Sun, Sep 17, 2000 page8

• Tibetan woman left in the lurch

  • By Liu Shao-hua 劉紹華
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  It is unjustifiable for people in Taiwan to allow the fear of China to affect their support for human rights in Tibet but this was unfortunately seen to happen during discussions at the conclusion of the Fourth East Asian Womens' Forum.

  Over 370 women delegates from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Russia, and Tibet took part in the four-day forum in Taipei from Sept. 4 to Sept. 8. While reporting the fruits of the forum's activities prior to the closing ceremonies on Sept. 8, delegates unanimously reproached the Chinese government for its violation of Tibetan women's human rights.

  A proposal was made to put Tibetan women's human rights concerns along with other human rights issues on a list of topics to be addressed by the forum's final communique.

  Certain South Korean delegates, however, raised concerns that listing Tibet would anger China and thus have negative repercussions for the next Women's Forum, to be held in Hong Kong in 2003. This proposal immediately threw the floor into heated debate.

  Chinese women's organizations were absent because China had boycotted the Taiwan-hosted forum. Some Chinese members of the Japanese delegation, however, strongly opposed addressing the Tibet issue in the communique. They said the reports on problems facing Tibetan women, given by two Tibetan delegates from Dharamsala, India, could not accurately reflect the situation in Tibet, and resolutely objected to injecting politically sensitive issues into conferences held by Non-Government Organizations (NGOs).

  Regrettably, some of Taiwan's delegates attending the forum also opposed making a show of support for Tibetan women. One of them said, "We're looking at the long term, rather than quibbling over issues of the moment," and, "Don't ruin Taiwan's and Tibet's chance to speak at the next forum, just for the sake of some momentary satisfaction."

  As a reflection of international realities, this argument has a certain plausibility. Coming from Taiwan, it sounds rather strange and smacks, furthermore, of "raising the draw bridge once safely over the moat" (過河拆橋).

  Taiwan owes a debt of gratitude to the countries which, in the face of objections by China, championed Taiwan's role as host of this latest forum. In a press conference held just prior to the event, Taiwan's delegates enthusiastically recounted how, two years ago, they had fought long and hard for the right to host it. They added that Taiwan successfully lobbied its cause by arguing that NGO events shouldn't be subject to political interference and that women worldwide should unite in their opposition to oppression, including China's bullying of Taiwan's citizens seeking to play a role in international affairs.

  One statement made just prior to the end of the forum is particularly haunting. As Taiwan's delegates debated the pros and cons of mentioning Tibet in the final communique, one Taiwan representative was heard to say, "The Tibetan delegates probably won't mind."

  Of all people, Taiwan should well understand the misery of struggling to gain a voice on the international stage, only to be suppressed by China. For years, we have dedicated ourselves to convincing the international community to allow Taiwan to participate in international organizations such as the WTO, arguing that politics should not interfere with human rights. For years, excluded from every kind of international conference, Taiwan's women's groups have struggled laboriously to communicate the misery and suffering of women in Taiwan to the rest of the world. Taiwan's delegates should therefore be the most sympathetic of any towards the tragic plight of Tibetan women, and, moreover, the most ready to support them. And Taiwan's delegates, more than anyone else, should expect human rights issues to be kept free of political interference.

  Though the Tibetan issue was, in the end, included in the forum's closing remarks, the tedious dispute revealed something: Taiwan's delegates were opportunistic in their views. And as Taiwan conducts social reforms, this opportunism is demonstrating itself to be most worrisome.

  Leaving aside Buddhism and Lamas, people in Taiwan have a rather limited understanding of Tibet, lagging far behind the international community in such understanding and concern about serious rights abuses. In its campaign for international recognition and support in the field of human rights, how much effort has Taiwan devoted to understanding and supporting other disadvantaged peoples?

  Just as the closing ceremonies of the Womens' Forum were being held, China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) took reporters from 15 Taiwan and ten Chinese media organizations on a ten-day tour of Tibet. Though they called it a cross-strait media exchange, most people understood the true underlying motive for the move: to stage a political show. Officials at the office said that, due to the harsh climate and particular local customs, no independent interviews would be allowed.

  Two Tibetan delegates attending the Womens' Forum, forced by their schedules to leave Taipei before the closing ceremony, anxiously told interviewers they hoped Taiwan's reporters could visit Tibet independently, rather than accept an invitation by Chinese authorities. "We appeal to Taiwan's journalists to go to Tibet on their own. If they go as guests of the Chinese government, they'll never see the truth."

  The Tibetan delegates hoped to share with the world the cruel predicament of Tibetan women. One can almost still hear their anxious voices as though they were still on the convention hall floor. But as the two Tibetan women boarded their plane to leave Taiwan, the forum's remaining delegates were still debating whether or not to include concerns about Tibet in its final communique in the light of China's inevitable opposition.

  Seen from another angle, given China's hegemony over Tibet and her capriciousness, even if the Tibet issue had been omitted from the event's closing remarks, what guarantee would there be that Taiwan and Tibetan women would be able to attend, much less speak out at, the next Women's Forum?

  If, moreover, future Taiwan women's groups, due to pressure from China, are unable to attend international conferences, we would hope that other countries would speak out on Taiwan's behalf. If, we encounter the same kind of treatment meted out to Tibet during the Fourth Women's Forum, how will that make us feel?

  Liu Shao-hua is a reporter for the Taipei Times.

  Translated by Liu Shao-hua and Scudder Smith
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