Chinese authorities have imposed a security lockdown in Tibet as the Himalayan region this week marks the sensitive 50th anniversary of a failed uprising that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.
China’s leaders are desperate to prevent protests by Tibetan monks and nomads after violent unrest last year embarrassed the leadership in the lead-up to the Olympics in Beijing.
The Dalai Lama has called on his Buddhist followers to remain true to his non-violent cause, while also warning that worsening Chinese repression could provoke further confrontations.
PHOTO: EPA
“The situation in Tibet is very tense and discontentment over Chinese rule is simmering,” said Tsering Shakya, a Tibetan exile and historian now working as a researcher with the University of British Columbia in Canada.
ANNIVERSARY
Tomorrow marks half a century since Tibetans rose up against Chinese rule, a brutal period when exiles say more than 80,000 were killed in China’s military response.
Last year’s anniversary saw unrest that not only angered Chinese leaders, but made Tibet a top agenda item for world leaders dealing with Beijing.
Tibetan exiles say more than 200 people died when Chinese security forces clamped down, although China denies this and says “rioters” were responsible for 21 deaths.
The Beijing government has sent in extra forces in a bid to quell support for the Dalai Lama and ensure no repeat of last year’s violence in Tibet and neighboring areas of western China with Tibetan populations.
Those areas cover roughly one quarter of China’s landmass and have just 6 million Tibetans, many of whom remain nomads.
“Tibetans are living under de-facto martial law, all their most basic and cherished freedoms are denied,” said Matt Whitticase of the London-based Free Tibet.
Kate Saunders, a spokeswoman for US-based International Campaign for Tibet, said China’s response to last year’s unrest had been to intensify the hardline policies seen throughout its 58-year rule of Tibet.
MAINTAINING STABILITY
China’s Xinhua news agency published a commentary yesterday that appeared aimed at countering criticism of the security crackdown.
“Is it not crucial for the central government to take action to maintain social stability in Tibet, to protect the innocent from harm?” the commentary said. “Any other government in the world would be on alert, too, had they been in China’s shoes.”
It is extremely difficult to assess the situation on the ground as foreign tourists have been banned from Tibet this month, travel agents and hotels say, although the government denies any such restrictions.
International media are also barred from visiting Tibet independently. Foreign journalists who have sought to report from the other trouble spots of western China recently have faced police harassment.
Residents contacted by reporters in some of the most sensitive towns say they are too fearful of repercussions from local authorities to speak to foreigners.
Nevertheless, reports of protests have filtered out.
One monk in the flashpoint region of Aba, Sichuan Province, set himself alight in a protest over Chinese rule, with state media confirming the incident after activist groups first reported it.
Beijing plans to hold the first annual “Serfs Emancipation Day” on March 28 to celebrate bringing “democratic reform” to Tibet.
“Over the past 50 years ... Tibet has experienced a process from darkness to brightness, from poverty to prosperity,” the government asserted in a document outlining its version of events.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)