The Tibetan Perspective

It amazes me that people actually visit this blog - for one thing it means I have to keep updating it! Thank you, thank you - it is your support which keeps me going.

On Sunday night I met Lobsang Topgyal. He is a Buddist monk from Tibet. It is easy to turn away from things you don't understand - like how to pronounce his name - but it isn't easy to turn away from his story.

Tibet is in a similar position to East Turkistan (or Xinjiang). It is overrun by Chinese and the culture of the indigenous people is being extinguished. Lobsang was arrested, imprisoned and tortured. When he was released he had two broken legs and his head was so badly beaten he permanently lost the sight of one eye. His body is ravaged by scars. His eventual escape from Tibet took 27 days, travelling at night across the cold Tibetan plateau. He escaped only to try and tell the world how bad things are in his country. Worse than Burma, he says. Far worse than Burma.

This is a studious man of gentle spirit, not a man who would lie. Many people risk their lives to tell us of the terrible things China does to their country.

And we respond by giving China the Olympic Games. Shame on us.

Even we have fears

My friend Karol came back from China last week and was aware as a tourist of the undercurrents which visitors are discouraged to question.

'You are right China is an amazing place to see and I was pleased to find there is a 'women's' movement especially against the one child per family rule - women are compulsorily sterilised afterwards, did you know? I knew about the rule but not the aftermath. Also the book 'Wild Swans' is banned in China, also interesting to find out.'

Karol's most poignant remark was left until last: 'I would be worried about my name going on the blog - it may affect future visa applications.'

And that, my dears is the point. Even we are afraid of the implications of free speech. Does this mean we have free speech? No! It means we most definitely do not have free speech when it comes to China.

(Needless to say I have changed her name. And if anyone else would like to comment anonymously, I will be happy to post comments on your behalf.)

Rebiya Kadeer in Cardiff

The Uighur people suffer under a repressive administration in a similar way to the Tibetan people. Peaceful calls
for self-determination and expressions of Uighur culture have been met with brutality including the death penalty, long periods of detention and torture.

Rebiya Kadeer, a businesswoman and campaigner for women, has herself spent time in prison and her children have suffered, and continue to suffer, violently at the hands of the Chinese authorities.

Alun Davies, Welsh Assembly Minister (pictured), along with Amnesty International, was instrumental in bringing Rebiya to Wales earlier in October. It was an opportunity to hear this inspirational woman working at great risk to defend her people.

Nice to have some comments

Today I have been reading the comments (see below) from Merlin and he does indeed have a point.

The purpose of this blog is to draw attention to the oppression of the Uighurs by their neighbours and insidious conquerors - China. Merlin suggests that even without realizing it, I am an oppressor too. Its a frightening thought.

We know the Uighur people are not alone, but they suffer because they are on the real front line between simple pastoral existence and the grand designs of a hungry neighbour.

Can you and I be certain that our cheque books are not every bit as lethal as Chinese bayonets? Can we really be sure that the export of our less than perfect culture is not every bit as destructive as the crushing colonialism of China? Is the insatiable energy consumption of China driven by the frivolous desires of our own consumerism?

China makes to our order. To do so it needs energy supplies. To gather energy supplies it steals from others.

Have I heard that last bit before?

For Andrew

My friend Andrew says this blog is not exciting enough. I do see his point. However, the situation for the Uighurs is appalling, not exciting. They live it every day. It is our part to shout loudly that the destruction of ethnic groups is is not acceptable. Try it - that's exciting! Have a holiday there! Excitement is not in reading my words, but in doing something with them.

Many millions of Chinese have been deliberately brought in to settle in East Turkistan and now far outnumber the original inhabitants.

• Uighurs now can't get a job unless they speak Chinese.
• Only Chinese is spoken in schools, causing a communication rift within families.
• Girl children are taken from their families and spend years hundreds of miles away in eastern China where they are taught only Chinese culture and have to take a Chinese husband.
• One child policy is enforced by the Chinese government and compulsory sterilization follows.
• Only 16 percent of publications are in the Uighur language. The Uighurs do not even have their own encyclopedia, dictionary, or basic scientific books in their language.
• In the city of Urumchi alone some 370 thousand books were destroyed as ‘remnants of the past.
• If you voice your concern you are imprisoned or 'disappeared'
  

A bit of regional background noise

I thought a map would be useful at this stage, and this one shows how China has artificially grown itself over the past few years. Because China prefers to do things slowly and quietly we are largely ignorant of what has been going on. Ignorant no longer!

You can see that the Uigurs who live in East Turkistan have quite a large land mass. Manchuria was annexed in 1949, as was Tibet. Poor Manchuria has been all but submerged. Inner Mongolia is likely to suffer a similar fate. I was most fortunate to meet some Mongolians when I was on the Great Wall – one of whom bravely explained the real one child policy to me. It was not supposed to apply to her, as she was a minority race, but it was enforced just the same. She kissed me for having three children. I felt dreadful.

All in all, 90% of "minorities" have either disappeared or been dispossessed of their homelands and/or submerged by massive influx of Chinese colonists since 1949. In fact, if you look at the map you can easily see that China is actually half the size it should be.

China also lays claims to large parts of India, so beware, India.

Adapted from "Tibet: The Facts" by Paul Ingram.
Tibetan Young Buddhist Association, 1990.

The children

To start with, anyone who has 11 children has my complete and utter respect. Anyone who has 11 children and a career is beyond description. But a person with such a family, with her own business, who helps other women to go into business, who is prepared to speak out against injustice, who becomes a political prisoner and is still prepared to speak out again and again - is really something!

But what of her children?

Some made it into exile.

2 of her sons have been detained at the hands of the Chinese.

One of her daughters was forced to witness 2 other brothers being beaten, one so badly he was carried out on a stretcher. He has not been heard of since.

The daughter has been placed under house arrest.

My children are fine. They can say pretty much what they like, go where they like - the usual stuff.

How are yours?

Rebiya

8 years in prison will change you. 2 years in solitary will change you forever. Rebiya I thank you for the little hat. I will do my best for you.