Tibetans Suffering Under China

ThoThough this article was written in 2009 it is still true today. So, I thought it might be useful to quote it.

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People participate in a candle lit vigil to commemorate 50 years of exile in Dharmsala, India. By Daniel Berehulak, Getty Images Dalai Lama: Tibetans 'suffering' under China Updated 3/10/2009 7:16 PM |  Comments 162  |  Recommend 20 E-mail | Print | Reprints & Permissions |
Enlarge By Daniel Berehulak, Getty Images Tibetan monks in exile look on during a candle lit vigil to commemorate 50 years in exile on March 10 in Dharmsala, India.  DALAI LAMA'S MESSAGE  Enlarge By Altaf Qadri, AP The Dalai Lama reads a scripture during a prayer session in Dharamsala, India, on Monday. Share  Add to Mixx  Facebook  Twitter More Subscribe  myYahoo  iGoogle More By Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY BEIJING — The Dalai Lama criticized Chinese rule Tuesday for transforming Tibet into a "hell on earth," in a speech marking 50 years since the failed uprising that forced him into exile. In unusually harsh comments, the Buddhist spiritual leader said Tibet's unique religion, culture and language are "nearing extinction." "These 50 years have brought untold suffering to the land and people of Tibet," the Dalai Lama, 73, told about 2,000 Tibetan exiles gathered in Dharmsala, India, to commemorate the rebellion in 1959. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu called the Dalai Lama's remarks "lies." The government, which accuses the Dalai Lama of trying to split Tibet from China and fomenting recent violence, pointed out the development it had brought to the vast Himalayan plateau. The Dalai Lama said campaigns by the Chinese Communist Party have killed "hundreds of thousands" of Tibetans, but he repeated his call for "legitimate and meaningful autonomy" within China, rather than outright independence, as Beijing accuses him of seeking. After his 30-minute speech, thousands of young Tibetans took to the streets of Dharmsala, where the Dalai Lama has set up his government-in-exile, chanting, "China out!" and "Tibet belongs to Tibetans!" A thousand protesters marched peacefully in New Delhi, while other protests were held in Nepal; Seoul; New York; London; Berlin; Vienna; Bern, Switzerland; Taiwan; and Canberra, Australia. Swarms of police and stepped-up security checks in Tibet and other parts of western China apparently stifled any large-scale protests, the Associated Press reported. In the Tibetan capital of Lhasa — where a peaceful protest last year erupted into anti-Chinese rioting four days later and spread to surrounding provinces — riot and paramilitary police patrolled the streets with automatic rifles. "The holy city of Lhasa was quiet and peaceful Tuesday," the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. "The life of the average Tibetan seems unaffected even under close watch by foreign press on this special date." However, foreign reporters and tourists have been barred from the region this month by the Chinese government. Lhasa residents received notice on their cellphones Tuesday from carrier China Mobile that voice and text messaging services may face disruptions until May 1 for "network improvements." Several Lhasa residents contacted Tuesday by USA TODAY declined to comment on the situation there. Poet Woeser, a leading Tibetan dissident who like many Tibetans uses one name, declined an interview request, even though she is a normally outspoken blogger. The lack of protests in Tibetan regions did not surprise Robbie Barnett, an expert on Tibet at Columbia University. "Tibetans don't do much when the Chinese put on a show of force," he said. "They wait until it dies down and attempt smaller, more meaningful protests. But China has so many troops on the ground, the biggest danger is in the Tibetan response to mishandling or perceived mishandling of incidents." Barnett said the heightened security "makes the state look very aggressive and unfriendly." In a speech Monday, Chinese President Hu Jintao demanded a "strong Great Wall" of stability in Tibet. The security "is designed to control and intimidate people out of any action," said Lhadon Tethong, executive director of the advocacy group Students for a Free Tibet. "They have this increased troop presence even in remote nomadic and farming communities," she said from Hong Kong. Though Beijing claims Tibet has been part of Chinese territory for centuries, Tibet was a deeply isolated theocracy until 1951, when Chinese troops invaded Lhasa. Tuesday's anniversary marked the riots March 10, 1959, inside Tibet against Chinese rule that led to a crackdown and, later that month, the Dalai Lama's flight across the Himalayas and into exile. Beijing has said it brought modernity to a region where monks and wealthy landowners had long ruled over huge tracts of land worked by slaves and serfs. In Beijing, Ma, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Tibet went through democratic reforms in 1959 and Tibetans had been freed from slavery. end quote from: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-03-09-tibet_N.htm I would compare what is happening to Tibetans in Tibet to what happened to Native Americans from the 1800s until the 1960s and 1970s. If we look back at what happened to native Americans they were killed, relegated to Indian Reservations often far away from their native lands, forced to give up their religious beliefs and their children sent away to boarding schools to be taught English. And before that they were given smallpox and other European diseases in various ways to thin out their numbers so they would be more easily controlled as a group. There isn't a lot of difference from this in how Tibetans are being treated both inside and outside of Tibet in China since the 1930s to the 1950s all the way to the present.