The Tibetan people have had enough and are protesting Chinese occupation and, in response, the Chinese Army and security people are surrounding monasteries and chaos reigns. Here are some pictures and a first-hand account of the on-going protests against Chinese repression..
Update:
03.15.08 — The Chinese Government has begun expanding its efforts to suppress protest over Tibet into other parts of China as well:
Concerned that the protests might spread elsewhere in China, the authorities appeared to be moving the military police into other regions with large Tibetan populations. Roughly 1,000 special police officers were deployed in the town of Bamei, in Sichuan Province, the site of a temple sacred to Tibetans, witnesses said by telephone on Friday. Residents in Lhasa, reached by telephone, said the authorities had placed much of the city under a curfew by Friday night while military police officers were blocking many city streets. One resident reported seeing armored vehicles in the center of the city.
For updated links, click on “More” . . .
Here are the latest links which I will update as they come in:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15tibet.html
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39 Comments
Sarcasm on.
Now why would Tibetans rebel like that when China has done so much good to them and are modernizing them. Were there hospitals and roads and buildings before the Chinese came? It was China who built them for Tibetans who were so ignorant and poor. Those people are really ungrateful ingrates.
Sarcasm off.
To Sarcasm on/off:
Communist China is nothing more than state sponsered organized crime masking as an ideology. Any free people will rankle at the continued theft of their lands, culture, and freedom of choice. Were the students and scholars murdered by the Chinese Army under communist command at Tin An Mien Square igorant and ingrates? No they were people fed up with the corruption of the thugs that run China, yet naive enough to think that China’s government would not kill them when their authority was threatened. These monks protesting now are not ignorant or ingrateful. They are merely pushed to the point of rebeling against the constant stench of corrupt communist rulers since they took power. So forgive those poor “ignorant ingrantes” for not appreciating the hospitals built to service the Chinese that were sent in to occupy their country once it was invaded. (In case you do not understand that is sarcasm!)
Protesters? More like a small race riot.
From the NYT article
“Radio Free Asia, a nonprofit news agency financed by the United States government, quoted Tibetan witnesses who described Chinese police firing into crowds of protesters and killing at least two people in the city’s ancient Barkhor area. Other accounts from Tibetans suggested that police had also attacked Buddhist monks.
But a Chinese resident, reached by telephone, said stories were spreading among Chinese residents that soldiers had been injured and had not been allowed to fight back against Tibetans throwing rocks. Another Chinese man living near the Barkhor area said family members told him that two soldiers died and that Tibetans were beating Chinese residents with iron rods.”
and
“What actually sparked the violence is unclear, as accounts differed between Chinese and Tibetan residents. Monks from the Ramoche Temple, located a short walk from the market, reportedly began to march in the Barkhor area. The Ramoche monks intended to protest the rough treatment of monks who had marched earlier in the week, according to a Tibetan activist in the United States who has communicated with people in Lhasa.
When police officers began beating the monks, ordinary Tibetans rioted in the Barkhor area, the activist said. Angry mobs set fire to a police car and a store owned by a Chinese shopkeeper, the activist said.
But a Chinese travel agent in Lhasa, reached by telephone, said Tibetans had instigated the violence and set fire to an empty tour bus parked outside the Ramoche Temple. Another Chinese resident described 50 or 60 young Tibetans burning stores owned by Chinese merchants as well as two fire trucks and two police cars.
“I saw someone who was dead and covered in a sheet,” the Chinese resident said in a telephone interview. “The Tromsikhang market was destroyed, except for the shops owned by Tibetans. I heard a soldier shouting, ‘Please go home and stop fighting!’”
All the photos have been images of young Tibetan rioters(some armed with improvised weapons) burning cars, bicycles, stores as well and throwing rocks at riot police who did not respond with force but rather stayed behind a shield wall. They have been attacking non-Tibetan Lhasans and any figures of authority, even assaulting firefighters who had come to put out the flames they started.
From the myriad of reports, it appears to have been no more than 900 or so rioters at the Tromsikhang Market.
Following Jing’s definition of race riots as an occupied people lashing out at invading settlers, Native American counterattacks against whites were racially motivated hate crimes.
Plus, read the article. “But a Chinese resident, reached by telephone”.
Of course the Chinese who are the occupiers and land thieves, will tell the truth.
cm,
I get your sarcasm. Tibetans get a mulligan because Richard Gere and Bjork likes ‘em. Koreans during Japanese colonialism? We don’t get the same sympathy although the historical experience is pratically the same.
If Tibetans are beating and killing police and setting fire and basically terrorizing Chinese merchants and settlers, then why are the Chinese police so keen on turning off the cameras? Cameras documenting such incidents would completely counter any arguments by Gere or Bjork and allow the olympics to go off with less opposition. People aren’t going to be as down with freedom for a nation that is already trampling the human rights of others before it even achieves statehood. These reports by Chinese residents are a load of ….
China will never give up Tibet. China loves walls. Tibet’s the biggest wall in the world.
Aren’t Bjork and Richard Gere two of the five component parts of Voltron?
Well, to be fair, the first half of the 20th Century was a period of history where pretty much everyone was a lot less concerned with human rights and stuff. It’s a shame that people were sorta insensitive and isolationist back then, but luckily things have changed.
#3,
Ironically, so were the Chinese who fought against the Japanese in WW2, by his definition.
Who would have guessed, people actually listen to Bjork.
This is something the World should be aware of and perhaps the UN Secretary General should make clear. It’s a very simple formula. Any group in any region who is trying to suppress photographic or video documentation in that region is up to something nasty. Always!
That includes stuff like celebrity weddings.
@WangKon936…
Not sure the Tibetans are getting “another shot” as your odd use of mulligan implies, but you do raise an interesting point about the differing levels of sympathy given here to Tibetans and colonial era Koreans.
Why do you have to sully your legitimate critique, though? I’m not sure anyone here is a big fan of either Richard Gere or Bjork… You seem to be barking up the wrong tree there. But maybe there is a reason?
I’ll try your game… guessing your motivations. I’d guess you are so over-invested in your hyper-nationalist identity of grievance that you can only engender spite for any other groups who are more successful in garnering sympathy. Rather than saying we should care about both, you choose instead to wallow in spite. Because spite is almost always the end result of hyper-nationalism. Screw solidarity, you gotta get yours.
Of course, you give the game away with your use of “We,” as if you yourself had to suffer predations of Japanese colonialism. Wow. I want to see the bright side of identity politics, but then I see something like this and can only shudder.
At least you can be thankful that the Japanese let you blog about politics. Their colonial censorship restrictions are quite strict. Fight the power!
Historical experience is practically the same? Hardly. South Koreans don’t get the same sympathy as Tibetans because South Korea was liberated by the US in 1945 and is now an independent, prosperous, and democratic country. North Koreans get tremendous sympathy for their suffering.
Sonagi,
I don’t want to bend this thread into a Korean Colonialism discussion until everyone get’s a chance to talk about the serious stuff going on in Tibet.
So I’ll wait a day or two. Plus… the Pac-10 basketball tourney is on.
There’s no need to turn this thread into a discussion of Japan’s annexation of Korea because it ended more than 60 years ago. Tibet, on the other hand, remains under oppressive Chinese rule.
There’s no doubt in my mind that there are likely Tibetan protestors targeting innocent Han civilians and using violent tactics. Just as much, there’s no doubt that the Chinese are using heavy-handed and oppressive means to quell the protests, and people are disappearing.
I can believe that monks and others who haven’t caused violence are getting brutalised by some soldiers while other soldiers are pleading for them to return home. It’s a messy situation, and it’ll bring out the worse in all sides.
Western self-righteousness and hyperbole does nothing to help the situation, and merely emboldens the extreme elements of the Tibetan independence struggle while forcing Beijing to adopt a defensive posture.
Regardless of history (which is neither clear-cut nor particularly relevant), China is not going to let Tibet go. However, China in historical and contemporary times shows a willingness to allow autonomy to tributary states. Such a scenario for Tibet, the best case scenario, is undermined by the West’s simplistic and romantic view of the situation. People need to get real.
“Well, to be fair, the first half of the 20th Century was a period of history where pretty much everyone was a lot less concerned with human rights and stuff.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Points
Korea was in pretty much the same situation as Tibet during the Japanese occupation. Like Tibet, prior to annexation Korea was an independent state with a unique culture and identity. Japan annexed Korea and subjected it to brutal oppression to discourage secessionist movements. In the spirit of the March 1st Movement, Koreans should be sympathetic to the Tibetans, because this is what we went through in the early 20th century.
Beg pardon? The history of this country [Tibet] is relevant AND clear cut. Which part of land grab don’t you get…?
Just to be clear, my intention in my previous post was not to whine about Japanese colonialism. That’s in the past, and I believe it should remain in the past. I’m only saying that Koreans should be more sympathetic towards the situation Tibetans are in, because just in the last century, Korea was under exactly the same position as Tibet - conquered by an imperialist state and ignored by the world.
And Kyopos shouldn’t try to draw unnecessary sympathy to an occupation that ended sixty years ago. It’s pathetic especially cm’s attempts to draw attention to himself.
If the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) was so wise and benevolent, why can they not formulate an effective policy of autonomy that does not incorporate busing in Han Chinese, disenfranchising native Tibetans and claiming that Tibet was really always their property?
How about the many small instances that usually escapes western news organizations, regarding the deliberate cultural suppression of Tibetans and the deliberate attempts of the CCP to Han-ize Tibet? For example:
That one reminds one of how the Japanese would insinuate themselves into Korea during the colonial period for the purpose of re-enforcing their claim of true ownership of Korea.
Such is pretty much the “real” situation in Tibet and will not change while corrupt elements of the CCP is in power and able to force its very inhumane and immoral policies upon Tibet, as well as within China.
It would be nice to see Olympic athletes wear some kind of Free Tibet button.
Send the communists a message.
“In the spirit of the March 1st Movement, Koreans should be sympathetic to the Tibetans, because this is what we went through in the early 20th century.”
And this wasn’t a “race riot” either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Fourth_Movement
Tormsen, why do you accuse the “west” of being self-righteous regarding Tibet? Do you think that because the west has an opinion on this matter that that makes us self-righteous? And I don’t think that a few movie stars appearing on western television and alerting the world to the injustices in Tibet would embolden any Tibetan citizen to fight the Chineese army. I am sure those people know that nobody will rescue them. The situation over there is a sad one, but other than words of support, there is no big push of the self-righteous west to do anything about Tibet… Just words of support. There were also words of support for Korea when the North was invading the south. Would you consider that self-righteous?
Youtube is now blocked in China.
It is sad that the very people who should have sympathy because of their past oppression are now feeling resentment towards the Tibetans because “We don’t get the same sympathy.”
The CCP? Trying to put down a revolt by a people desperate to stop Han Chinese from stealing something they haven’t had a claim to in nearly 400 years (a space of time in which entire nations have been born and others disappeared from the map?) Lying through its teeth to its own people constantly and stroking the youth’s nationalism to a possibly very dangerous level, to the point that would make Goebbels blush? Too blind to see that it cannot continue a one child policy and have a deeply cultural male patriarchy at the same time and that some of its sons are so astonishingly spoiled they cannot possibly find wives anywhere because no woman on earth would want to wait on a little emperor? Even blinder to not realize the policies and attitudes fuel sex trafficking and abuse all over Asia (includes Tibet, Vietnam, and yes, Korea) and doing next to nothing about it?
Naaaah, couldn’t be. Must be some other nation whose flag has four yellow stars over a red field with the biggest star representing the Han.
On a more personal note, I have long since decided before posting here I am boycotting the Beijing Olympics; there is just too much rottenness associated with it. For me, that means I shall not buy a single thing from the Coca Cola Company or any of the sponsors, shall not watch a single event, and baldly refuse to indulge the coffers of the Chinese government by extension. Sure, I may be self-righteous, but I would rather be self-righteous and giving the Middle Kingdom the finger than hiding out and being terrified of being shot or cowed into never telling Hu Jintao to stick it where the sun don’t shine. (If Spielberg can do it, so can I.)
(And Tormsen, think of it this way: China allows some autonomy to its occupied territories similar to the way BRITAIN once did a little more than a century ago. In fact, some of her worst atrocities were carried out on a land once as poor as Tibet is now to the point that slowly she became little more than a fiefdom, nearly totally stripped of her culture and even to a degree her language. And in the aftermath, millions had starved to death, huge tracts of land had been stolen, religion squashed, and uprisings kept happening over and over until the natives found a way to FORCE the crown to let go, huge army or not.
Need a hint? -Her birthday is April 24th, 1916. Happy St. Pat’s.
“And Kyopos shouldn’t try to draw unnecessary sympathy to an occupation that ended sixty years ago. It’s pathetic especially cm’s attempts to draw attention to himself.”
What’s really pathetic are as usual angry reactionary waegooks reading into things too much. Have some ice cream, relax, take it easy on the Korea diatribes.
cm, I believe you’re the one who should be following that advice. BTW, aren’t YOU a waegookin, too?
#23, you might be mixing up cm and cmm.
Well said, MK Goode
Okay,
Finally able to respond now. Found an interesting article that outlines my thoughts well. Written by a waegook named Peter Schurmann.
http://news.ncmonline.com/news.....c0375e34c5
“Letter From Seoul: Tibet Protests Recall Korea’s Independence Movement”
Some quotes:
” The winds blowing in from China across the Korean peninsula carry with them not just the annual arrival of yellow dust storms, but also news of violent protests in Tibet.”
“I am standing outside a memorial to Korea’s own independence movement against Japanese rule in 1919, located just outside the city of Andong, which means Eastern Peace. I can’t help but compare it to Tibet’s struggle against China. The similarities are striking.”
“It is a struggle that parallels with the one that occurred here in Korea a hundred years ago when Japan hailed the annexation of the country as a return to its ancient empire. Like China, Japan held out the promise of modernity to a country and culture it saw as hopelessly backward. In the hyper-modern South Korea of today, one cannot help but see how deeply Koreans cherish both their independence and their culture.”
Proof that not all waegooks are clueless.
http://www.iht.com/articles/20.....owring.php
Another waegook article from someone that just get’s it.
Proof that not all waegooks are clueless.
First, prove that any are clueless on this thread.
Sonagi and others merely demonstrated the inaptness of your banal “mulligan” remark and the apparent (but perhaps not intentional) effort to milk modern-day sympathy from past wrongs.
Nah, wasn’t looking for sympathy. Understanding perhaps? Most posters here can’t even see the connection, let alone sympathize.
I’ve found it hard to talk about issues of colonialism with people who are from a country that don’t have a history of being on the other (oppressed) side of colonialism. Me? I’m one generation removed. My dad knows Japanese and was 6 years old when they were evicted from the peninsula. My eldest uncle was 9.
‘(but perhaps not intentional) effort to milk modern-day sympathy from past wrongs.’
pointing out your average expat’s hypocrisy ain’t trying to look for sympathy, slim. but of course, you’d focus on the wrong angle. the right angle would expose your contradictions.
‘the chinese are destroying tibet’s culture! it’s genocide!’ exclaimed the expat
‘the japanese tried to do the same thing to us.’ korean to same expat
‘SHUT UP! THEY GAVE YOU SCHOOLS AND MODERN MEDICINE!’ he replied
I actually have to agree w/pawi here.
Which “expat” commenter are you paraphrasing or are you hearing voices again?
#35 - Of course most posters on here can tell that oppressed minority/occupied country X has similarities to oppressed minority/occupied country Y. Heck, you could point out obvious similarities between Tibet, the Native American Nations, Ireland… well, the list goes on and on, really. And yes, China is aggressively assimilationist towards its minorities. So how do the “waygook” articles you cited ‘get it’, where the posters here don’t, exactly? I mean, if you’re trying to argue that it’s absurd that someone would condemn the occupation of Tibet on the one hand, while pointing out the good things about the historical occupation of Korea on the other, I guess I can agree with that… But I haven’t seen the usual “the Japanese brought the Koreans running water, roads, and longer life expectancy” crew in this thread making much noise about Tibet…
But to claim that Koreans don’t “get the same sympathy” kind of overlooks a couple of things:
A) Korea hasn’t been occupied for half a century… most “waygooks” probably aren’t even particularly aware that it ever was occupied… So apples and oranges, really…
B) “Waygooks” are actually allowed to hold a variety of beliefs and opinions. If you don’t find the group you’re with particularly responsive to your tales of woe, then maybe you should look elsewhere for validation.