of China’s illegal occupation of Tibet, and human rights conditions remain dismal. In Tibet today, there is no freedom of speech, no freedom of assembly, no freedom of press and no freedom of religion.

The Chinese government is determined to wipe out all traces of Tibetan national identity in an attempt to stifle any form of dissent among Tibetans. This includes not only cracking down on the peaceful protests which continue to be seen across the region, but also on the day-to-day lives of Tibetans. Tibetans can be arrested, beaten, jailed and tortured for all manner of ‘crimes’ including possessing a picture of the Dalai Lama or a Tibetan flag, downloading MP3s and ringtones of songs which mention the Tibetan nation, Tibetan unity or repression, sending e-mail to friends about crackdowns in Tibet, calling for the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet, writing magazine articles about state corruption or even being a relative or friend of somebody who does any of the above.

However, more than half a century after Tibet’s occupation, the Tibetan people’s spirit of resistance remains strong. Brutal reprisals by the Chinese authorities for openly expressing political dissatisfaction has recently led to a decrease in public demonstrations of resistance in Tibet, but more private and quiet expressions of discontent are common. Despite a concerted effort by the Chinese government to stamp out all loyalty to the Dalai Lama, many Tibetans inside Tibet still revere the Dalai Lama as their only legitimate spiritual and political leader and hope for the day when he returns to resume his rightful place as Tibet’s leader.

The Tibetan spirit is strong, but it is up against a lot of challenges. From religious repression to economic discrimination, environmental destruction to political oppression, the Chinese government’s rule over Tibet continues to have a devastating effect, both on the Tibetan people and their land. Tibetan refugees in exile (mainly in India, Nepal, the North America and Western Europe) try hard to preserve Tibetan culture, religion and language in countries where they do not fear reprisal.

Cultural and religious repression

What the Chinese government fears most in Tibet is Tibetan nationalism. In Tibet, a country which is predominantly Buddhist and whose culture and political structure were deeply intertwined with Buddhism before the occupation, nationalism and the Tibetan people’s sense of identity is firmly rooted in Tibetan culture and religion. Therefore, the Chinese government systematically attacks and tries to eradicate the cornerstones of Tibetan culture – language, monastic life, Buddhism and social structure.

Tibetan language

The Tibetan language is very different from Chinese. For one, it is written in an alphabet whereas Chinese is written in pictograms. Moreover, the grammar and pronunciation are very different from Chinese. In Tibet today, students are taught Chinese in school and, in secondary schools, all classes are in Chinese. Tibetan language is becoming less and less useful, and Tibetans who do not speak Chinese have a very difficult time competing in the job market.

Since 2008, there has been a visible drive by sections of Tibetan society to protect Tibetan language. Because Chinese immigrants dominate business in Tibet, and because Tibetan children are forced to learn in Chinese from the age of 13, Chinese words often creep into the Tibetan language, gradually forcing it out of common use. But Tibetans have been resisting this by taking part in local agreements by Tibetans to fine each other for using Chinese words, and by making the point of shopping at Tibetan shops and cafes. Tibetan students have also been at the forefront of the drive to protect their language, protesting in their hundreds against being forced to learn in Chinese, and often having their schools placed under seige and students and teachers detained by authorities for doing so. It shows how intrinsic the Tibetan language is to Tibetan’s culture, and how important Tibetans regard its protection.

Tibetan Buddhism

During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, China’s People’s Liberation Army destroyed nearly every one of Tibet’s monasteries and nunneries. More than 6,000 monasteries and nunneries were razed to the ground. Tibet’s monastic system, previously an important component of Tibet’s social structure, was destroyed. By 1979, only 13 monasteries remained in Tibet. Many monks and nuns had died, either as a result of the occupation or of natural cause, and many had been forced to disrobe.

In the 1980s, during a period of “liberalisation,” monks and nuns and laypeople began rebuilding some of the monasteries and nunneries with their own money and labour. In some areas, Tibetans were able to resume limited religious practices.

The time of so-called “liberalisation” in Tibet came to a quick halt when the Chinese government realised that even the harsh brutality of the Cultural Revolution had not been able to stamp out the Tibetan people’s fierce patriotism and their strong sense of ethnic and national identity. As soon as the Chinese government loosened its grip on Tibet, the Tibetan resistance was reinvigorated. Beginning in the late 1980s, Tibetans took to the streets in spontaneous mass demonstrations against the Chinese occupation.

Monks and nuns became the leaders of this new resistance. Because they did not have spouses and children who would suffer if they were imprisoned and because they cared about the preservation of their culture and religion, monks and nuns across Tibet led powerful demonstrations. Some of these protests were massive rallies, while others were small, spontaneous demonstrations. In 1989, the Chinese government instituted martial law in Lhasa. But the protests continued, especially those by monks and nuns.

By the late nineties, hundreds of monks and nuns were imprisoned throughout Tibet for taking part in nonviolent demonstrations for Tibetan freedom.

In 1996, China launched the “Strike Hard” Campaign, aimed at cracking down with severity on resistance in Tibet. A major component of this campaign focused on religion. Monks and nuns had to attend “patriotic re-education” sessions, photos of the Dalai Lama were banned, monks and nuns who did not comply with all regulations were expelled from monasteries and nunneries and monastic life was closely monitored and regulated by the Communist Party. While all Tibetans suffered under the “Strike Hard” Campaign, monks and nuns bore the brunt of most of the new policies.

Most of these policies are still in effect today. Consequences including photos of the Dalai Lama being banned in many areas of Tibet, with possession of such photos resulting in arrest, beatings and imprisonment. Support of the Dalai Lama is seem as ‘splittism’ by the Chinese regime; a catch-all ‘crime’ which can carry various degrees of punishment, including the death sentence.

Monks and nuns must also undergo “Patriotic Re-education” classes during which they are taught to be loyal to the Communist Party, to denounce the Dalai Lama and to accept that Tibet is a part of China, and are kept under heavy surveillance by Chinese secret police. When a monastery is under suspicion, Chinese ‘work teams’ of sometimes hundreds of officers will descend on monasteries, interrupt the monks and nuns’ practice and demand they recite communist party literature claiming that the Chinese occupation is of benefit to the monks and painting a negative picture of the Dalai Lama. This can last for many days, with the monks and nuns tested on the contents of the texts and told to write a ‘self criticising letter’ denouncing the Dalai Lama. Those who refuse can be arrested or denied of their right to practice as monks or nuns and expelled from monasteries. The Chinese state hopes that this process will eventually eliminate support for the Dalai Lama from Tibet’s religious institutions, leaving only the monks and nuns who have caved in to pressure from the regime.

Monks and nuns are also banned from government buildings and certain religious ceremonies and prayers associated with the Dalai Lama are forbidden to both monks, nuns and laypeople.

This approach has been largely unsuccessul, as the draconian approach simply breeds more resentment of the Chinese authorities, and consequently a deeper desire from the Tibetan people to see the Dalai Lama return to Tibet. Monasteries and nunneries are still hotbeds of political discontent, as seen in Ngaba in 2011, where the authorities completely lost control of Kirti monastery after the monk Phuntsok Juratsang self-immolated in protest against Chinese control, leading to mass protests and a seige of the monastery. Meanwhile, the United Nations and various governments, including the UK Conservative Party’s Human Rights Commission, have expressly called for an end to the oppressive practice of ‘patriotic re-education’ in Tibet.

Tibetans continue to keep photos of the Dalai Lama hidden from view, and when protests occur, slogans are often heard callingfor the Dalai Lama’s long life and for him to return to Tibet (often seen as a call not just for his physical return but for the return of the Tibetan nation which he represents to many). In 2011, Tibetans took part in two inventive acts of disobedience; monks enthroned a life-size picture of the Dalai Lama during a religious ceremony attended by 5,000 and twice in Serthar Tibetans flew a huge portrait of the Dalai Lama and a Tibetan flag off buildings, one a Chinese government building. Again, these acts show that Tibetans have not been intimidated into abandoning their spiritual leader or their sense of national identity.

Crackdown on Buddhist leaders

As part of the Chinese government’s attempts to control religion in Tibet as a means of wiping out Tibetan identity and patriotism, it has targeted influential Buddhist leaders through intimidation, arrest and even imprisonment. Prime examples include the Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche.

Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, 11th Panchen Lama

The Panchen Lama is the second most important Buddhist leader for the Tibetan people, after the Dalai Lama. In Tibetan tradition, the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama are often compared to the sun and the moon – guiding each other from lifetime to lifetime. Historically, the Panchen Lama has played a pivotal role in identifying the incarnation of the Dalai Lama, and vice versa.

In 1995, the Dalai Lama recognized Gendhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama. Shortly thereafter, the six-year old boy, his family and several monks from the monastery where the Panchen Lama traditionally resides were arrested and disappeared. The Panchen Lama and his family have not been heard from since.

The Chinese government proceeded to choose its own Panchen Lama and is educating him to be loyal to the Communist Party. The real Panchen Lama, who is still a child, remains missing.

Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok and the Serthar Institute

Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, a charismatic Buddhist teacher in Eastern Tibet, founded the Serthar Institute in 1980 as a small Buddhist study center with less than 100 students. Drawn by his appeal, monks and nuns began flocking to Serthar, and by 2001, 8,800 monks and nuns resided at the Institute, where Buddhist scholarship flourished. The Institute was the largest religious establishment to function since the Chinese invasion.

Because of his popularity and influence, the Chinese government viewed Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok and his Institute and a threat. In the late 1990s, the Chinese authorities started placing restrictions on the Serthar Institute and in 2001, the Chinese government ordered work teams to start destroying the dwellings in which the monks and nuns at Serthar resided. By 2002, hundreds of dwellings had been destroyed and what remained of Serthar was just a sad reminder of what was once one of the largest centers of Buddhist studies in Tibet.

In January 2004, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok died. Although the Chinese authorities set up roadblocks all around the area, more than 50,000 Tibetans reportedly attended his funeral.

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche

Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is a highly respected Buddhist leader from eastern Tibet who was a community leader in his area for decades. He built schools, orphanages, monasteries and nunneries. He stood up to local Chinese officials when their actions threatened the well being of his community, although he always moved within the framework of Chinese law. He is a devout follower of the Dalai Lama and has always preached nonviolence and compassion.

In December 2002, Tenzin Delek was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on false bombing charges. Local authorities had been looking for a way to remove what they considered a threat to their authority – Tenzin Delek commanded widespread respect and trust among both Tibetans and Chinese in his area.

In the wake of his arrest, more than 80 other Tibetans who were associated with him were detained, arrested or imprisoned. But they haven’t stopped calling for Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche’s release. Tens of thousands of Tibetans produced a petition in 2010 calling for his release, and his imprisonment has not dented the Tibetan people’s admiration for this inspiring leader.

Economic and environmental damage

As part of China’s most recent development efforts, the Chinese government launched a five-to-ten year “Western Development Plan” in 1999, targeting a number of provinces and autonomous regions for accelerated economic development, including occupied Tibet, East Turkestan (in Chinese: Xinjiang), and Inner Mongolia. This economic scheme is politically motivated. Development of these regions is intended to further social and political stability and cement control over those populations who resist Chinese control – to erase existing economic, socio-cultural, and political divisions between eastern and western China. Natural resource extraction, large-scale infrastructure projects, and population resettlement are major components of the multi-billion dollar plan.

There are a number of negative consequences of China’s “Go West” policy, listed below. Tibetans in Tibet want development, but they do not want the kind of development the Chinese government is imposing on them, where they have no say and ultimately do not benefit from it. Until Tibetans are able to determine their own political future, Students for a Free Tibet opposes any foreign investment in China’s “Western Development Plan” as it harms the Tibetan people and the Tibetan environment.

Chinese population transfer

One of the most serious threats to the survival of the Tibetan national, cultural, and religious identity is population transfer. To the Chinese government, Tibet, with its 850,000 square miles of land (roughly the size of Western Europe), represents the space needed for the rapidly expanding Chinese population. Mass immigration by Chinese settlers into Lhasa and other areas of the Tibet Autonomous Region is encouraged by the government, which offers economic incentives to settlers. Tibetans are now a minority in their own land: Tibetan exiles claim 7.5 million Chinese now live in Tibet alongside 6 million Tibetans.

The practice of population transfer constitutes a serious violation of the rights embodied in the Geneva Convention, Article 49, and threatens the Tibetan people with marginalization within their own country.

One of the main infrastructure projects the Chinese government is rushing to complete in Tibet is the Gormo-Lhasa (“Qinghai-Tibet”) Railway, a rail line that will inextricably link Tibet with the rest of China. Aside from worries about the environmental impact this railway will have, a major concern is that the railway will expedite the influx of Chinese settlers to Tibet. Not only this, it will also be a lot easier for the Chinese government to deploy large numbers of troops to Tibet, should there ever be public political unrest.

Job descrimination

The Chinese state often avoids criticism of human rights abuses by underlining te amount of money it invests in Tibet, and these comments are entirely true, but are used as a smoke-screen. There is no denial that China invests money in Tibet, but investment is exactly what it is; money is only put in so that far more money can be taken out, and the problem is that this money rarely benefits Tibetans, often having a detrimental effect.

Since the late 1990s, the Chinese government has poured billions of yuan into economic development in Tibet. Major cities, such as Lhasa or Shigatse, are now bustling centers of commerce. Most of the money that has gone towards development in Tibet has been used on major infrastructure projects, such as the construction of highways, railways, pipelines and mines – all designed to facilitate the rapid transport of Tibet’s natural resources to mainland China. Very little, if any, has gone towards much needed social services such as hospitals or schools. The majority of jobs that have been created through the construction of large-scale infrastructure and other development projects go to Chinese settlers, not to Tibetans. Because many Tibetans cannot afford to pay the high school fees, there is a growing number of young Tibetans who are uneducated and unemployed, while Chinese settlers in Tibet are making money.

And Tibetans are often paid lower wages for the same jobs as Chinese immigrants, gradually making them second class citizens in their own land. This kind of discrumination is reminiscent of what was happening to non-white people in the US before the civil rights movement, and there are also similarities with the way Native Americans were sidelined. China’s ‘development’ of Tibet is for China, not for Tibet, and the human rights violations clearly illustrate the reality of this colonial attitude in the minds of Chinese policy makers. When Chinese representatives reel off the amounts of money they put into ‘developing’ Tibet, they must also address why this money does not trickle down to Tibetans and why the Chinese state insists on taking away Tibetans’ rights while they take away their country’s natural resources.

Environmental damage

Because of Tibet’s high altitude and extreme climate, the damage caused by aggressive development of the fragile high-mountain ecosystem is becoming irreversible. Much of the traditional respect for the delicate ecosystem has dissipated as demographics of the area have changed with Chinese population influx and traditional Tibetan ways of life being supplanted by other models. Tibet now face severe environmental challenges, fueled in part by the need to meet the demands of the growing population, as well as the needs and ambitions of mainland China itself.

Deforestation
Forests in Tibet are the third largest within China’s present day borders. Government lumber operations went unhindered for decades. Reforestation is neglected and ineffective, leaving hillsides vulnerable to erosion. Rapid and widespread deforestation has life-threatening consequences for the hundreds of millions who live on the flood plains of the major rivers of Southeast Asia, many of which have their headwaters in Tibet. In 1998, China witnessed severe flooding of the Yangtze (in Tibetan: Drichu) river valley, the result of massive deforestation in eastern Tibet. Clear-cutting also threatens the habitat of Tibet’s other residents; the rare giant panda, golden monkey, and over 5,000 plant species unique to the region.

Deforestation is also one of the world’s main drivers of climate change, as cutting down huge forests reduces the amount of CO2 which can be absorbed, gradually warming the planet. This is particularly devisive in Tibet, which houses the third largest store of water-ice outside the poles, and which is warming at a phenomenal rate. If Tibet’s glaciers melt, estimates state that over one billion people who’s lives depend on the waters from Asia’s major rivers will be at severe risk.

Desertification
Government-encouraged population migration into the northern Tibetan plateau has caused massive and irreparable environmental damage to huge tracts of fragile tableland. Experts attribute the deterioration to overgrazing, irrational land reclamation, and wanton denudation of surface vegetation.

Agricultural Development
Large-scale agricultural development projects are now being carried out in Tibet, disrupting traditional practices and the delicate ecological balance maintained by farmers for centuries. Motivated by the need to feed the growing Chinese population in Tibet and to reduce the costly wheat imports, the projects harm Tibetans more than they help them, because of discriminatory employment practices and disruption of traditional lifestyles. Also, while the China takes large amounts of the Tibetans’ agricultural production, they provide little or no aid to them in the event of crop failure.

Natural Resources Extraction
The Tibetan plateau is rich in natural resources. Natural gas, oil, timber, gold and other minerals can all be found it Tibet. Moreover, over 10 major rivers originate in Tibet. The Chinese government has already begun stealing Tibet’s natural resources for use in the rapidly industrializing cities on China’s east coast. The extraction of minerals and wood from Tibetan regions is largely done by, or at the direction of, newly arrived Chinese workers and administrators. Some meager short-term benefit may accrue to local Tibetans, but more often than not, the land is left spoiled and traditional Tibetan livelihoods disrupted. Moreover, roads built to access uncut forests or untapped minerals usually result in an increase in Chinese settlers and administrators.

Recently, the completion of an oil pipeline that runs through Tibet has raised grave concerns about lifestyle disruption in traditionally nomadic areas of northeastern Tibet, as well as increased settlement of Chinese workers along the pipeline. In a world where oil-related conflicts are becoming more common while these resources run dry, the discovery of what may be the world’s third or fourth largest store of oil in the North of what China calls the ‘Tibet Autonomous Region’ creates even more resources for China to exploit and even more need for Tibet’s environment to be protected from the kind of rapid industrial development which is already damaging this globally vital environment.

Hydroelectric Construction Projects
China has plans to build dozens of hydroelectric dams on Tibet’s rivers and export the electricity to Chinese cities such as Chengdu, Xining, Lanzhou, and Xian. There are grave concerns about forced resettlement and flooding associated with these dam construction projects. China has a horrendous track record when it comes to hydroelectric dam construction. During the construction of the infamous Three Gorges Dam in China, around 1.5 million people have were forcefully evicted, and the Chinese police have brutally cracked down on protest by local Chinese against the dam. Since then, Chinese studies have actually revealed horrendous flaws in the construction of the Three Gorges, some of which have had disasterous effects for the environment and left huge habited areas and sites of acheological and agricultural importance underwater. If this is the track record for China’s most prestigious dam, there are huge worries over future projects, worries which the Indian government especially, whose people will be at risk if errors are made over a proposed dam on the Brahamaputra, have often stood up to express.

Biodiversity
Biodiversity, or biological diversity, refers to all plants, animals, micro-organisms, and everything else in an ecosystem. The Tibetan Plateau is particularly rich because of the drastic variations in climate from rainforest to scarcely populated high altitude regions. Many species of flora and fauna are unique to the high altitude areas of Tibet and are found nowhere else in the world. Most of the world remains unaware of Tibet’s important ecological significance because of the Chinese government’s restrictions on information and scientific research about Tibet.

Wildlife
Pre-1949 (before China’s invasion) travelers in Tibet compared it to East Africa, so vast were the herds of large mammals. Today, the herds have all but vanished, wiped out mainly by Chinese soldiers hunting with automatic weapons from trucks in the 1960′s. Poaching by Tibetans and Chinese continues, threatening the survival of some species. One Tibetan nomad told Dr. George Schaller, the foremost Western specialist on Tibetan mammals, “If the officials obey the law and stop hunting, we will too.”

Unfortunately, the Chinese government has a bad record when it comes to dealing with corruption by officials, and places greater importance on making examples out of Tibetans than on protecting endangered wildlife. This was made apparent in the case of Karma Samdrup and his brothers in 2009, when Karma, a celebrated conservationist who had previously received awards from the Chinese state for his work, was arrested, tortured and handed a 15 year jail sentence on trumped-up charges when he called for the release of his two brothers Rinchen Samdrup and Chime Namgyal. The brothers, also renowned environmentalists, had been given jail terms for criticising state officials for poaching endangered wildlife.

Nuclear Activities
The Northern Tibetan Plateau was home to China’s “Los Alamos.” Tibet was China’s primary site for nuclear weapons research and development. The Chinese government has used Tibet as a site for nuclear testing as well as nuclear dumping. Tibet has vast uranium reserves, which have been mined by the Chinese government for use in the production of nuclear weapons. After years of denials, China finally admitted, in 1995, to the existence of a high-level nuclear waste dump site on the Tibetan plateau. Tibetan nomads allege that they have suffered illness and death from strange diseases consistent with radiation sickness.