SFT Canada’s Tsering Confronts HDI/Continental Minerals’ Executives

Footage from HDI/Continental Minerals Shareholders’ meeting in Vancouver, Canada on June 24th. Tibetans and their supporters protested at the meeting to intenisfy pressure on the company to Stop Mining Tibet.

Tibet Train Carries Chinese Troops

Chinese media are reporting that the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has been carrying more Chinese troops into Tibet. This confirms that a key consequence of the railway is that the Chinese government can now more easily sustain its military occupation of Tibet.

According to the BBC:

The Xinhua news agency cited unnamed sources in the People’s Liberation Army as saying the railway would become “a main option” for transporting soldiers.

Analysts say the move is likely to fuel concerns that China is using the rail link to tighten its hold on Tibet.

This is not good news for the people of Chinese-occupied Tibet. Nor is it good news for democratic India, which China has been threatening again lately.

The Chinese government praised the railway as bringing benefits to the people of Tibet (not that the people were consulted…). It turns out, surprise surprise, that it actually helps the Chinese government consolidate its grip over Tibet. Similarly, China’s much-touted investments in Tibet generally benefit Chinese settlers and Chinese companies, and most of the money just flows right back to China.

The lesson here: when the Chinese government claims it is magnanimously helping Tibetans, we should look under the surface at how such munificence supports the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

Turning Point for Tibet?

This is an exciting time for Tibet. As the Beijing Olympics approach, it’s good to assess now and then where the Tibet movement is. More and more, the Tibet movement has been winning important victories — even as repression worsens inside Tibet.

Internationally, HH the Dalai Lama is receiving more honors than at any time since he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. This includes the US Congressional Gold Medal (America’s highest civilian award), honorary Canadian citizenship (an honor only shared with Nelson Mandela and Raoul Wallenberg), and unprecedented official meetings with the German chancellor and Canadian prime minister.

As Canada’s Globe and Mail says,

The Dalai Lama and supporters of a free Tibet have been winning a number of battles on the international stage in recent years, hoping to force the Chinese government to loosen its grip on the region ahead of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

In similar news, over two-thirds of Canadians, according to a recent poll, now believe their government should raise the issue of Tibetan human rights and freedoms with the Chinese government, regardless of its potential impact on trade with China.

In the global media, Tibet is being discussed more and more often. The issue is frequently linked with the Beijing Olympics, and also in the context of the Chinese government’s religious repression and economic colonization there. It seems that the Chinese government’s plan to use the media around the Olympics to spotlight its claim to Tibet has backfired. After China’s entire Olympic party was spoiled by a few Tibet activists with a banner, video cameras and laptop computers, you can bet that the Chinese government is worried about what it’s brought upon itself.

Even Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian recently declared that Taiwan will support “the Tibetan people in safeguarding their fundamental human rights and fighting for their right to self-determination.”

Inside Tibet, of course, religious and political repression is getting worse (although it is sometimes hard to believe that is even possible). But brave Tibetans like Runggye Adak, and the hundreds who called for his release, continue to surprise the Chinese government by showing that Tibetans’ resistance lives on.

Tibetans should also be inspired by the dramatic protests against the military government in Burma, being led by Buddhist monks. In Tibet too, monks have been at the forefront of the freedom struggle, which is why the Chinese government has struggled so hard to control Tibetan Buddhism. But try as it might, China has failed. The Burmese protests are a reminder that repression only temporarily constrains a people’s dissatisfaction — it can never erase it. This is equally true in Tibet.

So those of us on the outside should take heart from a confluence of factors. Outside Tibet, the Tibet movement has recently been piling on victories against the Chinese government, which must be feeling its grip over Tibet is more and more assailed. Inside Tibet, the Tibetan people have shown remarkable bravery in the face of an upsurge in repression. And the inspiring example of the Burmese monks show us that even when it appears that a dictatorship has completely won, a people can shake the government to its very core. When all these factors come together, we can see real change.

Tibetan Students Used as Olympic Props

News flash: the Chinese government is using Tibetan school children as Olympic props. According to China’s official Xinhua News, 2,008 middle school students from Lhasa were made to act as “human dominos” in the shape of the Olympic rings to celebrate the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

We missed the article when it first came out, since it was overshadowed by worldwide media attention on SFT’s dramatic protests in Beijing and the Great Wall. But this is simply too outrageous to let go:

Tibet Welcomes Olympics With Domino Show (Xinhua, Aug. 9, 2007)

More than 4,000 people gathered on Wednesday at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

The celebration started with a creative performance in which 2,008 middle school students from Lhasa imitated the domino effect by gently falling to the ground one after another in front of the Potala Palace, forming the pattern of the Olympic rings and the number “2008″.

[...] More than 2,000 local residents and tourists watched the performance.

[...] Song Haiyan, sales assistant at the only souvenir shop in Tibet [really the only?], said trial sales since the shop was opened a month ago has been satisfactory, and she is optimistic about future business.

The Chinese authorities exploited Tibetan middle school students as human props in their Olympic propaganda. This is a perfect example of how the Chinese government is shamelessly using the Olympics to try to legitimate its occupation of Tibet.

Tellingly, there was apparently a one-to-one ratio of performers to spectators. We can conclude that this was a carefully stage-managed event, with Tibetans only grudgingly attending. Hardly an outpouring of support. This sort of silly, melodramatic spectacle is totally alien to Tibetan culture, and is clearly dreamed up by some communist bureaucrat.

The other ironic thing is that the “sales assistant” at the souvenir shop clearly has a Chinese name. What are the chances that this shop is Chinese-owned, employs Chinese, and sells goods imported from China? Given how the Chinese government is actively encouraging ethnic Chinese to settle in Tibet for political reasons, the chances are pretty good.

Sometimes Xinhua News reveals more than it intends to.

Chinese Anti-Olympic Activist Arrested

The Chinese government, showing again how the Olympics are bringing more human rights abuses to China, has just arrested a Chinese activist for gathering over 10,000 signatures on a petition.

Land rights activist Yang Chunlin had gathered this impressive number of signatures on a petition entitled “We want human rights, not the Olympics,” according to the AP. 

Watchdog organization China Human Rights Defenders said that the case against Yang points “to the nervousness and political sensitivity with which the government views efforts to link the Olympics and human rights.”  

As the AP also notes, “Land seizures have become a particularly sensitive issue ahead of the Olympics. Some activists have accused Beijing of forcing more than 1 million people from their homes to make way for new sports venues.”

So much for the Chinese government’s promises that the Olympics will bring human rights to China (which the IOC gullibly believed or cynically parroted).  Rewarding or “engaging” the Chinese government only  makes it bolder in oppressing its own people and the people of Tibet.

From Burma to Tibet?

Tibet and Burma are linked in many ways: their peoples and languages are related, and they share a deep faith in Buddhism and the misfortune of being under brutal regimes. Tibet and Burma also both saw widespread protests for freedom in the late 1980s, which their respective regimes crushed violently.

Could a new wave of technology-enabled protests in Burma right now presage a fresh era of resistance in Tibet as well?

As the New York Times reports, small but persistent protests have erupted across Burma for the past two weeks, in one of the biggest challenges to the dictatorship since the 1988 demonstrations were brutally crushed.

The protests … do not appear to be centrally organized and have continued despite the arrests of a number of activist leaders.

[...] “A week and a half ago people were saying the protests didn’t have that much future,” said Dave Mathieson, an expert on [Burma]… “But they are starting to spread, and they are continuing in Rangoon.”

What has changed to give the protests added power against the ruthlessness of the military government? Technology in the hands of individual citizens.

The protests may also be spreading because of transmissions through the Internet of photographs and video that have slipped past government controls.

[...] The readily accessible visual images have given the small demonstrations a disproportionate impact both abroad and at home.

“That’s the big difference from 1988,” said Mr. Mathieson. “The technology is completely different. Even though the military’s power may be the same, the ability of the protesters to get their message around the country has grown.”

It’s far too early to know how much impact the Burmese demonstrations will ultimately have. Their biggest “success” so far is simply happening, given the authoritarian environment.  The junta is not afraid to use coercion, and is relatively impervious to outside pressure thanks to China’s protection. But despite these challenges, these tech-enabled protests give hope to people who support Burmese democracy.

Is something similar happening in Tibet?

SFT effectively used new communication technology to spread around the world dramatic photos and video from our protests on Mount Everest and the Great Wall. Our messages and images were picked up by global media, and we also know they made their way into Tibet and China (Tibetans inside Tibet have communicated to us how inspired they were).

What about actions that originate in Tibet, where the stakes are even higher?

We’re already seeing how mobile phones and digital cameras have allowed word to spread about the crisis in Lithang (where Runggye Adak’s inspiring act of free speech led to his arrest, demonstrations by hundreds of Tibetans, a violent crackdown by Chinese security forces, and an ongoing tense standoff).

Tibetans in other parts of Tibet know about, and are being inspired by, this bravery — despite China’s best efforts at censoring the internet and jamming radio. It’s also possible that the Chinese government feels constrained knowing that almost instantaneous information about its actions will get out. Did the People’s Armed Police use tear gas and shock grenades instead of live ammunition, as they did in Tibet in the late 1980s, because the world is watching?

What would have happened if the internet, mobile phones, and YouTube existed during the massive pro-independence demonstrations in Lhasa from 1987 to 1989? Would they have spread even more? How would things have changed if the world saw shocking, immediate images of the brutality of China’s initial occupation of Tibet in the 1950s? Would more have been done?

Technology wouldn’t have changed everything, but it would have changed some things — and some things could have made a big difference.

The brave Burmese protesters are showing that when a group of people stand up to the most brutal regimes, technology can give them more impact than ever before. Maybe protests in Rangoon or Lithang won’t bring down the respective regimes (this time), but they will shake the leadership in ways that wouldn’t have happened before. Now, citizens have a new power to document and spread what is happening, tipping the balance in the battle over information. The rise of tech-empowered protesters means that for repressive regimes, things will never be the same again.

Channel 4 TV (UK) Reports From Tibet

SFT’s Everest and Beijing actions continue to impact news stories about the Olympics, China, and Tibet. 

In the latest example, the UK’s Channel 4 News ran a TV story on August 28 about how the Chinese government is exerting socio-economic control over Tibet.  The anchor started out the broadcast mentioning SFT’s “free Tibet” banners, and said that Tibet has “been under Chinese control for more than fifty years.”

Mentioning that journalists rarely get access to Tibet, the story then follows Channel 4 reporter Lindsey Hilsum as she visits Tibet, always accompanied by Chinese government minders.  Despite the tight control over her reporting, the story she filed is well worth watching. 

Highlights include:

• An interview with the Tibetan writer Woeser, describing how the Chinese government forces its development policies on Tibetans. (”We’re forced to take something, told it’s good, that we’re being treated kindly.  This is colonialist.”)
• A patronizing Chinese official claiming Tibetan culture is an “exotic flower among Chinese cultures.”
• The negative social impact of the forced settlement of nomads, including welfare-dependency and making it easier for the government to control Tibetans.

(Click here and click on “Watch the Report”).

NY Times on China’s Orwellian Impulse

SFT has always said that the Chinese government is using the Beijing Olympics to whitewash its image. Now China scholar Ross Terrill has analyzed the Chinese government’s Olympics strategy in the context of its Orwellian desire to sanitize the “truth.”

In an op-ed in the New York Times (also carried in the International Herald Tribune), Mr. Terrill writes about the drive to erase China’s famously garbled English, or “Chinglish”:

Yet behind the attack on Chinglish lies an Orwellian impulse to remake the truth. Banished from Beijing for the Olympics will be not only fractured English, but disabled people, Falun Gong practitioners, dark-skinned villagers newly arrived in the city, AIDS activists and other “troublemakers” who smudge the canvas of socialist harmony.

This system of control is centered around the Communist Party’s monopoly on the “truth,” still alive and well all these years after Mao:

Truth and power are both headquartered in the Communist party-state. “Truth” (socialism sparkles, people adore the party) is not only enforced by the party-state but created by it. Stamp out Chinglish; ban “unhealthy thinking”; just keep the picture pretty — or else.

This is right. Any Tibetan who has ever had to fly a Chinese flag from his home, or display a poster of Mao/Deng/Hu on her wall, or sign a statement denouncing the Dalai Lama as an evil separatist (”or else…”) will understand this twisted system of control.

Mr. Terrill then describes why the Chinese government desperately needs the Olympics to be a success:

A regime may be at stake. With Marxism largely evaporated and Leninism fraying at the edges, the Chinese Communist Party’s fate hinges on 10 percent annual economic growth and visions of national glory.

For years, the party hopes, it will be able to flaunt photographs of Tibetan farmers cheering at a Chinese gold medal in table tennis, videos of Muslims in Xinjiang Province fainting with joy as the women’s high jump goes to China by half an inch over Japan, and documentaries in which Beijing taxi drivers speak in perfect English to tourists from New York.

And yet after describing how an Orwellian regime is manipulating the Olympics to prop itself up, Mr. Terrill then perversely warns others against “politicizing” the Games:

Politicizing the Olympics in any fashion is shortsighted… Disrupting it because of China’s Orwellian fictions would not free the political prisoners.

The Chinese state, for better and for worse, knows exactly what it’s doing… Still, a brilliant Olympic Games will be no more of a clue to the future of Chinese Communist rule than the spectacular 1936 Berlin Games were a sign of Nazism’s longevity. Correct language, like a gold medal, is desirable in itself. But neither guarantees glory for a state that pursues them for political ends (ask the Soviet Union). Sport should just be sport. The democracies should insist on that and leave political manipulation to the dictatorships.

Would Mr. Terrill have Tibetans and Chinese dissidents silence themselves, just to avoid “politicizing” the precious Olympic Games? Even after he himself recognizes how the Chinese regime has been exploiting and politicizing the Games to the utmost?

Mr. Terrill is right that the 1936 Olympics didn’t guarantee Hitler’s longevity. But the resulting international prestige emboldened the dictator further down his crazed and genocidal path.

Conversely, if Tibetans and others do their utmost to deny the Chinese government the prestige it so desperately seeks to wring from the Olympics, wouldn’t that temper its ability to act unconstrained and viciously in Tibet and China?

We should expose the Chinese government for the repressive regime it is. In this way, we can show that the Chinese government is shaming the Chinese nation by treating its own citizens as if they were children who cannot be trusted, and keeping the Tibetan people under a brutal occupation no better than Imperial Japan’s occupation of China. 

Questioning China’s Rise

Lester Thurow, former dean of MIT’s Sloane School of Management, wrote an interesting piece in today’s International Herald Tribune, questioning the accuracy of the Chinese government’s claims to astronomical growth rates.

If he’s right, then other countries have much greater leverage over the Chinese government than Beijing would have us believe.  China’s leadership has tried to cast an air of inevitability over its rise, in large part to create a self-fulfilling prophecy as foreign countries and corporations jump on the China bandwagon.  Is it an illusion?

Professor Thurow addresses the improbability of the Chinese government’s official growth statistics:

Mathematically, if the overall economy were to grow 10 percent annually, and the 70 percent of the economy that is based in rural areas was not growing, as stated by the Chinese government, the economy in Chinese cities would have to be growing by 33 percent a year. The urban economy is growing rapidly, but not at a 33 percent pace.

He then looks at energy consumption as a useful surrogate for economic growth, and finds similar improbability:

Economic growth rates can be inferred from electricity consumption.

In every country in the world, electricity use has generally grown faster than the gross domestic product…

But if China’s official numbers are to be believed, there are provinces in China where the GDP has been growing faster than energy use. That is unlikely, since the government’s statistics also say that energy use per unit of gross domestic product is going up - not down, as claimed in provincial GDP statistics.

He also notes that historically, “It simply takes more than 100 years for a large, less economically developed country to catch up with the world leader in per capita income.”  Even more so when the less developed country has four times the population.

What does this mean?

China is certainly developing, and ordinary Chinese are escaping poverty in historic numbers.  This is good. 

From a geostrategic perspective, however, we should take the “rise of China” with a grain of salt.  China is definitely getting wealthier and more powerful; but the breathless proclamations about how China is quickly going to become the next superpower are, well, overstated.  The Chinese government has shown no compunction about providing “flexible” statistics or outright lies when it suits its agenda.

As people buy into the story of China supplanting the United States in a few decades, there is a rush to get on the good side of the regime that rules China and brutally occupies Tibet.  Thus, we see a shameful abandonment of the principles that the Chinese government finds threatening.  But as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wrote, “the Chinese need the West more than we need China.”  This is likely to be true for some time. 

This means that people who genuinely care about the Chinese people, and the Tibetan people, shouldn’t allow themselves to be silenced by those who say, ”the Chinese government is too powerful to criticize, and we can’t afford to be locked out of the Chinese market.”  China is growing, and that’s a good thing, but it doesn’t mean we suspend our values of human rights, freedom, and basic decency.

Dramatic Photos From Lithang

Dramatic new photos of the crackdown by Chinese security forces at the Lithang Horse Races have been released by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). 

Meanwhile, the fate of brave protester Rongye Adak remains unknown, since his arrest on August 1 for peacefully exercising his right to free speech.  We previously wrote about Rongye Adak’s case here, here, and here.  The TCHRD remains “fearful that the authorities will use torture upon Ronggye A’drak during detention, as it is a regular feature in all Chinese administered prisons and detention centers. ”

A group of People’s Armed Police (PAP) forces marching with full protective armour in the aftermath of the Lithang protest

A convoy of PAP vehicles at the Lithang Horse Race Ground. A group of PAP forces can be seen at the background

Tear gas used by the PAP on the protestors