Free Tibet

My first dog as a kid was a Lhasa Apso. Being the Nancy Drew that I was, I sleuthed out the fact that my new dog was native to Tibet. Ironically, I ended up naming her China. Today, I can’t help but wonder if good old China would have survived recent riots due to her namesake. The ethnic rifts between Tibetans and Han Chinese have been stewing for decades, but the difference between this uprising and that of 1959, when the Dalai Lama was forced into exhile, was the restraint that the Chinese government showed in response to the violence. Due to international pressure and observance, this incident in China could prove that economic liberalisation can place pressure on authoritarian governments to become more free and open.

Tibet is formally known as the “Tibet Autonomous Region.” It is an autonomous region like that of Hong Kong, and Macau. However, Tibet does not enjoy the independence that comes from being an international financial centre or the “Vegas of Asia.” Due to a boom in tourism and a speed train between Lhasa and Beijing, the demographics of the region have been shifting. Native Tibetans feel that nearly half of the population in Tibet is comprised of Han Chinese and Hui Muslims. Any economic growth that the region has seen is perceived as beneficial for Han Chinese because they make up a majority of business owners in the region. To add fuel to the fire, in 1991 the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, said that the shift meant that “Chinese settlers (were) creating Chinese apartheid.” He has gone so far as claiming ethnic genocide on his native homeland.

Given this background, the destruction that ensued on May 14^th makes a little more sense. Well, as much sense as rioting can make. Accusations, or possibly just rumors, of Buddhist monks being beaten by local police incited protests outside of Ramoche Temple in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Of course, the Chinese version of the story is that the violence began with monks stoning police. While monks have been known to be active in separatist protests, it is hard to vision city wide riots beginning with fully robed monk winding up and beaming policemen.

From Ramoche, the rioters gained force and moved through the city. They smashed non-Tibetan shops, pulled merchandise into the streets, and burned the rubble. Tibetan shop owners were spared by tying traditional white scarves through shutter handles, tipping off rioters to move to the next shop. While this block party was going on, police hung low. It was only on March 15^th that tear gas was used to clear alleys still being affected by rioters, and single gun shots were fired to disperse crowds.

In the country that brought you Tiananmen Square, the reaction to protests in Lhasa have been uncharacteristically mellow. Many believe that the upcoming Olympics were on the minds of the Chinese political machine. This much anticipated event is expected to bring in huge profits and attention to Beijing and to China, and it is unlikely that major powers will boycott the games as Politosaurus Rex encourages in her post 2008 Olympics: Supporting Inhumanity in Beijing?. With so much invested in this project, the Chinese would be foolish to garner boycotts due to human rights violations in Tibet. Additionally, press coverage of the event has ratcheted up the pressure for China. You can’t sweep photographs by western reporters under the rug.

The international speculation that China would react mildly due to the Olympics was founded in reality. This brings hope that the more China is integrated into the global economy, the more it will be held to a higher standard, a standard that abhors repression, and the atrocities of human rights violations.

However, outsiders shouldn’t be too excited about Chinese politics becoming transparent and fair anytime soon. The timing of the riots so close to the Olympics could have been a fluke. There’s no telling what the government does in less well known conflict areas, or in the battles that aren’t broadcasted in international news networks. One Western student in Tibet apparently witnessed six Tibetan boys dragged from their homes, kicked and beaten with batons, bundled into a bus and driven away. Unfortunately, the Chinese are good at proving that, optimism can only go as far as reality.