Destruction and Detentions: All in a Day’s Work

By Dorji Kyi / June 15, 2016;

Tibetan homes are shown destroyed along the highway in Chabcha county
Photo:Radio Free Asia

Tibetan owned restaurants, shops and private homes have been knocked down by Chinese authorities on a lakeside Tibetan colony in the Tsolho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), hundreds of Chinese police officers marched in Tanakma Township of Chabcha County with heavy machinery to tear down the buildings. Around 600 homes, shops and restaurants have been destroyed and sources say that the demolition will continue.

“The police began to demolish all the structures built by the Tibetan residents on their own land and the owners were not allowed to retrieve their belongings from their houses before the demolition work began,” a source told RFA on condition of anonymity. The campaign has also affected Muslims and Han Chinese property owners in the area.

The reason given by the Chinese authorities for destroying the buildings was that they were “illegal constructions”. However the truth, according to the same witness, is that the owners failed to pay bribes to the officials to gain building permission, hence the authorities rejected their applications.

In RFA’s report it shows that five property owners, of which three were Tibetans and two Muslims, protested against the demolition of their property. They were brutally beaten and released after being detained for a day. “We fear that neighbouring areas like Chang Shikhuk, Hodon Yangtrang, and Chik Nga Chik may be the next targets of the government’s plan,” the source added.

Tibetans are often forced to sell their properties and when they try to resist, they are beaten or imprisoned. “It is extremely rare to find even one county leader who is fair and reasonable in his dealings with Tibetans,” the unnamed witness said to RFA. “Both officials and business owners exploit the land owned by the nomadic community.”

On October 22, 2015, Chinese authorities knocked down 240 houses built by Tibetans in the same County and gave no reason for it. According to RFA’s report, 960 Tibetans were left without a home and had to live in tents. They were not allowed to question the authority’s action, neither were they permitted to go anywhere near their destroyed houses or to take pictures.