Asia
The truth about Tibet
Published 19 March 2008
The last thing China wanted, in the year it is to host the Olympic Games, was the world watching its army brutally suppressing protesters
Things are not going as planned. The emblematic images of China in 2008 were supposed to be the magnificent "Bird's Nest" sports stadium, and millions of proud Chinese applauding their country's success in hosting the Olympic Games. Instead, the world is seeing gangs of angry Tibetan rioters attacking their Han Chinese neighbours, and Buddhist monks demonstrating against Chinese rule.
Since the 1989 unrest, which centred on Tiananmen Square but spread to Tibet, any protest has been suppressed quickly and effectively. But this time, initially, the Chinese hesitated. The government knew that nothing could be worse for China's reputation in this Olympic year than Tiananmen-type images of the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army firing on Tibetan demonstrators. So it flooded the streets with armour, in the hope that intimidation would do the trick. By Monday, Beijing had moved troops and paramilitary riot police into all sensitive areas, hoping to quash protest with a show of strength.
On Tuesday, the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, accused the Dalai Lama of orchestrating the unrest, saying that the protesters wanted "to incite the sabotage of the Olympic Games in order to achieve their unspeakable goal". That goal is independence for Tibet, but it is the social rather than the political motivation that has disturbed the Chinese authorities.
They have been surprised by the ferocity with which ethnic Tibetans attacked Han Chinese and Hui Muslims. These two groups have settled in Tibet in recent decades, starting up businesses and benefiting more than local people from the upturn in the Tibetan economy. Yet never before has resentment turned to such widespread violence: one eyewitness in Lhasa described the riots as "an orgy of racist violence".
The Huis, who control the meat trade and other essential commercial sectors, have long been the target of Tibetan anger. Last month, fighting broke out in Qinghai, which borders Tibet, during New Year celebrations. The point of contention was, apparently, the price of a balloon that a Hui trader had sold to a Tibetan. After the police arrested several Tibetans, overseas activists said demonstrations were calling for the return of the Dalai Lama. But the spark for the protests was the tension between the two communities.
One of the central myths the Chinese government propagates is the unity of the state and the happiness of the 55 ethnic minorities within it. During the week, at the National People's Congress, the annual gathering of China's rubber-stamp parliament, women in aluminium headdresses and other exotic gear were paraded as the acceptable face of diversity.
"This is a planned, plotted activity that aims at splitting the country, sabotaging the union and damaging the harmony and social stability of Tibet," said Champa Phuntsok, governor of Tibet, an ethnic Tibetan whom many people regard as a collaborator. In an example of the overblown rhetoric that characterises Chinese statements on Tibet, the government proclaimed "a people's war against splittism" - the term used to describe the movement for Tibetan autonomy - and said it would "expose the hideous face of the Dalai Lama's clique".
To the shock of the Chinese authorities, the unrest rapidly spread to the provinces of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan, which have significant Tibetan minorities. The Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala claims all these provinces as part of "historical Tibet" - one reason for the failure of talks between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government.
In Xiahe, in Gansu, the main street was lined with shuttered shops whose upstairs windows had been shattered by protesters. Here, Tibetans had targeted the Han Chinese who own most of the businesses. Knots of youths hung about at dusk, while riot police lurked at street corners, banging their riot shields menacingly. Most Tibetans still follow the Dalai Lama, but his entreaties that protest should be peaceful seem to have little resonance among the younger Tibetans. Speaking from Dharamsala, he said he had no power to call off the protests.
Monks from Labrang Monastery marched through the streets of Xiahe waving the banned Tibetan flag. "People in Lhasa and us are the same people. We have the same ideas," said a monk. "Today's young people think more of human rights. We want the Dalai Lama back."
Many westerners, who see justice in the Tibetan cause and nobility in the Dalai Lama's position, regard the Tibetans as a peaceful and oppressed people. That view, however, is not shared by all of the Han Chinese who live there. Many of them believe that China brought the chance of prosperity and modern isation to a backward area.
"Our party and government spend so much every year to support the development of Tibet.
"We don't wish for any reward, but those people controlled by Dalai still continue with separatism. They should go to hell," read one blog on the popular site China.com.
As communism has faded away, the ideological void has been filled by nationalism. The intention behind this year's Olympic extravaganza is to celebrate how great China is as a historical nation and as a modern state. Even those who dislike the government in Beijing may regard Tibetan nationalists as unpatriotic and ungrateful. A chat-room comment on Tianya.com reprimanded them: "We do not have to love the government and the party, but we must love China." Another said: "Those separatist trash should all be killed. It is not a good idea to just talk about it. Even if some day there is democracy, I will support a nationalist party to power."
Racism is usual. One blogger addressed Tibetans, writing: "If you behave well, we'll protect your culture and benefits. But if you behave badly, we'll still take care of your culture . . . by putting it in a museum. I believe in the Han people!"
None acknowledged that harsh policies in Tibet have provoked the unrest. It's easier to keep blaming the Dalai Lama.
The Chinese government had hoped to have a display of traditional Tibetan dancing at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. If it now moves to suppress the protests with force, it faces the possibility of an Olympic boycott. But if it lets the protests continue, the world will see how widespread is the unhappiness and resentment of China's Tibetan people.
Lindsey Hilsum is international editor for Channel 4 News
Tibetan Times
October 1950 Chinese People's Liberation Army marches into Tibet
March 1959 Tibetans attempt uprising; thousands killed. Dalai Lama flees to India with 80,000 followers
September 1965 Tibet Autonomous Region formally established
1966 China's Cultural Revolution begins; Tibetan Red Guards smash statues of Buddha and close monasteries
1972 Richard Nixon visits China and ends CIA programme of training Tibetans to fight guerrilla war against Chinese
1989 Martial law imposed in Lhasa. Brutal suppression of Tiananmen Square student protests
May 1990 Martial law lifted. Dalai Lama disbands government-in-exile
1994 Dalai Lama suspends dialogue with China due to lack of progress
March 1999 China says its doors are open to Dalai Lama, provided he recognises Tibet as part of China
December 1999 Dalai Lama says Tibet would be satisfied with self-rule but accuses China of cultural genocide
July 2006 Tibet groups accuse China of accelerating influx of Han Chinese
March 2008 Anti-China riots in Lhasa
Source: Reuters
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