In Tibet they’d die for a hung parliament

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Filed under: China, Dalai Lama, Democracy, Tibet

16 comments

While we in peaceful democratic Australia have been conducting our political battles at public meetings and settling our disputes at the ballot box, in less fortunate places politics is being conducted by other means.

Tibetan protestors in India

In Tibet, where the Chinese authorities have launched a new crackdown, these include arrests in the night, secret trials, long prison sentences on spurious charges, and beatings and other forms of violence.

In early August He Guoqiang, a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo and head of its Central Commission for Discipline, visited Tibet. Apparently he was not pleased by what he found, despite the intensive repression that has taken place in Tibet since the riots in 2008 in which at least 200 people were killed. He ordered a fresh crackdown on Tibetan “separatists” and intellectuals, particularly the Buddhist monks and nuns who have been at the forefront of the protests against Chinese rule over the past few years.

A notable aspect of this crackdown has been the focus on Buddhist monasteries. The Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and the Chinese government claims that Tibetans are free to follow their particular form of Buddhism, with its emphasis on monastic life. But following He Guoqiang’s visit, Party officials have launched demands for tighter political control of the monasteries.

Du Qinglin, head of the United Front Work Department of the Party’s Central Committee, has demanded “democratic management” in the monasteries. “Monks and nuns who are politically reliable, learned and respected should be selected to monastery management committees,” he said. In
China “democratic management” is usually a code expression for “control by the Communist Party.”

In a letter to me last month, the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, reported that hundreds of monks and nuns are being expelled from monasteries, leaving only a few as guides for tourists. “The Chinese plan to turn the monasteries into mere showcases like museums, manned by only a few monks as caretakers. Such plans represent a systematic, long-term strategy to eliminate all remaining vestiges of Tibetan identity and cultural heritage,” he wrote.

The Chinese authorities remain extremely sensitive about the influence of the Dalai Lama and other exiled Buddhist leaders. Recently they banned photos of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, who escaped from Tibet in 1999 and now lives in India. The Karmapa is 25 and is seen by some as the Dalai Lama’s eventual heir as Tibet’s spiritual leader. He is also a strong campaigner on environmental issues including climate change, and has been critical of the degradation of Tibet’s environment by mining companies under Chinese government patronage.

The Chinese government refers to all those in Tibet who oppose its rule as “separatists.” In fact most Tibetan leaders, including the Dalai Lama, are opposed to separatism. The Dalai Lama asks only that the Chinese implement their own Constitution, which says that Tibet should be an autonomous region, not a Chinese colony. He asks that the Tibetan language and Tibet’s religious, cultural and environmental heritage should be respected, not trampled on as at present. For over a decade now he has been trying to have serious negotiations about these issues with Beijing.

The Dalai Lama wrote to me last month: “We need a comprehensive solution to the Tibetan issue. Despite nine rounds of talks between Chinese officials and my envoys, there have been no tangible results. Indeed, it seems unlikely that a result will be achieved any time soon. Nevertheless, our commitment to finding a mutually beneficial solution to the Tibetan issue remains unchanged.”

I hope that Australians who care about human rights, and particularly my fellow parliamentarians from all parties, will continue to speak up on behalf of people who don’t have political and religious freedom we take for granted, such as the people of Tibet.

Michael Danby is Labor MP for Melbourne Ports and Convenor of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet

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16 comments

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- ZSRenn says:
  
  08:18am | 01/09/10
  
  I always wonder when I see stories like this do the authors have any idea of the history of Tibet and why the Chinese authorities find the monks so abhorrent,
  
  Here are a couple of reasons for you
  
  The monks including the Dalai Lama were supporters of a caste system which had as its lowest caste slaves. I am talking small children and adults locked in chains living in the poorest of conditions sleeping in their own filth.
  
  Of course the Monks held the highest of caste status
  
  This is why the Chinese use the word liberated when they refer to Tibet
  
  These may be dressed like Monks but if they were running around doing the damage they are doing in Australia they would be arrested under Terrorist legislation,
  
  I love the fact that reporters see the monks as humble peaceful people and cannot open their eyes to the actualities that are the Dalai Lama sect of Tibetan Monks.
  
  I can here the latte set from here in China “But they are oppressed.”
  
  I will keep that in mind the next time a Muslim Cleric gets expelled from Australia
  
  Reply
Mike says:

09:39am | 01/09/10

You raise some good points that are definitely valid, but at the end of the day most people would agree that a greater amount of self-determination is a right for the Tibetans. Even if they were to go back to the old caste system (unlikely in this era) it should be their right to do so. They don’t need the Chinese doing them any favours.

But yeah western perceptions are pretty skewed. Movies like Seven Years in Tibet (where the monks didn’t want to build a monastery because they would harm the earthworms underneath) are just Hollywood leftist rubbish. The Dalai Lama is a sneaky character who as a PR expert has the world’s media wrapped around his little finger. China just shoots itself in the foot by blowing up each and every time foreign countries deal with him. It just perpetuates the belief that he’s a saint and the evil oppressive Commies are trying to keep their iron grip on Tibet.

Ultimately though I think Tibet should be given more autonomy. China will never fully let go because it’s too strategically important (resources such as water etc), and even if they did India would take it over in a nanosecond anyway. But the Tibetans have a right to run things more in the way they would like and to have less of a Han presence, imo.
Heather says:

03:56pm | 02/09/10

I find it hard to believe that either of you, ZSRenn or Mike, can label criticism of China’s government or support for Tibetan culture “leftist rubbish”. Have you got any understanding of what political party the Chinese govt belongs to?
I’m so confused by your comments - I have been to Tibet, spoken to locals and heard about their plight under the Chinese government first-hand. I find it very saddening that people scorn sympathy for these people as “Latte set” idiocy. You should get your facts straight, read a little and try to really understand what is happening to Tibetan culture.
- Lady Fong says:
  
  08:37am | 01/09/10
  
  It is a good thing to highlight the lack of democracy in Tibet but why write only about Tibet? Promote democracy in all of China. There are democratisation of China movements all over the world. Join one of them. By singling out Tibet you will antagonise large numbers of people in China who view Tibet as very much part of China. Others, especially those outside of China and in Australia, will write to say it is not. We can have a discussion. However, I don’t think the Chinese government or its people will listen to Australians who conquered the continent a little over 200 years ago. That conquest is euphemised as ‘settlement’, be that as it may, the history of Australia’s treatment of the original peoples—the ab originals—does not cover the country with glory. No doubt people will reply by saying that Australia has just elected its first indigenous member of parliament in the lower house. What? Only one? After 200 years? No doubt there will be replies pointing to the amount of money spent on the indigenous. No amount of money is sufficient to compensate for the lack of respect for the indigenous. For these reasons and more, the Chinese government will ignore all attempts for independence and democracy in Tibet. Australia cannot hold itself up as a good example.
  
  Reply
ZSRenn says:

11:22am | 01/09/10

I believe China has a working democracy. It may not be the same as ours but it does have a democracy.

Tribal leaders are elected who in turn elect regional leaders who in turn elect state leaders. The system seems to work well.

Under our democratic system with the 53 ethnic groups that make up China.

The Han people would be constantly elected to power being the largest ethnic group. This would leave the other ethnic groups feeling powerless.

This system gives all the ethnic groups a say in the rule of China including those from the Special Autonomous region of Tibet
- T.Chong says:
  
  09:06am | 01/09/10
  
  Whats the obsession with this current “Dalai Lama”? This “leader"really sees himself as a god. He wants a theocracy.
  Any other leader who went around claiming to be a god is usually met with a bemused smile, but because Mr DL laughs , and says very little of substance, so many in the west think he is marvellous.
  Coild it possibly be that Mr Giggles is actually laughing at our niavety ?, when so many otherwise intelligent people seem to accept that his lack of any answer somehow makes him wise and endearing.
  This mostly anti Chinese piece, will attract plenty of deserved denunciation of Chinese heavy handiness, but that does not mean DL is any type of creditable alternative.
  As first post ZSrenn has pointed out, Tibet was a basketcase. The caste system was slavey, without any type of political representation .
  ALL power was in the hands of the monk caste .
  In return for providing for the monk caste, the peasants / slaves were promised prayers that would help them in another life. Great.
  Thats what DL represents.
  PS starry eyed DL groupies, you do realise that Hollywoods Shangria La was not the real Tibet .
  
  Reply
Macon Paine says:

09:24pm | 01/09/10

Well said T.Chong, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Oh and go Tigers!
- iansand says:
  
  09:26am | 01/09/10
  
  The Tibetans deserve better than what they currently receive from China, but they also deserve a lot better than the repressive, feudal theocracy that preceded the Chinese occupation.
  
  I will take the Dalai Lama a lot more seriously when he starts condemning that regime as well.
  
  Reply
- Mark says:
  
  09:58am | 01/09/10
  
  The display of violence is sad. Those who promote false spritiual teachings including violence, especially those who claim to be religious, will be judged most severely by God in this world and the next. I suppose to most onlookers like myself who are not in the particular situation and have no historical axe to grind that we will wait and see what transpires over time in these internal Chinese matters.
  
  Reply
- philbert says:
  
  10:05am | 01/09/10
  
  All the same observations could be made about that other brutal little occupation: Palestine.
  
  It is a constant source of amazement to me that people like the author of this piece are so selective about where they exhibit compassion.
  
  This author supports an illegal and vicious occupation in Palestine but rails against it in Tibet. Go figure.
  
  Reply
- Daniel says:
  
  10:24am | 01/09/10
  
  Its interesting isnt it. Around the world people are being killed calling for ELections and here we are carrying on about a hung parliament. Australians and the Australian media need to get real and get over themselves. Let this thing run its course.
  
  Reply
- Major Kevin Walsh RFD says:
  
  10:33am | 01/09/10
  
  Speaking of a police state, what is the current state of ‘our’ secret prisons ?The ones where suspected ‘terrorists’ can be held virtually indefinitely without their next of kin, being informed. This law together with the highly politicised Haneef case which showed how little it takes to be considered a suspected terrorist certainly gives a person food for thought. It is a wonder Andrew Wilkie was not secretly declared a terrorist and deep sixed in a secret prison when he dared to criticise our governments Middle East policies.
  
  Reply
- Graham S says:
  
  12:02pm | 01/09/10
  
  Good article Micheal. How about being an equal opportunity critic and I’ll await a similar piece from you only this time let’s switch names. The Tibetans become Palestinians & the Chinese become Israel. What’s that I hear, oh you’re Jewish & Melbourne Ports is the electorate with the most Jewish votes in Victoria and we wouldn’ wish to upset the pro Israel set in downtown Glen Eira would we.Might lose a few votes in a few months time at the new election
  
  Reply
- James says:
  
  08:28pm | 01/09/10
  
  Living in China I see the chaos every day perhaps the only thing keeping it together is the strong leadership. The majority of Chinese people are poor people forget this not just the Tibet people. China also has many rich people but look at the percentages, To be a one in a million person in China there are 1500 just like you. Do you risk a cult or group growing to 1 in a hundred followers a very small minority but then how then do you deal with 150 million followers. Look at the riots in Sydney at world trade meetings or the Greenpeace protests then make them 100 times bigger.
  Sure China is not perfect but the smiling monk has not got the answers and is just on his own celebrity power trip.
  
  Reply
- Comrade X says:
  
  01:51pm | 02/09/10
  
  It’s true that in the past the Tibetan lamas presided over a feudal state. But unlike the Chinese communists, they’ve admitted and renounced their unsavoury past. Tibetans want a democratic, autonomous Tibet, which is actually what the Chinese Constitution promises. The Tibetan government in exile is democratically elected. The Dalai Lama does not claim to be a god, and although he is the recognised Tibetan spiritual leader, he does not seek to return himself to power. Finally, ZSRenn says that China is a “working democracy”. I suggest he goes to Tienanmen and shouts out “down with the Communist Party!”, and sees what happens to him.
  
  Reply
- Simon says:
  
  05:53pm | 02/09/10
  
  Thank you Mr Danby for a very timely article. It’s worth noting that today marks 50 years of democracy within the Tibetan exile community. On 2 September 1960 the first group of thirteen Tibetan People’s Deputies took their oaths of office in Dharamsala - the beginning of a long process of democratisation that today gives all Tibetan exiles a voice and provides a model for eventual democratic self-rule in Tibet. It provides a striking contrast to the enduring situation inside Tibet and is a testament to the foresight and progressive nature of the Dalai Lama and Central Tibetan Administration.
  
  Reply

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