Tibet and China - Can't We All Just Get Along?!

• Djchurch's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Dharamsala (McCleodganj)

Trip Start Jul 25, 2006 Previous
Entry Trip End Ongoing Next
Entry

  Dharamsala (McCleodganj), India
Sunday, March 2, 2008

One of the most significant things about my time in Mcleodganj was the growth in my knowledge of Tibet and its history. While knowing a bit before arriving, I learned much more during this time. Adding a personal element was the friendships and chance meetings I had with various Tibetans, hearing their stories about their homeland and how and when they left.

Tibet has once again been catapulted into the headlines recently, with the various protests over the Olympic torch relay. It has been nearly a decade since Richard Gere and the Beastie Boys had the plight of this small country in the media light. (And the fact that it takes celebrities to shine light onto the plight of countries like Tibet or the Sudan is a whole other issue. Where was Bono and Madonna during Rwanda's genocide?) China has retaliated by accusing the Dalai Lama and his "cult" as being behind the unrest in Tibet and elsewhere.

Let me get this out of the way - I'm in Nepal now, and was in Bodnath, the largest Tibetan community in Nepal on Tibetan Uprising Day; the day all the protests and troubles started with the Tibetan community in Nepal. I've taken some time to try to familiarize myself with the various sides and interpretations of the Tibet-China situation.

This is what I've come up - I can't stand China.

Ok, let me clarify.

As individuals, I have no issues with Chinese. Plenty of my students were and not a few friends are Chinese or of Chinese origin, and they are wonderful.

The Chinese NATION is great. By nation, I mean the collection of culture, history, geography, language, etc that binds a group of people together in a sense of common understanding and identity. I have taught Chinese Imperial history, and there is no debating the richness and sophistication of this nation. Their cuisine is varied and delicious. Their input into religion and philosophy is hard to overestimate. It is a place that much of me longs to discover and explore.

But, as a COUNTRY, a political entity consisting of laws, leaders, governance, and political borders, I can't stand it. This is the country that saw Mao and his infamous little red book lead a cultural revolution that destroyed much of the culture that had taken thousands of years to build. (Yes, I am aware much has returned, and there is plenty of blame to spread over other countries for any number of reasons, but this is China's turn.) One of the most iconic images of my youth was watching a lone Chinese student standing in front of Chinese tanks in Tiananmen Square during the pro-democracy protests of 1989. Numbers of dead and injured, in fact the entire episode, has been cleanly wiped from the public consciousness by the easy ploy of the government simply ignoring it, and erasing it from any public medium, including the education system. In 2006 after a request from China, Google agreed to censor and block all references to the Massacre, Tibet Independence, Falon Gong (a banned spiritual movement), and Taiwan as an independent nation. Wikipedia was banned due to some of its articles being perceived as "anti-Chinese". BBC's and CBC's (Canadian Broadcast Company) websites were, until very recently, blocked to mainland China internet users. They were only unblocked in the last couple of weeks due to the International Olympic Committee's pressure to ensure China allow countries access to news sources from their home countries.

While I am quite anti-America in many of it's foreign policy decisions and actions, at least debate is allowed to happen in that country (even if it is often woefully jingoistic or lacking depth). China has been clearly shown to be propping up, or supporting, some of the most despicable regimes currently in the world. Its complicity in Sudan has been shown. Its support of the military junta leaders in Myanmar is well known, and just this past week, a number of ships were turned away from South African ports as they were carrying arms for Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe which is swiftly spiraling into violence, torture, and chaos. Any dissenting voices within China itself, are swiftly put down.

As the next superpower, China's doors are obviously open to business to anyone, so long as they don't criticize China itself.

China's time in Tibet has been devastating. Or incredibly beneficial depending on whom you believe. Tibetans point to the "liberation" of Tibet by China, destruction of thousand year old Buddhist monasteries, texts, and art, vilifying the Dalai Lama (Tibet's temporal and spiritual leader), pillaging of Tibet's natural resources and dumping of toxic and industrial waste, arresting and "re-educating" dissidents, making Tibetans second class citizens in their own land, and bringing in thousands and thousands of Chinese immigrants to dilute the Tibetan culture. Some reports say there are now more Chinese in Tibet than Tibetans.

China claims that Tibet is an internal matter; everyone else please butt out. It claims to have brought millions of dollars into Tibet in areas like health care, education, and business. It paints the Dalai Lama as a dissident who is agitating for violence in China, and that the average Tibetan supports China's presence in Tibet.

The truth, as often is the case, is probably somewhere in the midst of the two opposing sides.

But on this, I'm siding with the Tibetans.

While in Mcleodganj, I had to the opportunities to speak with a few Tibetans concerning their thoughts and their experiences in fleeing from their homeland to end up, eventually, in India. One monk, about my age, told me how he fled at the age of nine and spent two weeks escaping over the Himalayas in the snow, and through treacherous terrain. He was accompanied by another young boy, and two monks his parents had asked to watch over him. He had no special clothing to protect himself during the flight, and told me how the monks had to hold their hands and lift them out of the snow at points when it was too deep for them to walk. He had managed to return once in 19 years, but not before his mother had passed away. His younger sister had just arrived in Mcleodganj and he was in the process of trying to find a way to help her settle in and start a new life. These types of stories are rift throughout any of the enclaves of Tibetans in India and Nepal.

Does China deserve the Olympics? Well, let's face it, while sportsmanship and international solidarity are still present in the hearts of many when contemplating the games, they have also become huge business. Even the Dalai Lama has said he thinks China deserves the Games, in respect to the emerging power they have in the world, and the sheer number of their population. The Dalai Lama also calls not for an Independent Tibet, but a more autonomous one. He seems to have reconciled to the fact that China will never release Tibet willingly, but is advocating for a Tibet within China where Tibetans have more say in the happenings of their country.

I also feel that Tibetans (and anyone else) have every right to protest, both inside Tibet and outside. Call it the closet anarchist in me, but it feels good to see China take one on the chin and actually flinch.

There is a backlash happening from the Olympic protests that could ultimately do more harm than good. Oftentimes, human rights groups and the western media has tried to paint China as having a young, increasingly educated and affluent segment of society that dislike their government and are increasingly desirous of western style of democracy. In the wake of the torch protests, however, an increasingly angry, vocal number of young, educated Chinese are buying into an extreme form of nationalism and anti-Western sentiment. Both sides are guilty of a lack of understanding and single minded statements, but the Chinese side is worrying. Friends of mine who have taught in China have been amazed at the censoring and limited knowledge Chinese students have of their own history. The government has wiped away any history that does not fit their version of the truth as with an enormous calligraphy brush. While many nations are guilty of massaging their own histories, China seems to have beaten theirs nearly to death.

It is this group of young Chinese who will be the business owners, decision makers, and parents of the rising red star of China. And this group is being told (and believing) that the West is jealous, mistrusting, and wants China to fail. Now, this all might be true to varying degrees, but there is no mistaking that is spells trouble for the future relations of China and much of the rest of the world. Recently anti-western protests have been rift all throughout China (with France and French businesses taking the brunt of it due to the torch relay protests in Paris).

As we head into the Olympics, the world will be watching China and the games. The question is after the games finish, will the current momentum towards resolving the Tibet issue continue? History seems to indicate no. But one can hope.

In keeping with Beijing's Olympic slogan, "One World, One Dream", maybe we can get Sudan or Somalia to bid for the next Olympics and see if any good comes out of it.

How about "Keep Dreaming" as a slogan?

Print this entry Share Palampur hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry