There’s an excellent article in Der Spiegel by Jürgen Kremb which really gets to grips with the politics of the Tibetan situation – and the severity and scale of the repression and the protests in Lhasa – in a way I’ve rarely seen. Kremb’s comparison of Tibet with the Gaza Strip, while not exact (the attempt to submerge Tibetan culture through Chinese settlement is an obvious contrast), really does go to the history of the current crisis – most strikingly the parallel with the development of militant movements within Tibet itself (and completely detached from the Dalai Lama) being inspired by the last major round of violent repression in the 1980s.
Kremb also points to concrete steps towards a political solution – which again is usually absent from the debate in the West which has a tendency not to transcend either the sloganeering I’ve emulated in the title of this post or the perhaps facile calls for “restraint” from Foreign Ministers.
The Der Spiegel article is an interesting take on the affair. If it’s correct, then China’s cooking-up a whole lot of future grief for itself with it’s current Tibet policies.
Im probably a bit of the odd man out here with my impressions of Tibet. I dislike the Chinese and their systematic disruption and oppression of the native population, but at the same time what sort of political representation are the Tibetans wanting.
The old order was a monarchy of sorts with a very heavy dose of theocracy thrown in. I wouldnt support a resistance movement founded on a return to that for of rule.
However if they were to instead be able to function as a “seperate but still part of” China with some form of devolution of the Communist (well, in name anyway) party could that be a way out for both?
China is quite capable of going in and uprooting the Tibetans in an old fashioned forced migration and scattering. Will they do it?
There are also a number of other “local’ froups within China that might see this as an opportunity to get special status as well.
It could get messy in China either way. And even messier if they decide to pressure India for sheltering the Dali Lama and other exiles.
That’s quite a good piece. One can only hope that Beijing could recognize the legitimacy of Tibetan grievances and reach toward an acknowledgment of them. Truth and reconciliation is needed but it seems a long way off.
The situation in Tibet has also played significantly in the presidential election campaign in Taiwan. With less than a week before the vote, it has undermined some of the rhetoric of the opposition KMT, who claim to be able to manage the relationship with China.
I think you mean current grief.
It’s the level of autonomy that is the issue, but as the Der Spiegel piece points out, there are potential and actual radicalized views in Tibet, radicalized by the practices and effects of Chinese hegemony, for whom mere autonomy isn’t enough.
“Free Tibet!”
Where do I queue?
“Free Tibet!” may b e a slogan, Kim, but to shout it loudly isn’t necessarily “just sloganeering”. Many of the non-Tibetan supporters of independence or greater autonomy for Tibet are knowledgeable about its history and abhor the iron fist of Chinese rule.
I would venture to suggest that “Free Tibet!” is no less worthy a slogan than “Free East Timor!”. Or were you one who accepted that realpolitik necessitated continuing Indonesian rule over Timor Leste?
It’s not a perfect fit, but seemingly there are quite a few points of analogy:
China/Indonesia invades neighbouring territory
China/Indonesia sets up civil admin, military bases
China/Indonesia suppresses local culture (language, religion?, history? national identity?)
China/Indonesia ignores international pressure to be less harsh
and the advocates of realpolitik regretfully discard any sneaking admiration for those who prefer autonomy, in the name of sucking up to a powerful nation (neighbour)…..
FREE TIBET !!!
Mole @ [2]
Old Tibet no doubt had monarchical and theocratic elements, but I’d hazard a guess that with the passage of 50 years, the modernising influence of Chinese rule, and the even greater modernising influences from the outside world, a democratic Tibet would not return to monarchy or theocracy. Nepal has ditched its monarchy after several “anni horibili”, has it not? Sikkim? Bhutan? Any monarchy in China?
So to raise old Tibet as a bogey in 2008 is a long bow, IMHO. One might as well worry about the scarcity in Australia of typewriter ribbons or Mini Minors
Ambigulous, it isn’t necessarily just sloganeering, but it can be. I just think people should know something about what they’re chanting, is all! I know a lot of people do, but…
Here, and here, is what Bob Brown has to say about the situation in Tibet.
It’s worth asking the question of what influence the negative example of the break-up of the former Soviet Union and its consequences, rather than the orderly transition to a reformed and equal union of the various republics as advanced by Gorbachev, has had on the rulers of other multi-ethnic and multi-national states such as China and Indonesia in which, as in the Russian Empire and USSR, one nationality is dominant and oppresses the smaller nationalities.
7. Im pretty open to any info on Tibet/China, so Im not really defending or defensive on my viewpoint. Its just that the leading spokesman is a divinely elected chap that makes we wonder about the sort of governance they may end up under.
I stand to be corrected but democracy usualy isnt the rallying cry being used there. If there is more to Tibetan politics than a saffron robed “holy man” and his hollywwod folowers it hasnt gotten much of a run in the Aussie papers. (which means absolutely nothing I know)
The current situation in Tibet really is a tragedy. It just seems completely hopeless.
Samdhong Rimpoche (PM of the government-in-exile) and the Dalai Lama have repeatedly expressed their desire for a democratic Tibet. The Dalai Lama (nb. this is a Mongolian title) is technically only the head of the dGe Lugs Pa sect of Tibetan Buddhism – which is the largest of the four main sects. Tibet has substantial Muslim and Bon religious minorities as well as adherents of the other sectarian traditions. A democratic proportionally elected government would definitely be the best way forward.
I don’t think it’s entirely true to say that the Chinese government has compeltely suppressed the Tibetan language and Tibetan culture. Tibetan Buddhism is going through a bit of a renaissance in some major Chinese cities. Additionally, the Chinese government have produced the most accurate Tibetan dictionaries and editions of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. Even further, just recently the Chinese government finally negotiated an agreement with the Austrian Academy of Sciences to grant access to very old invaluable Sanskrit manuscripts preserved in Tibetan monasteries. Over the last twenty years the Chinese government seems to have tried to at least be seen to be engaging with Tibetan culture. Presumably they see both a political and an economic value in doing so.
Why they would now decide to act ruthlessly on dissidents just before the Olympics is completely beyond me.
Mole @ 11 – fair points. If he were only a holy man he’d mean more to Tibetans and Buddhists than to Westerners, but I think his actions and words over the last few decades show that he’s also a national leader, a voice of moderation, a leading and pragmatic pacifist; someone who has transcended his holy origins and shows bereadth of knowledge and worldliness beyond the gates of Lhasa.
But I could be wrong!
Kim [8]: I entirely agree that unthinking sloganeering is a cheap and witless stance. It gives a cause a bad name. It abounds in many causes. “No War for Oil!”,
“Whadda we want? XXX !! When do we want it? Now!!”,
“Land Rights for Gay Whales !!!” etc etc
“Indonesia out of East Timor!”
“Free Tibet!”
- 17 March 2009
- Bob Brown, 4 April, 1991
- 22 October 2003
- 23 October , 2003
So heroic, Bob Brown.
In an ideal world, without annexation by China, Tibet might have turned out to be a benevolent semi=feudal theocratic kingdom like Bhutan. In a not so ideal scenario it might have become a turbulent corrupt monarchy like Nepal. The reality is that Tibet is firmly under Chinese control and is going to remain that way. From the few reports that have made it out of Lhasa it sounds like the initial violence was directed against Han Chinese by disaffected Tibetan youths, assisted by young lamas. It’s a clear sign that despite all the economic progress hailed by the Chinese as a sign of their good intentions, Tibetans are not happy at being relegated to a subservient second class “minority” in their own country.
The author of the article provides a rational analysis of the situation but his solutions, while laudable, are the product of that pragmatic European sensibility. Tibet is not Kosovo or Gaza. It has the misfortune to be located next to a country of one billion plus Han Chinese who are going through a prolonged phase of massive resource-hungry economic development, combined with visceral nationalism. There is no way they will tolerate any serious degree of autonomy for Tibet, whether that be political, economic, religious or cultural. They are control freaks.
The short to medium term prospects for Tibetan movement are grim. Beijing will now impose a complete news blackout on the area and there will be mass arrests. Draphchi prison will be very busy this summer.
Then, after the Olympics, the executions will start. In the factional power politics of the the Zhongnanhai, any sign of softness towards Tibetan autonomy will be construed as a fatal weakness. Hu Jintao and the PLA generals who hold sway in Beijing will not tolerate any accomodation with the Dalai Lama and will brook no outside interference. In the longer term (5-15 years), Beijing may relax its management of Tibetan affairs if the locals prove to be politicaly reliable/docile.
Unfortunately, we in the west can hardly lecture the Chinese on promoting autonomy with peace and stability, given our own track record in the Middle East, Yugoslavia, Africa and Timor.
I’m with Mole – the Dalai Lama wants his theocracy back, I suspect. I have been to Gansu and seen the level of difference in wealth (and treatment) between monks and peasants, and it’s pretty shocking. Our Tibetan guide in Songpan was staunchly anti-chinese, undoubtedly to the point of racism, but his criticism of the monks was vicious. He wanted a democratic independent Tibet, and he didn’t think he was going to get it from the Monks. A lot of his fellow Tibetans were giving tithes to the church still, too – it’s a bigger part of the life of ordinary Tibetans than a lot of the free Tibet movement think, I suspect, so I don’t trust it.
Tibet was the only place in China where I had to tell the shopkeepers how much change to give me. They gave half their money to the church, but only the monks learnt to read and write – and the Chinese had only recently started providing any kind of education for non-Chinese. And as far as cultural genocide goes – I certainly couldn’t get by in Gansu with Mandarin, there were women prostrating themselves at every step in the streets around Labrang, we passed the remains of traditional yak herding encampments and visited a village used as a winter store. And there were (comparatively rich!) monks everywhere. The biggest problem I noted was the same problem one sees in many places of the world – modernity shouldering aside a very poor and rural lifestyle, and taking a lot of its cultural norms with it. In fact the guide whose way of life was being “destroyed” was pretty big on karaoke…
… while I have no doubt the chinese are bastards there (and in poor forgotten Xinjiang as well), I don’t think there is much good to be had from a milksop like the Dalai Lama. And isn’t he a homophobe and a misogynist to boot?
“So heroic, Bob Brown.”
He’s doing more a fuckpot more than you ever will Eliot Lad to put in the public eye the plight of Tibet. What are you doing to sweep the gutters of the Roof Of The World?
And if the sweeping of the gutters of The Roof Of The World does eventually happen, Mole and SG make some thoughtful points too. Pre-Sino Tibet wasn’t exactly a paradise for anyone not plugged into a morbid old theocracy.
Y’know if Tibet was a dull stinky swamp or dustbowl fuckup like the Côte d’Ivoire or Mali, and not a stunningly photogenic place of legend, we’d be happily buying Chinese made mobiles, sports goods and computers without a qualm.
Actually we do anyway. Without a qualm.
I just bought a new Wilson K3 tennis racket made in China. Excellent value. Synthetic strings though. I did not want to enquire as to where China now sourced natural “catgut”.
Just by enjoying the everyday fruits of first world globalised western civilisation we’re all already complict in the ruthless capitalist machinery of China and parts elsewhere. No one’s in any position to strike a high moral pose here.
On the other hand, you can keep working on muscle memory for your top spin backhand on court and off with such excellent and easily available resources.
Nabs, we can chew gum and walk etc.
We sold the Iraqis over-priced wheat and invaded them all at the same time frinstance.
Yes, Tibet was not a bed of roses b4 Chinese occupation.
Yes, the Chinese now oppress Tibet.
Yes, we should hound China for that.
Yes, we will go to the olympics and buy their cutlery.
“Yes, the Chinese now oppress Tibet.
Yes, we should hound China for that.
Yes, we will go to the olympics and buy their cutlery.”
That was pretty much my point. The odd twinge of guilt keeps our moral fibre exercised and limber.
sorry
In response to which I say: “One! Two! Three! Four! Chanting Slogans Is A Bore!”
OK, Nabakov & wbb,
it’s one thing to “have the odd twinge of guilt”, but insufficient in my view. As you say, Bob Brown and other are ‘putting in the public eye the plight of Tibet’. I say, good on him. And good on the other campaigners. And where I can I’ll do my bit too. I get the impression you will too.
Putting something in the public eye can be like water dripping on stone, IMHO. Will Kevin08 raise some measure of concern with the Chinese PM? Sounds as if he will. Should Australians support him in applying some pressure? I think we should. The plight of East Timor was a running sore in Australian politics for decades. Some opposition to Indonesian annexation in European nations, eventually the US Congress sat up and took notice. Why? Water drippoing on stone: campaigning, writing, skilful diplomacy by Jose Ramos Horta and others, some press coverage…., the long slow process….. enlivened now and then by a particularly idiotic massacre secretly videotaped, or the capture of Xanana, or the fall of Suharto…. and then the breakthrough with the referendum proposal (thanks, JWH), and US support for the intervention….
None of that was a bed of roses. While Aussies were hand-wringing, the Timorese were doing the actual dying and starving.
But they made it to independence eventually, against all odds. And chose democracy, though it’s a strongly Catholic community.
Free Tibet!!!
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Assert but don’t articulate
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
Learn and Question,
Dig and Delve !!
Some slogans are quite effective, though.
“Stay the Course”
“Better dead than Red”
“Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer”
“A woman’s right to choose”
“Don’t swap horses in midstream”
“It’s time”
“It’s the economy, stupid”
“New deal”
“Ask not what your country can do for you…”
“Keep the bastards honest”
“We will decide who comes into our country”
Nabakov says of Bob Brown:
You wanna bet? I’ve just put on a black arm-band on each arm. What’s more, I still support intervention on behalf of the Kurds. And don’t have to deny it now that it’s happened.
So, that puts me waaaaaay ahead of Bob on both issues, doesn’t it?
It’s just fine for Bob Brown and the neo-Comms to slag off Rudd and Hawke for “not doing enough” for the Kurds and Tibetans (or to slag off Bush for that matter). But what’s Bob Brown’s suggestion they should do?
Apart from ponce about in Parliament in a black arm-band, that is?
And when has Bob Brown ever been worried about the evil Communists before?
michael says;
A bit like the West Bank remianing under Israeli control in that respect.
And if you want to do something constructive, click here.
Thank you Paul @ [28]
wbb says;
And here’s what they’ll do for us in return…
That alone might explain Kevin Rudd’s reticence.
michael says;
Hang on, yes we can. The break-up of Communist Yugoslavia was entirely about “regional and ethnic autonomy” not unlike Tibet. And when it comes to Africa, China supports thugocracies like Sudan, and we can and should indeed speak up. And Australian governments (other than Whitlam, Hawke and Keating perhaps) did support Timorese independence.
And since when has what our governments done prevented us from criticising, say, the USA or Britain? So, why not criticise what China does? China is not sacrosanct – like Cuba say.
Agreed Eliot @ [31]
We will criticise whom we damn well please… but we will do it on a broad humanitarian basis: human rights, rule of law, application of democratic principles etc.
What, you say Cuba must not be criticised? I disagree. Though you’ll find that the Foreign Policy Guru Formerly Known as Katz, and now betimes “Flexible Ideator”, has a soft spot for the Castro boys; indeed has expressed empathy for Fidel circa 1961, 1962 (but claims not to have sympathy). The Flexible Empathiser.
How ironic that the ‘Free Tibet’ campaign, which was the height of Hollywood fashion in the 90s, has by this time completely been superseded by the ‘Save Darfur’ campaign, as if China’s buying oil from a brutal regime (god forbid the West would ever do that) is more significant than the direct repression of its own ethnic minorities. I suppose fashions change in Hollywood – they must have tired of sloganeering for Free Tibet and, being too cowardly to draw attention to Western crimes like Iraq, decided to help the people of Darfur by paying big money to take out indignant, self-righteous ads in the New York Times.
Maybe they’d be happier if China decided that instead of buying oil from Sudan it would launch an illegal invasion of the country, on obviously false pretexts, to steal its oil, killing and displacing millions of Sudanese in the process. Yes, I’m sure that if China did that nobody would be calling for an Olympic boycott. Fact is, the main difference between China and USA/UK is that the Chinese government only commits brutal violations of human rights within its own internationally recognized borders. Contrast this with the Israeli government, which refuses to even state where its own borders are!
yeti says;
Didn’t a documentary about Guantanamo get an Academy Award this year? Otherwise, yes, nothing but a string of “feel good” movies about Iraq, mostly musical comedies and chick flics.
Ambigulous says;
Well, you know. I kinda feel sorry for it. It’s last two presidents have been dead guys and from the same family and everything.
yeti, that has been giving me the royal shits since that mincing dickhead pulled out of helping the Olympic games. No mention of Tibet, but all crocodile tears and whining over a regime China doesn’t directly control.
Well said! But remember nothing you say gives a damn until Eliot Ramsey decides you’re putting your money where your mouth is. I hear he’s recruiting an international brigade, don’t you know?
Yes, a film about America’s global torture network won the academy award. But interestingly enough that film was actually a product of Australia’s own SBS, not Hollywood! No wonder you bastards want to shut it down. The American governments’ unreserved embrace of a policy of torturing foreign nationals is something to bear in mind when criticizing China or Cuba for human rights violations. Not that Hollywood is a rightwing place or anything, but I’d just like to see liberals like Stephen Speilburg, and George Clooney etcetera pay as much attention to their own governments torturing of foreign nationals as they do getting indignant over China’s relatively tangential connection to the Darfur civil war.
So that’s what Disneyland is for? Now that we know that the foreign tourists will stay away in droves.
StrongSG says;
Well, China may not directly control Tibet any more, but it’s not for wnat of trying. But look, there’s worse…
yeti says;
My God! Hollywood has lost control of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences found here at their website http://www.oscars.org! When will the chaos ever end??
Here’s an article in Time magazine about movies on the war in Iraq. They portray US atrrocities. Don’t tell Hollywood!
Of course, not every movie about Iraq is from Hollywood. Take this home video featuring ‘Big Brother’ star George Galloway…
A different kind of torture occurs at Disneyland, GregM, not the serious stuff with batons and electrodes and sleep deprivation and water down the lungs. In Cutlural Studies we call it “Soft Torture” or “Mind Deprivation” or “Cunning Imperialist Plot with Cultural Genocide”. Those hopeless right-wingers call it “fun”.
But Disneyland has also outsourced to Paris, and Australia hosts similar soft-torture centres such as MovieWorld etc. I reckon we all better keep a pretty close eye on what those dark locales do to tiny minds
And then there is the Japanese practice of painfully but heroically immolating oneself in public. It’s called karaoke.
Damn that karaoke! Thank heavens they lost the Pacific War, those hateful and cruel Japanese.
GetUp campaign for Tibet: http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/StandUpForTibet&id=316
Does anyone remember the Tibetan protest against the President of China during the APEC conference in Sydney? No, I bet you don’t.
It was actually quite impressive, despite being not well publicised – unlike the massive protests organised against the presence of the American President.
I actually stumbled across the Tibetan protest more or less by accident as it was underway in the park outside Sydney University at the intersection of Cleveland Street and City Road – near the Native American totem pole.
There were perhaps two hundred very vocal members of the local Tibetan population, including about 20 saffron-robed monks waving incredibly colourful banners and flags calling for Tibetan independence or autonomy and generally denouncing Chinese Communist terror.
Passing motorists tooted horns, waved and bus passengers cheered them. They were an amazing sight.
I am not aware of any media covereage for their protest event. Gosh, I wonder why?
fuck u u know what about china?? you know who dala lama is ??so ou forget the 9.11???this is what happened to china in the past days!!!your media get the the pictures and say that chinnese gov do violant things to them but do you see those civils got killed by this?/and the banks ,the restaurants the shops???so fuck you all who report wrong rediculous crazy things about china,fuck cnn,fuck bbc,and you fuck you inside fuck you upset down !!!!i can only express my mode in these words
“fuck cnn,fuck bbc,and you fuck you inside fuck you upset down !!!!”
Well, pocky’s the future, I guess. Multiculturalists, enjoy! You’re gonna get exactly what you wanted, in spades. This oughta be fun to watch. Not.
MAGENTA: We ask for nothing.
FRANK: And you shall have it — in abundance!
– The Rocky Horror Picture Show