Tibet Today

Tibetans today continue to be deprived of their fundamental right to self determination, and the entire region is a human rights nightmare. While martial law ended in 1990, Tibet continues to be a police state and any attempts for peaceful protest are violently crushed. The following is a list of modern issues that require urgent attention:

Immigration Policies

Many authors agree that China's mass population transfer policy into Tibet is the greatest threat to the survival of Tibetan culture. Chinese now greatly outnumber Tibetans in most regions of Tibet, and receive economic benefits as well as the majority of the well paying employment. It is obvious that the goal of these policies is the complete Sinicization of Tibet which will, from China's point of view, eliminate the 'Tibet problem'. Along with encouraging migration, China also sends large numbers of Tibetan students out of Tibet to study in other parts of China, so that they can receive Chinese education and upbringing. All of these policies are in direct violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Nuclear Production and Waste

China maintains over 1/3 of its nuclear weaponry on Tibetan soil. Many of these weapons are along the border with India and threaten the future stability of the entire Asian continent. China also uses Tibet as a nuclear waste dump, and even sells space to other countries for dumping of radioactive products. China is also in the process of exploiting Tibet's massive mineral resources, including one of the largest Uranium deposits in the world. Projects such as this will undoubtedly produce large quantities of radioactive waste.

Forced Abortions and Sterilizations

Despite the fact that Tibet is not overpopulated like other regions of China, Beijing still carries out its one-child policy throughout Tibet. This means that any mother who exceeds her limit of children is forced to carry out an abortion, and then be sterilized without consent. Rural regions report that mobile abortion and sterilization units regularly visit communities in order to conduct these operations. Testimonies of various women indicate that these clinics use no medicine or pain killers before or after performing operations, and many report serious long term injuries. Others report their children being killed just prior to, or in some cases even after birth. If a mother attempts to hide extra children, then she suffers economic and social discrimination and has to pay large fines and taxes. Therefore most mothers are forced to choose abortion and sterilization.

Racism and Discrimination

China practices a policy of apartheid in Tibet referred to as "segregation and assimilation". Tibetans are openly discriminated against, being referred to as lazy and backwards, and are second class citizens in their own country. In schools, Tibetan children are forced to learn Chinese as their second language, while Chinese students are allowed to learn English, thereby making them more qualified than Tibetans for all employment opportunities. Therefore, Tibetan parents must sneak their children out of the country if they want them to receive any serious education. Poverty is a serious problem in Tibet, and most Tibetans are reduced to begging and pushed into ghetto communities.

Religious Persecution

While the government of China now allows Tibetans to privately practice religion and permits a small number of people to live in monasteries, it still forbids any serious study or teaching of religion. Anybody who expresses any political opinions that oppose the Chinese is forbidden from becoming a monk or nun. Monasteries are closely regulated and many of the officials overseeing them are the same officials who once oversaw their destruction. Monastic life was once the backbone of Tibetan society, and all education took place within its walls. Today, the few monks and nuns who live in monasteries must spend all of their time doing reparations instead of learning or teaching others.

Political Prisoners

As in the rest of China, anybody who speaks out against the government and its policies are punished severely, usually being thrown in jail and tortured without fair trial. Most political prisoners in Tibet are monks and religious authorities accused of unrealistic crimes, or young teenagers who participated in non-violent demonstrations. China also holds the record for the world's youngest prisoner of conscience, the Panchen Lama, who was placed under house arrest at the age of five, and is now 13 years old. His present whereabouts are unknown.

Deforestation and Environmental Destruction

Massive deforestation projects are being conducted throughout all forested regions of Tibet, and to date over 60 billion dollars worth of Timber has been logged, with millions of acres of land completely cleared. This is having a dramatic impact on the entire ecosystem of Tibet and the rest of Asia. With huge areas of bare soil exposed, all of the fertile soils are being eroded and drained into the major river systems which originate in Tibet, and flow throughout Asia. Due to such high altitude, it takes much longer than in other regions for vegetation to replenish itself, so in many cases the damage is irreversible.

Wildlife

In the past, government policies in Tibet prevented the killing of most animals, due to the Buddhist ban on taking of life. Tibet was therefore a massive sanctuary of wildlife. Early traveler accounts report seeing massive flocks of yaks, deer, kyang (wild ass), hundreds of rare birds, and even snow leopard. However, due to recent environmental destruction, massive hunting projects (including random shooting of wildlife during the cultural revolution), and the fact that Tibetans can make huge amounts of money by selling rare animal products to Chinese merchants, it is now extremely rare to see any of these animals.

Colonialism

The situation in Tibet has all of the typical characteristics of colonial administration. Like many other examples of the past centuries, China invaded Tibet under the pretext of "liberation", and claims to be modernizing Tibet. In reality, the only people who are benefiting from this modernization are the Chinese themselves. China is presently building a bullet train from China into Tibet, in order to get Chinese in faster and resources out faster. Urgent action is needed more now than ever before. China must not be permitted to continue its policy of cultural genocide and environmental devastation in Tibet.

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