A bigger picture of Tibetan issue (English)--西藏始末

Misa

Hi Andreas,


As I trust in you that you are a mature-minded people with critical thinking ability, Ifeel the need to provide you with a few facts:


Tibet had become part of China since the 13th centruy, across Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasty. Ironically, it was much earlier than Europeans occupying America,Canada, and Australia.


In 1904,British army invaded Tibet and occupied it.


Between 1949 and 1951, China took over Tibet. Before the PRC enacted the Democratic Reform, the Tibetan regime was slavery. 10% of the population were monks, who represented the vested interest. 98% Tibetans were illiterate.Vast majority were slave farmers, who enjoyed no freedom, no human right, no material reward for their hard work. They needed to pay tax for their marriage,the virginity of women slaves belonged to their owners. They were brutally tortured for small mistakes. Sometimes they had to loan food or currency from the monks or nobles, and the interest rate was 20%-30%. Due to their poor productivity and heavy tax, it was normal that three generations in a family had to work all their lives to pay back a single loan.


Between 1954-1960, Zhou Enlai visited India 6 times for Tibetan issue. Late 1950s,Dalai also visited India. India was one of the first countries that built up official relations with China, however the mindset carried on from Colonialism Era still influenced India's attitude. Nehru still expected to share the privilege and benefit in Tibet like the old British did, but the Tibetan State Government had signed conventions with China agreeing that Tibet was part of China. Some opponents exiled to India, and persuaded Dalai to stay for conspiring a retroaction. Dalai was also concerned that the Democratic Reform in Tibet would undermine his privilege as Tibetan governor. Zhou visited Dalai in India, and told him that Democratic Reform was not mandatory,and successfully convinced him to come back.  However, in 1959,a retroaction broke out and was put off in no time, which triggered a thorough Democratic Reform.


Enough about the background. In respect of this protest, it was peaceful in the beginning. Somehow conflict happened and went rampant. Initially, the police was not intervening, until they had to control the situation with heavier measures. In the later stage, they had to drive tanks and arrest people, as those "mobs" (according to ECOMONIST) were essentially breaking the law. This action was interpreted by those"western media" into "suppress of freedom of speech", and it is WRONG.


There are a few causes for the "emotion" of the mobs. Actually, think of the emotion of those Aboriginals in Australia. Although the government has put heavy effort and subsidy in preserving their culture and well-being, they are still marginalized, as they are not capable of surviving in this competitive society. Despite they get living subsidy from the government, they still suffer from alcohol addiction and become the major crime source in the city. In the past year, 3 of my friends were attacked or robbed by Aboriginals in Sydney for no reason. Thinking of this, also thinking of the economic development in China in the past years which has brought competition, immigration, pollution and corruption to every city including Lhasa, you would understand why those Tibetans would resort to the "good old time" when Dalai was the spiritual and political leader, and dream of the regression of their Utopia comprising of purely Tibetans.


However,the dream they reposed in, does not exist in this modern world any more.


Another fact is, Tibet has no industry except tourism, with Chinese being the major patron resource. In fact, over 98% government spending in Tibet is the subsidy from Beijing. Tibetan people enjoy the policy privilege such as doubled family birth quota, and lowered University Entrance Examination score requirements.(You might not know how important it is for a Chinese high school student, but what I can tell you is that a lot of Chinese families immigrate to Beijing, paying hundreds of thousands of RMB just to lower this requirement, thus enable their children to enter universities in Beijing more easily)


The lastfact is, 20% western media has shaped the 80% public voice in the world, with awell-suspected credibility and professionalism. As Donald Trump has warned,"you gotta consider the source." The cold war mind set has split the world into two opposite parts, and you will find it precisely manifesting itself in the media voice of different countries towards this Tibetan matter. Check out the INTERNATIONAL REACTION in this link:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Tibetan_unrest


Hope my research would help you better understand the truth and get some insight in this.


Cheers,
Misa

思索

It seems that you have great knowledge of Tibet. Since ancient time Tibet has been an inalienable part of China!

Misa

Gee, you gotta know how much research I did these days...
Cheers.