Asia

Banyan

China's Tibetan problem

More turbulent monks

Apr 24th 2011, 13:08 by Banyan

THE open wound that is Tibetan resentment of Chinese rule refuses to heal. According to accounts seeping out of China, it has been bleeding profusely for some six weeks now at Kirti, a Tibetan monastery in Sichuan province. Kirti is in Aba prefecture, which Tibetans regard as Amdo, a part of historic Tibet. 

Two Tibetans in their sixties are reported to have died after being beaten by security forces on April 21st. Their deaths came as the monastery was raided and more than 300 of its nearly 2,500 monks were detained for purposes of “legal education”. 

The confrontation started with the death of a young monk, Rigzin Phuntsog, variously described as 16 and 20 years old, who set himself on fire on March 16th. His self-immolation was to mark the third anniversary of bloody anti-Chinese riots in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. The 2008 riots were followed by a harsh crackdown on dissent across what China calls its “Tibet Autonomous Region” as well as in ethnic-Tibetan areas of adjoining provinces, including Sichuan and Qinghai.

Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has accused the police of not even trying to put out the flames that engulfed the young monk. He says they beat Phuntsog instead, hastening his death. A county-government spokesman however said the police doused the flames and blamed the young man's death on “treatment delays”.  The government has since called his suicide a “carefully planned and implemented criminal case, which was aimed at triggering disturbances”.

The Dalai Lama said the monastery has been surrounded by Chinese troops, who at one point prevented food and basic supplies from entering. Clandestine video has captured the huge funeral held for the dead monk (as seen below, in a Tibetan-language report from Voice of America). Local Tibetans, many of them elderly—like the two who were killed—staged a vigil outside the monastery to protect the monks from reprisals for their protests. 

The Chinese government has responded to the tension by closing the area to foreigners, never mind that on April 19th they declared that the situation there was “normal”. Since then, the official Chinese press has alleged immorality among the monks at Kirti—which it portrays as a hotbed of gambling, pornography and other misconduct.

What exactly is going on at the monastery remains subject to conflicting claims. That many Tibetans remain deeply unhappy at living under Chinese rule seems hard to deny.

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1-20 of 919
Khechog wrote:
Apr 24th 2011 5:42 GMT

What is China hiding in Tibet? Foreign tourists are now banned in this Tibetan area in Sichaun province that were never as restrictive as the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

We see protests in middle east but in China it's completely sealed off. The repression must be worse there than middle east.

Tibetans are getting killed without the eyes of the international media and foreigners. Kudos to the respected magazine like Economist to shed a light on the truth.

Now the paid 50 cent bloggers from Beijing will flood this comment section with their propaganda.

guest-wlwllai wrote:
Apr 24th 2011 8:29 GMT

thanx for posting this article....i find it outrageous that the fworlds free media hardly reports on this topic of chinese brutal occupation and repression of Tibet....we all know that Tibet is not china...i would arguably say that China is probably the most loathed country in the world and its so sad and tragic that the Tibetans have to suffer from them...the majority of the free world population is in favour of Tibetan indepedence,however their governments take a different view by accepting Tibet as part of china...The Tibetan cause has many suppoters and it keeps growing with the years,so do hope that eventualy they will get free of the ugly chinese regime....FREE TIBET!!!!!

tocharian wrote:
Apr 24th 2011 9:36 GMT

China is hell-bent on pursuing the "Great Economic Leapfrog Forward" to build a stable and harmonious society with Chinese characteristics, come hell or high water, smog or sandstorm. Buddhism does not preach the higher materialistic goals of greed and consumption (the proof is in the Chateau Lafite).
Tibetans are not serfing under the evil Lamas anymore. They now live free, no longer perspiring but celibating under the loving beneviolent care and guidance of the Communo-Capitalistic Party of China.
Can I get 50 cents for this?

Hibro wrote:
Apr 24th 2011 10:19 GMT

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/75ea88c6-6e4b-11e0-a13b-00144feabdc0.html

"China is stepping up security measures throughout ethnic Tibetan areas following a crackdown on unrest around a monastery in Sichuan province.

Residents of Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture reached by telephone on Sunday reported that armed patrols in the streets had been increased."

Robert North wrote:
Apr 24th 2011 11:16 GMT

Another statistic to add to the body count in Tibet. Were these old men killed in cold blood like so many others I wonder? Pity there is no video like the one below which provides conclusive proof of inhumane behaviour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAI_X0h6E3o

sikko2 wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 3:38 GMT

“China… doesn’t deserve a rigged rate of exchange–to promote its exports…. As the world’a largest gold producer, (thanks to a strong contribution from gold mines in occupied Tibet), it’s a wealthy country.”
http://blogs.forbes.com/robertlenzner/2011/04/24/what-to-do-about-a-fall...
----------

This suggests that China is robbing gold from Tibet.

Apr 25th 2011 3:53 GMT

>>> WHAT KIND OF CRAZY LOGIC.........

BY banyan's aguements...

ONE MONK suicide means Tibet is not part of China

THEN, OK IF we follow his logic

THEN< the high suicide rates in American Red-Indian Reservations, means another new "Indian Uprising" is immiment

HEY, CALL OUT The US Cavalry, for christ-sake

WHAT ABOUT the high suicide rates in Australia's "Aborigines Reservations" ?? Will Banyan says a Independence Movement there is alive just because of this

AND INDIA's 3 bloody wars of liberations, in KASHMIR, ASSAM, Naxalites. where 100000s had been slaughtered hardly raise the same strong attacks as on China

OR IS "Banyan" articles just singling out China as part of a anti-China propaganda

OR IS IT TO Banyan & all anti-China posters here, Kashmiris, Nagas, Native-Americans, Aussie Abos all do not count as members of the Human-Race ????

peakerman wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 4:00 GMT

Tibtan is part of China ,this fact will never change !Our Chinese people only want to live peacefully with others.Why there always exists wicked man ?

vigilance wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 4:10 GMT

To my utter disgust, Economists has become Pro-Chinese, but I am more appalled by the factual discrepancies in the article above!! Here, Phuntsok's self-immolation was to mark not the 2008 uprising in Lhasa, the uprising that took place in Lhasa wasn't on 16th. It was to mark the brutal crackdown in his own town, Aba or Ngawa on 16th in 2008. I hope Banyan or whatever can look closely to this facts, thats what you are for, if can't do it, quit the job.

Singwhere wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 4:50 GMT

@ Khechog
Please tell me how do you know the truth that "The repression must be worse there than middle east.".
It seems that you`ve been to Tibet. But if this is true, why do you say "Foreign tourists are now banned in this Tibetan area"?

84JEoZpqoa wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 6:43 GMT

as a chinese,i just want to traval to tibet, no politics, tibet is the most worthful place to visit.The environment is nice.

JAIHA wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 6:49 GMT

Well, despite of what is happening in Kirti I think the CCP is slowly getting its head around the fact that Tibet is a self-inflicted wound that will remain sore if it's not solved amicably.
And sooner rather than later considering what's currently happening the world over.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/MD22Ad01.html

And the Dalai Lama is still around to approve a deal.
As long as the Dalai Lama is around Tibetans will accept Tibet as a part of China.
China is only making life hard for herself by being ruthless with her Tibetan population.

The Tibetans are much less a threat to the CCP's one party rule than Chinese dissidents like Liu Xiaobo or Ai Weiwei.
Essentially, they will be happy enough if they are left alone.

And India and China relations can climb to unknown heights from there.
And China needs a few friendly neighbours to avoid an Asian NATO taking shape, stretching from India all the way to Japan...

Apr 25th 2011 8:20 GMT

Gee, if those Tibetan monks are not happy living in Sichuan, why don’t they just pack up and go back to Tibet?

JAIHA wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 9:09 GMT

Wow, what ignorance!

"Gee, if those Tibetan monks are not happy living in Sichuan, why don’t they just pack up and go back to Tibet?"

Kirti monastery was founded in 1472. And in all likelihood there weren't more than a handful Chinese in the place until the PLA occupied Tibet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirti_Gompa

How about the Chinese army and paramilitary packing up and going back to China instead of beating elderly Tibetans to death?

They'll be needed in Beijing itself to beat up elderly Chinese underground Christians. And their grandchildren too perhaps.

JAIHA wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 9:15 GMT

@Singwhere

I thought Tibet has been an inalienable part of China since time immemorial...
And you are Chinese. Right?

How come you don't recognize a common Tibetan name like Khechog then?

If I were Khechog I would feel upset by having to share my motherland with such ignorant fellow countrymen.

justlistenall wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 9:16 GMT

What a pity, more than 50 years has passed and the old colonialism (and its old slaves) still dies hard and manifests its remaining ghost in the Economist Banyan in articles after articles against Chinese Xi Zang Tibetans.

Don’t they realize that their clandestine arms meddling of Xi Zang (Tibet) died of bankruptcy for the last time some 50 years ago?

They had their chances and should have invaded and force occupied Xi Zang long ago when China was still weak. Now forget it you get that?

Forget it too are those (particularly some of my Indian friends) who today can’t bear to stand the thought of having a stronger and better prosperous Xi Zang and its people as integral part of China.

Thanks to CCP government, Xi Zanger (Tibetans) enjoy a much higher per capita GDP than that of say Indians today, with a lot more religious freedom than before 1959 when the slave owning Dalai lama was the still the overloard of the then destitute serfdom in China.

If they were sincere in their purpose however devious, why they didn’t bitch and moan and rescue “Tibet” then instead of barking and breast beating now on these Economist articles and forums?

Sorry, you had your chances and you missed the boat. And that’s all there is to it. And all they can do now is just that: Bitching, moaning with vicious bashing, like in some of the posts revealed here.

Sherbrooke wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 10:06 GMT

@Smiling face tiger_

>THEN< the high suicide rates in American Red-Indian Reservations, means another new "Indian Uprising" is immiment

I bet you don't have a clue about what is going on with the Native Americans.

The problem is that China tries exactly the same approach in Tibet that failed spectacularly in Canada, and only makes it worse. What China is doing in Quebec is quite similar to the residential schools, where Native Americans were supposed to be brought up-to-date with all the niceties of modern life. The trouble is that it didn't work quite as well as advertised, largely:

a. It ignored the whole delicate psychological aspect of bringing up children with stable psychological background and operating with a communities with stable personal connections
b. It undermined how easy it would be to overcome prejudice if the differences between two different communities are visible
c. It hardly had a shot of creating a national elite

Essentially, the whole thing had to be scrapped for good, and we are currently undoing some of the damage it inflicted.

justlistenall wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 10:07 GMT

Some are suggesting here “an Asian NATO taking shape, stretching from India all the way to Japan”. He ain’t no fool.

I think that would be actually a best thing to happen to China. Let them form some containment, C-shaped, U-shaped, or O-shaped for that matter. I think China’s primary focus on domestic matters today could really use some help from the US to put a leash on aggressor-like nations in the minds of India, Vietnam…., in addition to Japan that is already a proxy state of the US under its leash in terms of foreign policy and military postures, even international economic matters.

In that case and to ensure effectiveness, the US would likely set up military bases in these countries a la Japan or S. Korea there or in the name of joint forces.

Nothing is free of course, these Asian nations would get the protection of US military umbrella, in exchange, they’d do things at the whim of the US. And China would then only need to deal with one nation the US instead of several minors for major issues. And that should be alright for all of them.

Since China has no intention or means to challenge US supremacy for many, many decades to come and the US knows that, and as long as Sino-American remains intertwined and stake holding of each other like they are today, such ringing arrangement would be a good one for both China and the US to ponder, IMO.

AusChin wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 10:14 GMT

@christina Marlowe

//feed population, constantly and consistently, outright lies and complete fabrications, all whilst totally convincing population, through any form of trickery, convince population to believe things that are not true; heavily prop up all conspired confabulations through use so-called buzz words (such as "God, " "Guns,"), while simultaneously using fear tactics (as with "communism," "fascism"),//

I agree with you Christina, the interesting question is, you have to wonder how much lies have also been circulated on the Tibetan side? As the Dorje Shugden affair have shown, the Dalai Lama isn't above manipulating and oppressing his own flock for political reasons.

AusChin wrote:
Apr 25th 2011 10:15 GMT

Pardon me, wrong forum.

1-20 of 919

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