Chinese occupation of Tibet
For the last six years in a
row, US think-tank Freedom House has ranked Tibet among the worst places in the
world for civil rights and political freedom.
Under the Chinese Communist
Party, nobody is free. Tibetans nevertheless have fewer civil and political
rights than most. From the mass police surveillance of Lhasa’s busy streets to
the torture that takes place in Tibet’s hidden detention centres, every day the
Chinese government subjects Tibetans to suffocating control and the use of
violence.
Every aspect of Tibetan life is
under siege. Dissent, protest, or even wishing the Dalai Lama a happy birthday
or having a Tibetan flag on your phone will turn you into a criminal. Tibetans
have to censor themselves to avoid imprisonment.
Here are just some of the
challenges faced by Tibetans as a result of China’s occupation:
Political Oppression and
Violence
- Tibetans face intense surveillance in their daily lives, with
security cameras, police checkpoints and party officials monitoring their
movements and activities.
- Peaceful protests are suppressed with severe violence.
Protesters are imprisoned, tortured and may even be shot.
- China has repeatedly violated UN conventions through
extensive use
of torture against Tibetan political prisoners.
- Prisons in Tibet are full of people detained for simply
expressing their desire for freedom. They are arrested and convicted for
peaceful acts, such as waving the
Tibetan flag, calling for the return of the Dalai Lama and
sending information about events in Tibet abroad.
- Many Tibetans are imprisoned on unclear or unspecified
charges, their families not informed of their whereabouts. They are denied
access to proper legal support and face trials that do not respect
international standards of justice.
- Tibetans charged with “separatism” (acts intended to divide
or damage the Chinese state) can face sentences up to and including the
death penalty.
- Even children face
abuses of their freedom and human rights.
Cultural And Religious
Suppression
- The Tibetan flag and national anthem are banned.
- Tibetan
Buddhism is seen as a threat to the occupying Chinese
state and is tightly regulated, with Chinese officials closely monitoring
and controlling religious activity at monasteries and nunneries.
- The CCP has attempted to erase the
Dalai Lama from Tibet. Possessing pictures of the Dalai
Lama or mentioning him in public can result in imprisonment and torture.
- Thousands of monks, nuns and students have been forcibly
evicted from their residences in communities such as Larung
Gar and Yarchen Gar and thousands of homes demolished.
- Writers, singers, artists and teachers are jailed for
celebrating Tibetan national identity and for any criticism of China’s
rule.
- The Tibetan language is under threat; Chinese is the language
of schooling and business, while Tibetan is restricted and marginalised.
- Tibetan school children are also being denied classes in
their mother tongue, and increasingly being taught in Chinese instead.
Schools teaching in Tibetan are being forced to close.
- Around 800,000-900,000 Tibetan children have been separated
from their families and forced to undergo education in colonial boarding
schools, where they are subject to indoctrination, an attempt by the CCP
to eliminate Tibetans’ national identity.
Social and Economic
Discrimination
- Tibet is governed directly by the Chinese Communist Party in
Beijing. In the Tibet Autonomous Region, no Tibetan has ever been
appointed Party Secretary – the most senior government post.
- China has incentivised Chinese migration into Tibet, making
Tibetans a minority in many parts of their own country.
- Thriving tourism, infrastructure and construction projects in
Tibet primarily award jobs to Chinese migrants.
- Travel for Tibetans is restricted, with police checkpoints
monitoring movement and permits required to visit ‘sensitive’ religious
areas.
- Tibetans have no automatic right to a Chinese passport,
making international travel difficult and often impossible. Tibetans who
are caught trying to escape Tibet face brutality from the authorities.
“Getting a passport is
harder for a Tibetan than getting into heaven. This is one of those
‘preferential policies’ given to us Tibetans by [China’s] central government.”
– Tibetan blogger, quoted by
Human Rights Watch
Environmental Destruction
- China is using Tibet’s
rich natural resources – including gold, copper and water
– to fuel its economic and industrial expansion.
- Its exploitation disregards the needs and desires of local
Tibetan communities, even as they cause pollution, kill livestock and
destroy Tibet’s landscape.
- Tibetans who protest against mining, damming and other
resource extractions are routinely met with violence and repression by
security forces.
- China has used economic incentives and force to move
over two
million Tibetan nomads from the land they have lived off
for generations into urban settlements. Without the skills to obtain work
in an urban environment, nomads face poverty, unemployment and social
exclusion.
Restricting Information
Reporters Without Borders ranked
China 177 out of the 180 countries on its Press Freedom Index 2021. Professor
Carole McGranahan has also stated that there are more foreign journalists in
North Korea than Tibet.
- China attempts to control the spread of information inside
Tibet through strict monitoring and censorship over social media, email
and telephone communications. Communications are often blacked out after
protests and security incidents.
- China also strictly controls the flow of information out of
Tibet. Foreign journalists, human rights organisations and diplomats are
rarely allowed entry into Tibet and, when they are, they are closely
chaperoned by Chinese officials.
- Tibetans who share information inside Tibet or attempt to
send information outside Tibet face arrest and lengthy sentences.
- Funding from foreign powers and international NGOs to local
Tibetan NGOs are also restricted and evicted.
