Opinions on the Consequences of Chinese Occupation of Tibet

Casual conversation between friends. Anything goes (almost).
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Rinchen Dorje
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Rinchen Dorje »

If a good chunk of the Tibetan canon can be printed and shipped to a foreign country, it raises doubts about the extent of purported oppression against Tibetan culture in Tibet by the Chinese authorities.
Just one observation.
Indrajala..seriously?? You dont have 100+ people lighting themselves on fire unless they are in fact oppressed..or worse.
"But if you know how to observe yourself, you will discover your real nature, the primordial state, the state of Guruyoga, and then all will become clear because you will have discovered everything"-Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche
Malcolm
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Malcolm »

http://humanrightsinchina.wordpress.com ... ble-tibet/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Tsering Woeser (1966, Lhasa) is a courageous Tibetan writer, who offers unique perspectives on the complexities of Tibet today. The daughter of Communist Party members, her father an officer in the People’s Liberation Army, Woeser was educated, and writes, in Mandarin Chinese.

Following literary studies, she was posted to Lhasa as editor of the journal Tibetan Literature and began to uncover her true heritage. In Tibet Above (1999), Woeser published poems exploring her Tibetan identity. Her next book, Notes on Tibet (2003), addressing cultural and political issues more directly and critically through portraits of Tibetan lives, was banned; she lost her job and all social benefits but resolved to use words as her weapon and to record Tibet’s past and present.

Moving to the greater anonymity of Beijing, she used the internet to publish increasingly explicit commentaries on the arrest and torture of Tibetans – the appealing literary qualities of her writing conveying her message all the more effectively. Woeser’s concern with Tibetan culture continued in articles on contemporary painting, film and literature, and in groundbreaking books including Forbidden Memory: Tibet During the Cultural Revolution (2006), which combines her father’s photographs of the period with eyewitness accounts she gathered through interviews.

During the mass demonstrations against Chinese rule and violent crackdown in 2008, Woeser’s blogs became the main source of information for the world. Relaying details from her contacts in Tibet, she posted daily reports on the protests, human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings.

Woeser has undergone house arrest and harassment, her websites have been closed down, her movements are restricted and her life under constant surveillance, but she continues to write about Tibet from inside China. Woeser is honoured for her courage in speaking for those who are silenced and oppressed, for her compelling combination of literary quality and political reportage, for recording, articulating and supporting Tibetan culture, and for her active commitment to self-determination, freedom and development in Tibet.”
DGA
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by DGA »

Nemo wrote:I don't confuse the people living in China with the tiny elite of bastards running the show. As bastards go they have some very bad karma. If they were smart bastards they would know that without reforms their days are numbered and they will meet with a sticky end.

One can feel the savage represion in the air some days and like a beaten dog that seems harmless one day they will be weak and that dog will tear them to pieces.
The history of the PRC shows that when the Party starts banging the drum about nationalism & national pride, and pointing the finger and some kind of villain internally or externally, they've figured out that they're losing their grip--and it usually works. Example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_China ... nstrations" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and on and on it goes
Huseng
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Huseng »

kirtu wrote: In the case of Tibet a unique form of Buddhism has been embedded within the larger culture. Tibetan culture is no better than any other culture (i.e. it is not itself a vehicle of enlightenment) but it's loss would be a catastrophe.
Tibetan Buddhism is in no danger of vanishing in the near future though. There are plenty of Ladakhis, Bhutanese, Mustangese and other such peoples who are alive and well, and I'm not quite convinced Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet itself is being actively crushed, given the fact that they're printing the Tibetan canon. If China wanted to stamp out Tibetan Buddhism, they would not permit printing of the canon.

One other thing worth noting is that the first page of the pechas listed in English the sponsors of the printing, many of whom were from Singapore. So, again, what does that say? Foreign nationals can and evidently are transferring funds to Tibet so as to have the canon printed. Thereafter it is shipped, presumably by non-convert means, to Kathmandu. Where exactly is the repression happening?

If anything, nowadays Tibetan Buddhism would decline because Himalayan peoples come to enjoy secularism and money more than Buddhism (or they find Christianity makes more sense), as is increasingly the case in much of Asia.
And the intentional extermination of other cultures is genocide.

I don't think the Chinese are presently trying to commit genocide against Tibetans. Again, if this were so, why allow canons to be printed with Singaporean money in Lhasa to be shipped to a monastery in Kathmandu full of exiles?

This isn't Mao's era any longer. I would indeed agree that in that era Tibetan culture and Buddhism took a violent hit, as did Chinese culture and Buddhism.
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Huseng »

kirtu wrote: This is the first time that the Chinese authorities have detained large numbers of Tibetan pilgrims returning from the ceremony, held regularly in India among other places.
Was it all of them or some of the participants, I wonder?
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Huseng »

Malcolm wrote: Sounds like a really love fest in Lhasa
In the absence of heavy policing, perhaps many of the locals would riot, damaging businesses and killing people.


Not so long ago, the Lhasa security bureau issued a notice to all hotels, specifying:


Is there any proof this was actually the case? I mean don't believe everything you read online.
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Huseng »

Fa Dao wrote:Indrajala..seriously?? You dont have 100+ people lighting themselves on fire unless they are in fact oppressed..or worse.
Or their movement is misguided and being encouraged towards such ends by people who don't see nationalistic suicide as a problem. Dying in vain for nationalistic reasons isn't going to advance the Tibetan cause.

I would imagine the authorities there just see this as one more reason to increase policing, not decrease it. There would also be the political will for it on the part of common Chinese people.

Chinese bureaucrats can be reasoned with. If there were relative peace and quiet for awhile there would be less need for heavy handed policing. They'll only ease off AFTER the locals have demonstrated a resolve to keep things quiet and not riot. Not before.

Bear in mind if the fecal matter hits the fan in Tibet, it makes the PRC leadership look weak, which internal elements would capitalize on for their own purposes. These suicides are clearly aimed at producing such an effect, so the predictable response by the Chinese is to halt it at all costs.

Whether people like it or not, there's really only one sensible way to proceed: play nice or expect the ax to come down from above. Any talk of independence is just going to result in charges of sedition and prison camps. That's how China rolls. It doesn't matter what us outsiders think or do. That's the reality. You either abide by the PRC house rules as they stand or they start taking names.
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kirtu
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by kirtu »

Indrajala wrote:
kirtu wrote: This is the first time that the Chinese authorities have detained large numbers of Tibetan pilgrims returning from the ceremony, held regularly in India among other places.
Was it all of them or some of the participants, I wonder?
As far as I know the percentage of Tibetans from China who attended the 2012 Kalachakra and returned to China and were subsequently detained was not reported. I'm not sure it could be estimated without inside knowledge.

Kirt
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yegyal
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by yegyal »

I know a European couple that ran a hotel in Lhasa for many years, not sure if they still do, but they had lots of first hand experience with this sort of thing. For one, every hotel and guest house has at least two watchers posted their to keep an eye on, i.e. follow guests. And I'm just talking about foreign tourists here, not Tibetan. They had cops coming in regularly to install "bugs" in the rooms of people they deemed suspicious. And the owners themselves had heavily armed security forces bust through their door on more than one occassion for little more than things they were talking about on the phone. So not only were they constantly listening in on their phones calls, they even had somebody who understood their particular language. So, there's no reason to doubt the above guidelines. I have spent a fair amount of time in Tibet and I have had run ins with the police everywhere I have gone. Nothing serious, but they make sure you know that they are watching you and take down you're info. More specifically, I have spent time in Ngaba, which is ground zero for the immolations. And the military presence and harrassment there made it look like the West Bank, and that was before they started. So again, Jeff, I don't where you come up with this nonsense you spew about how good Tibetans have it and how lax the Chinese gov't is, but it just shows your complete ignorance on this subject. Not to mention the callousness of being a pro-China troll on the Tibetan Buddhism section of this site.
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Malcolm »

yegyal wrote:I know a European couple that ran a hotel in Lhasa for many years, not sure if they still do, but they had lots of first hand experience with this sort of thing. For one, every hotel and guest house has at least two watchers posted their to keep an eye on, i.e. follow guests. And I'm just talking about foreign tourists here, not Tibetan. They had cops coming in regularly to install "bugs" in the rooms of people they deemed suspicious. And the owners themselves had heavily armed security forces bust through their door on more than one occassion for little more than things they were talking about on the phone. So not only were they constantly listening in on their phones calls, they even had somebody who understood their particular language. So, there's no reason to doubt the above guidelines. I have spent a fair amount of time in Tibet and I have had run ins with the police everywhere I have gone. Nothing serious, but they make sure you know that they are watching you and take down you're info. More specifically, I have spent time in Ngaba, which is ground zero for the immolations. And the military presence and harrassment there made it look like the West Bank, and that was before they started. So again, Jeff, I don't where you come up with this nonsense you spew about how good Tibetans have it and how lax the Chinese gov't is, but it just shows your complete ignorance on this subject. Not to mention the callousness of being a pro-China troll on the Tibetan Buddhism section of this site.
:good:
Huseng
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Huseng »

yegyal wrote:So again, Jeff, I don't where you come up with this nonsense you spew about how good Tibetans have it and how lax the Chinese gov't is, but it just shows your complete ignorance on this subject.
I have repeatedly said that China is exercising heavy handed policing in Tibet. That's different from saying Tibetan culture is being oppressed and eradicated.

If they didn't exercise such measures, perhaps there could be rioting again, or worse. In some situations the state has to implement measures to ensure public safety. The PRC doesn't want to have to deal with this again:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Tibetan_unrest" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If things got out of hand the Indians for example could take advantage of the situation and start covertly arming Tibetans (this is a real danger, and if you know anything about geopolitics in this part of the world, you know this sort of thing actually happens).

Perhaps you might be pleased seeing Tibetans rising up in arms against the Chinese state (I hope you wouldn't rejoice in the violence), but I don't think you'd like the consequences. Think of the religious fundamentalists next door in Xinjiang itching for a fight.

It is all quite a complex situation. It isn't as binary as many members on this forum seem to paint it. It isn't good guys versus bad guys. There are actually more players in the game than just Tibetan nationalists and the PRC.
Not to mention the callousness of being a pro-China troll on the Tibetan Buddhism section of this site.
Does one have to be a Tibetan nationalist in order to practice and associate with Tibetan Buddhism?

A lot of non-Tibetan Tibetan Buddhists in India, Nepal and Bhutan practice Tibetan Buddhism without being sympathetic necessarily to Tibetan nationalism. In fact, I know many who dislike all such politics in their religion and thus have nothing to do with it.

I practice some elements from Tibetan Buddhism. I was also teaching English to a class of Tibetan monks this morning a few minutes ago. :smile:
yegyal
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by yegyal »

Repeatedly? Really? All I see you repeatedly doing is downplaying the suffering of Tibetans and acting as a spin doctor for the Chinese gov't. And the fact that you're being called out for this on a thread titled "How TIBETANS really feel about the occupation" some how makes me a Tibetan nationalist, makes no sense at all. None of us here are political activists. But, you live in a community of refugees and yet you spend your free time on here basically shitting all over them and their struggles. And why? What do you think those monks in your class would think if they read your many diatribes about Tibetans on DW?
Huseng
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Huseng »

yegyal wrote:Repeatedly? Really? All I see you repeatedly doing is downplaying the suffering of Tibetans and acting as a spin doctor for the Chinese gov't. And the fact that you're being called out for this on a thread titled "How TIBETANS really feel about the occupation" some how makes me a Tibetan nationalist, makes no sense at all. None of us here are political activists. But, you live in a community of refugees and yet you spend your free time on here basically shitting all over them and their struggles. And why? What do you think those monks in your class would think if they read your many diatribes about Tibetans on DW?
You're clearly upset and not inclined towards reasonable discourse. I'm discussing things from legal and political perspectives. You respond by characterizing me as "shitting all over them".

Let's talk when you have something worth saying.
Sherlock
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Sherlock »

I am not a fan of Indrajala's snipes at Tibetan cultural habits, but if his point is that Tibetans should try to cooperate with the Chinese, and in turn the Chinese allow Tibetan a bit more freedom in learning their own language and expressing their own culture, I think it's really not very different from what some of our teachers like Chogyal Namkhai Norbu and the Dalai Lama are saying.

It is useless to insist on the independence of Tibet at this point in time. Maybe in a few decades, when China splinters, there will be a chance for that, but in the immediate future, it is very unlikely and counterproductive.
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by JKhedrup »

My objection is not to Indrajala's call for negotiation with the PRC according to the realities of the situation.

My objection is to how he tries to minimize and deny the very real suffering that Tibetans experience with irresponsible and uninformed remarks like his glib comments about WeChat. Comments which I have repeatedly addressed with real information which he continues to ignore because it does not fit in with his Han chauvinist paradigm. It is offensive to many here and yet continues unabated, which I find puzzling

If he were to start a thread about what form the dialogue with PRC should take this would be far more interesting. So far, most of what he says appears to be apologetics for China and this I hurtful to so many Tibetans who have experienced terrible racist oppression in their own homeland. To deny the realities they have experienced demonstrates a deep insensitivity, which is why I have pressed him to go and meet former prisoners in D'Sala or Nepal, which he has steadfastly refused to do. This indicates to me he isn't really interested in having a broader opinion informed by real human experience.

His statements continue to deny the reality and severity of the Tibetan experience within the PRC:

I have repeatedly said that China is exercising heavy handed policing in Tibet. That's different from saying Tibetan culture is being oppressed and eradicated
http://khamerlogue.wordpress.com/2010/1 ... ressedduh/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01471.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.thetibetpost.com/en/news/int ... minorities" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.itmonline.org/arts/drepadd.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
rose
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by rose »

A recent report (April 2014) from Human Rights Watch.
MISSION STATEMENT
Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all.
Under China’s Shadow
Mistreatment of Tibetans in Nepal

APRIL 1, 2014
The 100-page report shows that Tibetan refugee communities in Nepal are now facing a de facto ban on political protests, sharp restrictions on public activities promoting Tibetan culture and religion, and routine abuses by Nepali security forces. These include excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment in detention, threats and intimidation, intrusive surveillance, and arbitrary application of vaguely formulated and overly broad definitions of security offenses.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2014/04/01/u ... a-s-shadow


What the report covers:
UnderChina’s Shadow

Mistreatment of Tibetans in Nepal

Map of Nepal
Summary
Chinese Pressure on Nepal
The Gentleman’s Agreement
Key Recommendations
Methodology
I. Tibetans in Nepal
Nepal’s International Legal
Obligations
II. The “Gentleman’s
Agreement”
III. Nepal’s Justifications for
Imposing Restrictions on Tibetans
IV. China’s Role
China’s Top Priority in Nepal:
Tibet
Chinese Aid and Investment
Nepal’s Commitments to China
Security Cooperation: “A
Handshake over the Himalaya”
V. Nepal’s Forced Returns of
Tibetans
Threats of Deportation
Ongoing Refoulement Concerns
VI. China’s Treatment of
Tibetans at the China-Nepal Border
China’s Refusal of Re-Entry to
Some Chinese Citizen Tibetans
Abuses in Custody in China
VII. Nepal’s Restrictions on
Expression, Assembly, and Association
Arbitrary Curbs
Prohibitions Imposed on Political
Protests
Restrictions on Public and Private
Gatherings
Pressures on NGOs and Activists
Defending Tibetans
Reaction to Self-Immolation Cases
VIII. Arbitrary Arrest and Detention
Arrests
Lack of Judicial Review of the Powers
of Chief District Officers
Preventive Detention and Habeas
Corpus Rights
Surveillance
Inadequate Police Protection from
Anonymous Threats
IX. Other Restrictions on Tibetans in
Nepal
Citizenship
Freedom of Movement within Nepal
International Travel
Travel to India
Property and Employment
To the Government of Nepal
To the Government of China
To the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees in Nepal (UNHCR)
Appendix I
Letter from Human Rights Watch to the
Government of Nepal
Appendix II
Translation of Huanqiu Shibao Interview
with Nepal’s Deputy Inspector General of Police
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2014/04/01/u ... s-shadow-0


From page 4:
Human Rights Watch conducted research for this report in
Nepal from November 2012 to October 2013. We conducted 41 in-depth interviews
with Tibetans in Nepal. Human Rights Watch also visited four refugee
settlements located in Kathmandu and Pokhara, and spoke with Tibetans at the
border crossing in Kodari, Sindhulpalchok District.

In addition, we spoke by phone and in person with dozens of
Nepali officials, foreign diplomats in Nepal, UN agency representatives, and
members of NGOs with firsthand information about the issues covered in this
report.

Human Rights Watch also wrote to the Nepali government
inviting it to respond to our finding. As of this writing, we had received no
response (a copy of the letter is included as an appendix to this report).
http://www.hrw.org/node/123803/section/4
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Huseng
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Huseng »

I think the real concern is less about Tibet and more about Xinjiang. The latter has the potential to become another Afghanistan or Chechnya if certain elements acquired firearms. Just look at the spat of killings and bombings around China within the last year. Tibet is linked to Xijiang geographically and politically. Any move towards independence on the part of Tibetans is likely to be regarded as an encouraging example which Xinjiang dissidents could emulate and capitalize on. The same level of policing, if not more, is likely active in Xinjiang, too, though Tibetan activists either overlook this or are unaware of it.

Human Rights activists do have a point that heavy policing causes a great amount of suffering amongst the common people, but it is a lot more complex than that. There's also the point that "Human Rights" are way with which western countries bully their opponents, like China and Russia. To be a Human Rights violator is tantamount to being a monster, even though the purported monster is acting logically albeit in a morally questionable fashion.

What is instructive in this discussion and others on this forum is that really nobody has conceded, as far as I recall, the additional element of Xinjiang in the China-Tibet issue. Riots by largely unarmed Tibetans are a problem for a bureaucracy that needs to maintain a good image, though I think there's more to the Chinese calculations than that or some unconscious obsession to dominate and assimilate. The real threat stems from separatists in Xinjiang. If Tibet gets autonomy or was to succeed in an insurrection against the Chinese state it would mean religious fundamentalists north of Tibet in the Tarim Basin would do the same, which should be alarming given that they would likely be allied with extremist elements throughout Central Asia and the Middle East.

Predictably, China responds through heavy policing in both territories and concedes nothing to either. In their calculations the misery of a million Tibetans probably seems incomparable to the potential violence that could be unleashed in Xinjiang if border controls and security arrangements collapsed there. The Tibetans themselves, bordering that territory, would likewise not be sparred such terrors.

Basically I'm asking everyone to consider the larger geopolitical picture. There is logic to China's measures and decisions.
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by rose »

Indrajala wrote:<snip>
Basically I'm asking everyone to consider the larger geopolitical picture. There is logic to China's measures and decisions.
:offtopic:

This topic is not about the
...logic to China's measures and decisions.
it is about How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Please note: from this point off-topic posts will be removed without further notice.
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Malcolm
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Malcolm »

Indrajala wrote:That's different from saying Tibetan culture is being oppressed and eradicated.
But Tibetan culture is being systematically oppressed and eradicated. This is what you refuse to see. Take the nomads for example:

http://freetibet.org/news-media/pr/un-h ... ans-nomads" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Nomads are an integral part of Tibetan culture, historically, 60 percent of all Tibetans lived in nomadic communities.

If they didn't exercise such measures, perhaps there could be rioting again, or worse. In some situations the state has to implement measures to ensure public safety. The PRC doesn't want to have to deal with this again:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Tibetan_unrest" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If things got out of hand the Indians for example could take advantage of the situation and start covertly arming Tibetans (this is a real danger, and if you know anything about geopolitics in this part of the world, you know this sort of thing actually happens).

Perhaps you might be pleased seeing Tibetans rising up in arms against the Chinese state (I hope you wouldn't rejoice in the violence), but I don't think you'd like the consequences. Think of the religious fundamentalists next door in Xinjiang itching for a fight.
So you excuse state violence but condemn resisting totalitarianism?

You do realize that the Chinese just outlawed Ramadan?
It isn't good guys versus bad guys.
Yeah, it really is.

A lot of non-Tibetan Tibetan Buddhists in India, Nepal and Bhutan practice Tibetan Buddhism without being sympathetic necessarily to Tibetan nationalism. In fact, I know many who dislike all such politics in their religion and thus have nothing to do with it.
I don't know a single Tibetan who agrees with the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
Malcolm
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Re: How Tibetans really feel about the occupation

Post by Malcolm »

Indrajala wrote:I think the real concern is less about Tibet and more about Xinjiang. The latter has the potential to become another Afghanistan or Chechnya if certain elements acquired firearms. Just look at the spat of killings and bombings around China within the last year.
The Muslims there will get arms -- China is sitting on a powder keg.
Tibet is linked to Xijiang geographically and politically. Any move towards independence on the part of Tibetans is likely to be regarded as an encouraging example which Xinjiang dissidents could emulate and capitalize on. The same level of policing, if not more, is likely active in Xinjiang, too, though Tibetan activists either overlook this or are unaware of it.
Everyone is aware.
Human Rights activists do have a point that heavy policing causes a great amount of suffering amongst the common people, but it is a lot more complex than that. There's also the point that "Human Rights" are way with which western countries bully their opponents, like China and Russia. To be a Human Rights violator is tantamount to being a monster, even though the purported monster is acting logically albeit in a morally questionable fashion.
People who violate human rights, whatever nation they come from, are monsters.
What is instructive in this discussion and others on this forum is that really nobody has conceded, as far as I recall, the additional element of Xinjiang in the China-Tibet issue.
It merely shows that China's grasp on its colonies is slipping after years of oppression of these regions.
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