Editorial, Asahi Shimbun, 23 September 2015
Occupying the highlands of western China at an average elevation of 4,000 meters, Tibet marked the 50th anniversary of the foundation of its autonomous region on Sept. 1.
Celebratory events were held in Tibet on Sept. 8, but the Xi administration continues to pursue a policy for Tibet that combines economic development with tight control by Beijing. Given Tibet’s autonomous status, China must clearly reset its course and respect Tibetan ethnic culture.
At a commemorative ceremony in the capital city of Lhasa, Yu Zhengsheng, a Politburo heavyweight in charge of ethnic policies and chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said in his speech, “During the past 50 years, the Chinese Communist Party and the Tibetan people have led the transformation from a backward old Tibet to a vibrant socialist new Tibet.”
Yu went on to point out that Beijing has taken care of 95 percent of Tibet’s financial needs, and that the Tibetan people’s incomes have grown by more than 10 percent every year. Yu stressed that Beijing will continue to focus on Tibet’s economic development.
But it is hard to make a case for Beijing defending and promoting the culture of Tibet. Among the population of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the proportion of ethnic Han people has grown, and school education in standard Chinese is widespread.
Above all, it is disturbing that Beijing is reinforcing surveillance on Tibetan Buddhist temples and monks, which are of vital spiritual importance to the Tibetan people.
Religion was a complex matter even before the establishment of the autonomous region. In the 1959 Tibetan Uprising, the 14th Dalai Lama, the supreme spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, fled to northern India and established a government-in-exile. He has since continued to demand greater autonomy for ethnic Tibetans, but Beijing decries this as an action that would cause China to fragment.
In Tibet, possessing photos and video footage of the Dalai Lama can invite a crackdown by security authorities. Any issue that is religious in nature may be interpreted as political by Beijing. There is no end to Buddhist monks who commit self-immolation to protest religious persecution.
We cannot overlook the fact that Tibetans are not guaranteed basic rights. Yu asserted that freedom of worship is “fully respected,” but most Tibetans surely disagree.
The Tibetan and Uighur issues reveal the Xi administration’s intent to eliminate all diversity in China in the name of the “Chinese people.”
The Qing dynasty (1644-1912) was said to respect the ethnic identity of Tibet, rather than wish to subjugate it. A truly great nation possesses the broadness of mind to embrace religious and cultural diversity.
There was a time when dialogue existed between Beijing and the government-in-exile, but this has not been the case for some years. Matters concerning the Dalai Lama’s successor are also unclear. And as foreign media are restricted from entering the autonomous region, the outside world hears little of Tibet’s voice.
The rest of the world needs to take a genuine interest to ensure that the Tibetan people can live in peace. And for that, each country must continue to urge China to reopen dialogue with the government-in-exile and improve conditions in Tibet.
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