the plight of tibet

Back in the 90’s when the Beastie Boys hosted their benefit concerts, I heard about the Free Tibet issue for the first time. I just passed it off as some sort of crazy activist movement, and I didn’t really understand the whole issue. Years later I became a little bit more educated, but now this issue is being thrust into the public spotlight because of the upcoming Beijing Olympics and the bloody Chinese crackdown on Tibet’s people. There have been at least 18 deaths so far, possibly up to 80 depending on the news source.

Communist China really is an oppressive nation, not only with human-rights in general, but with their willful oppression of the Tibetan people.

Here is a letter that appeared in the Boulder newspaper from a Tibetan native. I found this really puts the interest in perspective.

Tsering Dolma: Give Tibet its Independence
Posted March 24, 2008

As a Tibetan, I do not consider myself to be one of the fifty ethnic minorities within China as Mr. Chen claims in his letter on March 20, 2008. The Tibetans were independent until China invaded Tibet. We have our own culture, language and religion.

His statement that Tibet has been part of China since the Qing dynasty is inaccurate. It is true that the Qing Empire had at one time helped Tibet to stabilize its own country. The Qing dynasty’s assistance to Tibet does not give China a claim of sovereignty over Tibet. Tibet has never been a part of China. It was invaded by China in the early 1910s’, but Tibet was eventually able to oust the Chinese. The most recent invasion of Tibet by the Chinese was in 1949 and throughout the 1950’s. China has claimed sovereignty over Tibet since that time.

I agree that the ideal would be peaceful co-existence between the Chinese and the Tibetans, but this is not possible due to the oppression of Tibetans by the Chinese. 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese since the invasion of Tibet. Thousands of monasteries have been destroyed. Buddhist monks and nuns have been tortured as a result of their religious belief. There is no freedom of religion or speech for Tibetans inside Tibet. The monks and nuns inside Tibet are under constant surveillance by the secret Chinese police. Photos of the Dalai Lama are banned in Tibet. For these reasons, it makes total sense that Tibetans are protesting their cruel treatment at the hands of Chinese. The Tibetans have been struggling and protesting non-violently for the last 49 years and it is unfortunate that it takes violence against the Chinese to get the world’s attention. The Tibetans have suffered enough under the communist Chinese regime. We Tibetans will continue our struggle for a free Tibet until we regain our independence. FREE TIBET! BHOD GYALO!

Tsering Dolma
Boulder