Tibet Shootings

[tingbudong]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL224933.htm

The video is available on YouTube.  I initially found the video first, but was skeptical, given it's grainy, non-English and overall incomplete feel.  Yet after finding several related articles from respectable news agencies, I've come to accept it as probably genuine.  This couple also with my recent experiences in Tibetan areas.

Having just returned from a work-related visit to an isolated foreign funded Tibetan school in  Khambas, which is on the western fringes of Sichuan Province

I travelled to this area with my Chinese friend and our Tibetan School field coordinator (who was invaluable given his Tibetan/Chinese language skills.  We began in Chengdu, where, as the major urban centre of the West, there is a large number of Tibetans.  Our first interaction with a local provided a good snapshot of relations between the Han and minority Tibetans.

Taxi Driver:  "Are you Tibetan"?
Friend: "No, why do you ask"?
Taxi Driver: "Oh good, cause' if you were Tibetan I would stop talking to you.  Tibetans are all theifs, liars, and beggars who pollute Chengdu".

The tables were reversed once we found ourselves in Khambas.  My friend (ethnically Han Chinese) was now the object of resentment (until she mentioned she was involved in the school project).  Often, her donations to temples were smirked at, as were even simple things like attempting conversation. 

Another example would be a settlement we visited (to talk to locals involved in the developing eco-tourism project).  The government had recently destroyed a local temple, under grounds that the building was no longer structurally sound for people to worship under.  The argument was fair enough, except after demolition, the government refused to rebuilt the temple or provide compensation because the Temple's lama had spent time in India.  The nun who told us this story broke down into tears about half way through.  Here is a person who all they have ever wanted to do was to live on this remote mountain top and pray and the government wouldn't even allow her that small ability.  She'd never even heard of 9/11.

The considerable animosity, borderline, if not hate between these two people.  Trust is not existent.  The CCP claims of unity and harmony are a myth.  It is not just the Tibetans whom are viewed in such negative and stereotyped terms.  I live in Nanjing where there is a sizable population of Xinjiang (Uyghur) people.  Just substitute Uyghur in place of Tibetan in the Taxi Driver's comments and you have the general opinion in Nanjing of this minority.

 

[Yrys]

Spotlight falls on India's Tibetans

Protests against the Indian leg of the Olympic torch relay have put a spotlight on the country's large population of Tibetan exiles.

Tens of thousands have crossed into India since 1959, when Chinese put down a Tibetan uprising. Many of the refugees were housed in settlements
in southern and other parts of India in the 1960s and 1970s. Because of dwindling economic opportunities in the settlements, more recent refugees
have settled in the north.

The city of Dharamsala in the Himalayan foothills, where the Dalai Lama and Tibetan government-in-exile are based, is the hub of the diaspora.

Coming and going

The precise number of Tibetans now living in India is unknown. The most common estimates are between 100,000 and 120,000.

But according to Thierry Dodin of the London-based information service Tibetinfonet this is almost certainly too low, and the figure could be as high as
200,000. The picture is further blurred by fluctuations. Every year, at least 2,000 people arrive from China - mainly through remote mountain passes via
Nepal - while unknown numbers return home.

Whatever the numbers, India's Tibetan minority is highly visible. According to Mr Dodin, this is due to both the entrepreneurial zeal of many exiles, who
have set up businesses and travel a lot, and to the prestige of the Dalai Lama - which is as high in India as it is in the West.

The activities of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) - as the government-in-exile is officially known - are closely monitored but fairly free. Overt anti-
Chinese agitation, however, is frowned upon. In March, Indian police barred several hundred exiles from starting a march on Tibet.

The CTA is not recognised as a government by any country - including India - but it receives aid for its work among exiles.

Transit point

The legal status of many Tibetan exiles is as unclear as their numbers. Most of those who cross into Nepal lack valid travel documents and few obtain
a card from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. According to a 2003 paper by the agency, the Nepalese authorities want Tibetans "out of the country within two
weeks". Many are unable to obtain residence permits once they reach India, the UNHCR adds.

Indian residence permits, which were once routinely granted to Tibetans, are now only automatically available to the children of those who arrived before 1979.
There are ways for newcomers to overcome Indian reluctance to grant residency, but they involve lengthy tussles with officialdom and often bribes. Those who
obtain legal status are free to work and own property, but they do not have the same rights as citizens - such as formal participation in politics or the ability to
carry an Indian passport - the UNHCR says.

In Nepal, the position of Tibetans is even more precarious. The country does not recognise refugee status. Most Tibetans in Kathmandu have no papers and can
be picked up by police. Several hundred were detained in the capital after a wave of anti-Chinese demonstrations. There are no reliable estimates of the numbers
of Tibetans living in Nepal. The country is keen not to antagonise China by putting out a welcome mat for Tibetan exiles, and is mainly used as a transit point.

There is also a small but influential Tibetan diaspora in Europe and the US. Mr Dodin puts their numbers in New York in the thousands, with newcomers arriving all
the time, and about 800 in London.

That answers questions I had about their citizenship : it's unclear ...

 

[CougarKing]

 I live in Nanjing where there is a sizable population of Xinjiang (Uyghur) people.  Just substitute Uyghur in place of Tibetan in the Taxi Driver's comments and you have the general opinion in Nanjing of this minority.

Tingbudong,

Are you sure you are not mistaking the Hui Ren/回人, who are ethnically Chinese, for Uighurs/维吾尔? Both are members of the Islamic religion, but the latter are more related to their Central Asian cousins like Turkmen and Tajiks. Hui Ren are actually scattered throughout China in various enclaves like one in Xian, Shaanxi province where I visited one of their temples; obviously their population numbers increase as you travel further West. I just found what you said to be a bit surprising since I didn't expect there to be just as many Uighurs in Nanjing and that far east of all places, even if you can find a restaurant in Beijing where they serve Xinjiang cuisine/BBQ lamb, which is also called "chua'r" (yang rou). ;D

Please reference what I wrote about Hui Ren in earlier threads that I posted here before to get a better understanding:

reply #73 addressed to George Wallace at: http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/65843.60.html

George,

You must be aware that the Uighurs are not the only Islamic group in China though. There is this group called the Hui Ren who are ethnically Han Chinese, but who practice Islam. They are scattered all over China, though their population density obviously gets larger as you travel further West. Their mosques look more like Taoist/Buddhist temples though those buildings are bound to have both writing in Arabic and Mandarin characters and you can even find Hui Ren mosques are far east as Beijing and Xian. They practice certain Muslim traditions such as not eating pork, etc. and their men and women wear head dress similar to Uighurs and other Central Asian Muslim groups. However, it is expected that those who live in the larger cities are increasingly living a secular lifestyle and are sometimes indistinguishable from the mainstream Han Chinese society.

Hui Ren means "returning person", which can be inferred to mean that these were just Han Chinese who converted to Islam, but still chose to live among non-Muslim Han Chinese. I assume they are Sunni Muslim just like most Central Asian groups. Still, it is possible that their loyalty to the State/CCP may also be questionable, especially if the govt. clamps down more on their fellow Sunnis- the Uighurs- in the West, even if the Hui Ren are ethnically Chinese.

And another at the lower second half addressed to Thucydides and Mr. Campbell of the reply#278 at: http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/55433.270.html

I hope that helps.