UK to Dharamsala
March 2007 - February 2008
Much has been written about the Chinese occupation of Tibet. We do not pretend being experts on the history of Tibet; we herewith only wish to provide a (very incomplete) listing of facts that we have distilled from various sources.
- In 1949 the Communist Party took full control of China. And from the beginning they stated that they considered Tibet a part of China.
- The following year in May the Chinese did a first small-scale incursion and captured a town near the border in Eastern Tibet, which was easily recaptured by the Tibetan army days later. But in October 1950, with the eyes of the world focused on the Korean Conflict, the "People Liberation Army" started what it called the "Peaceful Liberation" of the country, invading Eastern Tibet from 3 directions and rapidly encircling the small Tibetan army which could provide little or no resistance and could only admit defeat. A month later the Chinese government issued a statement which would later form the basis of the infamous 17-Point agreement that was - due to a lack of international support from - amongst others - the United Nations basically imposed on the Tibetan government the following year.
- In September 1951 the first Chinese troops moved into Lhasa.
- In 1953 Mao promised the Dalai Lama that the Chinese would leave once "liberation" was complete.
- China gradually took over the running of the country, and from 1955 onwards an armed resistance began in Eastern Tibet against imposed landreforms and the ruthless treatment of the ethnic population. The so-called peacefull liberation turned ugly from February 1956 onwards with the bombing from the air of the Changtreng Sampheling monastery where thousands of monks and villagers had taken refuge and of the Lithang monastery a few weeks later. From then on the repression really took off with the destruction of villages and monasteries, the humiliation, impronment, torture and killing of villagers and monks... Buddhism and the ancient Tibetan value-systems had become seen by the Chinese regime as a threat to their planned reforms, and from then on nothing was sacred anymore.
- The revolt slowly spread to other parts of Tibet, and in March 1959 the Tibetan people rose up collectively. Large demonstrations were held in Lhassa, and on the 10th of March many thousands encircled the Potala Palace to prevent the Dalai Lama from attending a theatre performance in the Chinese military headquarters. This event is remembered every year as The Day of The Uprising. 7 days later the Dalai Lama - fearing for his own personal safety (aware that other important Tibetans had disappeared before) - left Lhassa under the cover of darkness and moved to India, where he set up the Tibetan Government in Exile. According to Chinese figures 87.000 Tibetans died during the time of the uprising; according to exiled sources more than 300.00O.
- Between 1960 - 1962 an estimated 340.000 Tibetans died in the first recorded famine in Tibetan history, as a result of the agricultural policies imposed by China.
- In order to crush the (influence of the traditional) Tibetan buddhist culture and traditions over 6.000 religious buildings were destroyed in the sixties and seventies. Monks and nuns were imprisoned, often tortured and killed. Some monasteries have been rebuilt since then, to suit the Chinese propaganda and tourism industry. But the government keeps a very tight control on all religious activity.
- In october 1989 the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Price in recognition of his non-violent campaign against the Chinese occupation of his country. Yet 18 years on, in spite of a regular approaches, peaceful actions, and lots of sympathy worldwide for the Tibetan cause not much has changed for the better. The Chinese regime seems to be baiting for time, and at regular intervals tries to undermine H. H. the Dalai Lama's authority. A case sadly in point is the faith of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the boy from north-west Tibet who on the 15th of May 1995 (when he was 6 years old) - after going through the traditional religious processes - was recognised by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama (the 2nd highest authority in Tibetan buddhism, after the Dalai Lama.) Two days later the boy as well as his family and the head of the search committee were kidnapped and "put into protective cusody" by the Chinese government. This turned the Panchen Lama into the youngest political prisoner in the world, and his whereabouts remain unknown. 6 months later the Chinese government selected and enthroned their own candidate.. To them this was used as a way to assert their authority over even the religious life in Tibet. On July 6, 2006 - as a sign of the increasingly good relationship with former enemy India - they had the ultimate cheek of re-opening the Nathu La border post for the first time in 44 years, exactly on the Dalai Lama's 71st birthday...
- Especially in the last two decades Tibet has been submitted to an intensive campaign of sinisation, with thus far over 7 million Chinese migrants and military personnel being moved in. Thus reducing the Tibetans to becoming a minority in large parts of their own country and putting a heavy burden on the fragile ecological balance. The once unspoilt Tibetan environment is suffering enourmously due to the influx of these settlers and the effects of "modernisation" imposed by the Chinese regime. Roadbuilding, dambuilding, mining (resulting in a lot of industrial and chemical pollution and the installment of new towns - which in turn put large pressure on - amongst others - the precious water reserves) and extensive deforestation. Over half of Tibet's natural forest (mainly in Eastern Tibet) has been destroyed to make room for wheat cultivation and to create more pastures for herds of yak destined for the Chinese meat market. This in turn is creating erosion and siltification of the rivers and causes more floodings downstream in - amongst others - India and Bangladesh.
- China is also known to have conducted nuclear tests in Tibet, installed nuclear warheads at minimum 3 sites and of having dumped radio-active waste near Lake Kokonor, the largest lake on the Tibetan plateau.
- In the once peaceful capital Lhasa traditional neighbourhouds are being rased and replaced by concrete buildings. The town has become a permanent building site and is awash with military barracks, hotels and go-go bars. The Potala has been reduced to a tourist attraction, and in front of it a Chinese flag is waving.
According
to exiled sources about 1.2 million Tibetans (about one fifth of the whole
population) have died as a result of the Chinese policies since 1950.
And over 130.000 Tibetans are now living in exile.
Official education is only allowed in the Chinese language, the Tibetan
national flag is outlawed and people are still being imprisoned (and often
tortured) for displaying or possessing pictures of the Dalai Lama, or
for chanting Tibetan freedom songs. The oppression of the Tibetan people
is going on unhindered and the opening of the Gormo-Lhassa railway mainly
serves to increase the influx of Chinese immigrants and the further theft
of Tibet's natural resources (oil, copper, gold, uranium,...) to feed
the growing Chinese economy.
Libraries could be filled describing, analysing, explaining what and why
the Chinese regime has been doing in Tibet since 1950. In fact it has
remarkable similarities with the patterns of behaviour that many Western
European countries exposed over the last few centuries in countries in
Latin America, Africa and the Indian subcontinent, and that is colonialism.
- On
the 30th September 2006 a group of western climbers witnessed (and one
of them filmed) how at the Nangpa La pass, on the Chinese-Nepalese border,
at an altitude of about 19.000 foot (5.800 metres) Chinese border guards
shot dead a young nun and another person which were part of a
group of about 75 people on their perilous journey out of the country.
In typical fashion Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency at first
tried to play down the incident and stated that the refugees had attacked
the soldiers which then were forced to act in self-defence. The video-images
show the truth (that the Chinese soldiers shot at the refugees from
a distance of several hundred metres) and can be found on YouTube*.
Keywords "Tibet refugees shot" will bring you there. (*We
wish the new owners of YouTube (Google) more courage than exposed previously).
Late January one of the Tibetans captured by the Chinese soldiers after the incident, 15-year old Jamyang Samten, managed to escape Tibet and reach Dharamsala and told what happened to him after the shooting: for three days he was questioned and tortured (read: repeatedly hit with an electric cattle prod until he fainted) at a Chinese police station and later he was questioned again (read: hit in the stomach, by a guard wearing a metal glove) while chained to a wall in prison. For 48 days he had to do forced labour, then he was released. - With the Beijing Olympics in 2008 China will try to impress the world and consolidate its' status as the new economic superpower with a lot of financial might, giant stadiums, lots of high-tech, etc. But all this comes at a very high cost to the Tibetans. And to the global environment.
Recommended
and at times discomforting viewing on YouTube:* "Tibet -
Faith in Exile" and the much longer 1995 documentary "Tibet
The Story of A Tragedy"
To lighten spirits a bit you can also find a track there by Dutch band
De Heideroosjes: United Tibet
If you want to find out more in detail some of the things we mentioned furtively and/or become involved we advise to take a look at the following websites (and maybe become an active member and/or pledge financial support);
http://www.tibet.com
(The official website of the Tibetan Government in Exile)
http://www.freetibet.org (very
active U.K. based campaign group)
And/or feel free to join our bicycle caravan for a while.
Alexander
Solshenitsyn called the Chinese rule of Tibet more brutal and inhumane
than any other communist regime in the world.
