International Campaign for Tibet

International Campaign for Tibet. Tibet Press Watch. Vol. X, Issue 1, January 2002.

International Campaign for Tibet. "Deportation of Tibetans from Nepal Increasing" in Tibet Press Watch. Vol. X, Issue 1, January 2002.

Reportedly, because of violent attacks by Maoist rebels, Nepal has increased its border security. Annually, between 2,500 and 3,000 Tibetans flee Tibet for refugee life in Nepal or India and between May and October of 2001, more than 2,500 Tibetans were apprehended by the Nepalese police. The Nepalese government does not recognize the Tibetans as refugees and as a result, they do not receive UN refugee protection status. The UNHCR does have a "gentleman's agreement" in place (whereby the Nepalese police are to bring Tibetan refugees to Kathmandu and placed in the care of the UNHCR), however due to unreliable communication systems, the UNHCR is often too late to retrieve refugees before deportation takes place.

Ruowang, Wang. "A Chinese View on Self-determination for Tibetans" in Tibet Press Watch. International Campaign for Tibet. Vol. X, Issue 1, January 2002.

During the Cultural Revolution, the People's Liberation Army and the Red Guards destroyed almost all the temples in Tibet. Mao Zedon's Tibet policy was aimed at enforcing Chinese hegemony. His Seventeen-point Agreement enlisted the Tibetan army into the People's Liberation Army and took over Tibet's power. China's abuse of power and authority in the lives of Tibetans brought about a rebellion in 1959, during which more than 87,000 Tibetans were killed.

In 1992, a White Paper on Tibet tried to use "historical facts" to legitimize China's sovereignty in Tibet. The government's propaganda of a "Great China" unfortunately has had the effect of increasing Chinese, parochial nationalism and discrimination against Tibetans. Ruowang makes the argument that since 95% of the people who live in the "Tibetan Autonomous Region" is Tibetan, then they have the right to decide whether they will be united with China or independent.

International Campaign for Tibet. "Root Texts: A Tibetan Carries on his Culture" in Tibet Press Watch. Vol. X, Issue 1, January 2002.

A middle school teacher from a small town in eastern Tibet remarks that he teaches Tibetan language as a matter of self-preservation. Citing a lama who taught him, he writes: "Just like a river's responsibility is to carry water from the mountains to the lowlands, just so, language should carry our culture and identity from one generation to the next". In addition to preserving his own identity, the teacher sees it as a way to practice Dharma (Buddhist teachings) of putting others interests before his own. "Tibetan culture is more than just food and clothes. School is for education about our heritage". For this teacher, religion is not "poison" (as Chairman Mao once told the Dalai Lama) but rather the "root of our written language" and transmitter of culture. However, the Chinese government must approve the schools' textbooks (which emphasize what the Chinese government views as important) and the schools' teachers are admonished to teach only the Marxist-Leninist view of religion. As a result, the writer remarks that "the nature of our schooling [is] weak and not full of taste".

International Campaign for Tibet. "Tibet Rated Worst in Political & Civil Liberties in Freedom House Annual Survey" in Tibet Press Watch. Vol. X, Issue 1, January 2002.

Freedom House, the New York based "freedom and democracy watchdog", rated Tibet the worst disputed territory for 2001. The criteria consisted of two categories: political rights and civil liberties. Freedom House commented, "A country upholds its citizens' civil liberties when it respects and protects their religious, ethnic, economic, linguistic, and other rights, including gender and family rights, personal freedoms, and freedoms of the press, belief and association". The survey reported that while "China was rated a 7 for political rights and 6 for civil liberties, Tibet was rated 7 in both categories", (1 representing the most free and 7 the least free).

Holbrooke, Richard. "A Defining Moment With China". In The Washington Post. January 2, 2002. A13.

Former ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke recently wrote, "The Sino-American relationship will be the most important bilateral relationship in the world during the next cycle of history…Getting it right is vital for our national interests". Giving a brief overview of what he calls Phase I (Henry Kissinger's landmark visit to Beijing in 1971-Tianenman Square in 1989) and Phase II (from 1989-September 11, 2001), Holbrooke comments that during Phase II, relations have become increasingly tense over issues such as trade, democracy, human rights, Taiwan, Tibet, religious freedom, etc. Post September 11, (Phase III) Holbrooke reasons that because China and the U.S. currently have a common adversary (terrorists and extreme Islamic fundamentalist groups), that now is the time to begin mending their relations and addressing some of the aforementioned issues. Holbrooke prescribes several communiqués to address issues where our goals converge (terrorism, the Korean peninsula, narcotics, AIDS and the environment) as such a communiqué would "go a long way toward building a stronger relationship with China and would perhaps help Taiwan open a more productive dialogue with the mainland".

Bodeen, Christopher. "China Making Tracks to Tibet". In The Sun. December 12, 2001. 2A.

The construction of a railroad across Tibet has raised concerns among residents that it will "bring floods of Chinese settlers, erode their culture and threaten their livelihoods". Bodeen contends that the railroad will also "strengthen Beijing's political grip" because it would make swift deployment of troops more feasible. Even though the railroad builders and backers are excited at the opportunities they believe the railway will open, other business owners are not so optimistic. For example, Bodeen comments, "Even ethnic Chinese will face economic disruption as freight trains replace trucks that make the six-day round trip from Golmud to Lhasa…Truckers and the garages and other business that serve them will have to find new income".

Eckholm, Erik. "China Wins the Wallets of Tibetans, but Hearts Are Still Slow to Follow". The New York Times. December 1, 2001.

The Chinese government, in their attempt to win over the Tibetan people, are "putting the region on a fast track to economic development and integration". However, Tibetans are concerned that with economic development will come cultural erosion. "Tibet's fast-growing economy has lured hundreds of thousands of ethnic Chinese from surrounding regions", writes Eckholm. And in response to some elements of Westernization, (discos and karaoke bars), langma clubs, that is, entertainment clubs "decorated in traditional Tibetan style, with religious symbols on the walls" have emerged.

In addition to some contradictory findings, that is, "Chinese and foreign experts point to a dangerously widening gap between a small elite of outsiders, officials and urban workers and the more than 80% of the 2.6 million residents of the Tibet Autonomous Region who still herd animals or farm".

"By the government's count, only 44 percent of Tibetan children even start junior high school. Only paltry numbers of Tibetans receive any further education that might help them partake of an economic boom".

"In a shrewd effort to give more of Tibet's brightest a stake in the system…the Beijing Government sends hundreds of star students to other Chinese provinces each year, where thye attend high school and often college".