A huge issue that has largely gone unreported is the maltreatment of the Tibetans by the Chinese government, who are taking over their region.
Edited by Samantha Liu
Since the 1960s, the Central Tibet Administration has been pushing for the stop of human rights violations in Tibet, which has been under China’s rule for about 60 years. This rule and the violations that have followed have led to Tibetians being tortured and suffering unjust punishment. The leader of the CTA, Lobsang Sangay, categorizes these acts as a cultural genocide to keep Tibet as a subordinate, though many are skeptical of this identification.
Tibet is an autonomous region in Southwest China, which allows it to sustain its own local government away from national authority. However, China’s increasingly aggressive moves have threatened the sovereignty of as many of the nearly 7 million Tibetians. China uses high-level surveillance and other tactics, including internet tracking and widespread cameras in private areas. There’s even more reason to protest due to the religious restrictions like the Chinese government choosing the Dalai Lama, which is the responsibility of the Tibetians, whose primary religion is Buddhism. Tragically, as a form of protest, 154 Tibetians have committed suicide under such religious suppression since 2009 as a form of protest t. This practice, called self-immolation, has made its home in droves in Tibet The overwhelming division through religious restrictions, language suppression, and ethnic segregation devastate the population’s mental and political well-being.
Even with the evidence of torture, such as cruelity within unjust imprisonment and physical beatdowns, the Chinese government insists that it is actually helping Tibet, justifying the cruel occurrences with the suggestion that they have allowed Tibet to be economically sound. To them, this means turning them into a market economy by bringing an influx of China migrants to Tibet, to the point where Tibetians are starting to become a minority. Such a justification is misleading since there is a wide array of unqualified labor and poor infrastructure.
As for right now, the CTA has asked the United Nations Human Rights Council to address this crisis and punish China for their crimes. The Tibetans’ culture, religion, and language continue to be threatened by China’s aggressive encroachments. CTA leader Sangay says “the tortures, enforced disappearances, and destructions of monasteries carried out by the government of China against Tibetians are acts of crimes against humanity.”
Why should we care? While it should be a democratic obligation to protect the Tibetans’ freedom, a global threat also looms from inaction. Sangay has stated that China is looking to occupy even more land, like Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim the same way as Tibet. Gaining these lands would give them more power not only over their people.
Dalai Lama: 'Cultural genocide' behind self-immolations. (2011, November 07). Retrieved November 07, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-15617026
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