BBC on Tibet, Part 1 (Burying the Lede)
The BBC’s Michael Bristow is reporting a series of articles from Tibet. Here, SFT provides our running commentary.
In Tibet, things are not often what they seem. Journalists cannot travel to Tibet without a special permit, and they must operate under serious restrictions. Additionally, government “minders” accompany journalists, making it difficult to speak candidly with interviewees who fear retribution if they don’t give the “approved” answer.
The BBC’s first article deals with the impact the railway is having on Tibet.
The article finds that the railway is spurring economic development in Lhasa. But surprisingly, the key issue is buried deep in the article:
But if the railway has brought benefits, critics say they have not been evenly distributed.
All the good jobs, they claim, are being taken by China’s dominant Han people who move to Tibet to find work.
The BBC would have served its readers better by not burying those two sentences at the end of the article. Without understanding this dynamic, it is impossible to understand “development” in Chinese-occupied Tibet.
Chinese authorities have consistently promoted projects and policies in Tibet that disproportionately benefit and encourage Chinese colonists. Given China’s obsession with fighting “splittism” among independence-minded Tibetans, is not a difficult leap to conclude that the Chinese government would prefer there to be more Chinese in Tibet.
Thus, we see “development” being turned into yet another political tool to consolidate China’s grip over Tibet. Sadly, the BBC glosses over this political context.
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Michael Bristow is answering readers’ questions about Tibet at the end of his series. Please send him your questions using the form at the bottom of the page here.
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[...] The BBC’s Michael Bristow is reporting a series of articles from Tibet. Here, SFT provides our running commentary (also see Part 1). [...]
[...] The BBC’s Michael Bristow is reporting a series of articles from Tibet. Here, SFT provides our running commentary (also see Part 1 and Part 2). [...]