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| Current Events & Commentary |
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Many friends have recently asked my opinion on the situation in Tibet. My responses have usually lacked conviction, often seeming indifferent. However, my brevity is not at all due to indifference, but more reflective of my own frustrations with how the situation has been dealt with by the governments and the media. Not only has state directed media In China worsened relations between minority groups and the majority Han, but Western media sources have continued to offer unbalanced and neglectful reporting. This has led to reactionary condemnation from and senseless linkages being drawn by the public, which threatens opportunities for engaging China to productively address such issues of human concern. The Chinese Perspective: It appears that for the first few days after the initial riots in Lhasa, the Chinese governments was hoping that the riots, and those involved, could be quickly and quietly dealt with. As with any civil unrest in China, the media was restricted from reporting on the events. However, as the riots continued and spread to other regions of Tibet, as well as Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan, in the following days, the Chinese government was forced to acknowledge their existence. As pictures - and judgment - increased within Western media, the Chinese Communist Party was forced to justify measures taken. |
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| Tibet Riots (30 March 2008) |
| Not only is it ignorant to lay blame where it is unproven, but in this case, it is incredibly divisive and only further promotes Tibetan anger towards Beijing, and consequently, the Han majority. The riots have clearly shown that a strong resentment towards Beijing resides within the Tibetan community. What remains unknown is whether the majority of protesters are willing to fight for independence, or simply support the Dalai Lama's movement for greater autonomy (in particular, cultural and religious freedoms) and wanted to voice this desire for change. |
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| (photo Mark Ralston AFP/Getty Images) |
| The Chinese explanation of events laid blame on the Dalai Lama (or the "Dalai Coterie" as they are often referred to in media condemnations) for planning and inciting the riots. No evidence for these accusations has, or will be, provided. My frustration comes from hearing good friends blindly convicting the Dalai Lama without ever having heard or read a single word from the man. I have heard some say that because ethnically Han Chinese businesses in Lhasa were targeted (in cases having previously been marked the night in advance of the riots) that this is somehow conclusive evidence of the Dalai Lama's involvement. Or that, because individuals - Tibetans, since arrested - have confessed to receiving payments for their participation in the riots, that this is also irrefutable evidence of his support. Given the respect for the Dalai Lama within Tibet and Tibetan communities in neighbouring provinces, I strongly believe that had the Dalai Lama actually organized the protests, the number of participants would have been significantly more than the thousand or so that initially marched in Lhasa. Moreover, had the initial protests on March 10 been well-organized (i.e. premeditated by the Dalai Lama, or those around him), they would have also been carried out throughout the region simaultaneously in order to avoid the predictable and consequent crackdown. Instead, what was witnessed was a small, disorganized protest that only snow-balled and caught world attention after altercations with Chinese authorities. |