By JENNIFER CUNNINGHAM
Tibet: Shangri-La, the Land of Snows, home to mountain ranges of myth and legend and a people stripped of their culture. The inaccessible peaks and the mysteries of the monasteries have long fascinated westerners fated to live out their lives at a lower level.
Since the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, was forced to flee to India in 1959 after clashes with occupying Chinese troops, freedom for Tibet has become a cause for thousands far beyond its boundaries with China, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim. When the Dalai Lama visits Glasgow this month, hundreds will come to see him at the SECC, demonstrating how Tibet has transcended its status as an occupied land, or autonomous region as the Chinese call it, to become an internationally-acknowledged country of the mind.
Joanna Lumley is the latest celebrity to visit Dharamsala in India to show support for the Tibetan government-in-exile. Her visit last month follows in the footsteps of Richard Gere and Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys, who held Free Tibet concerts in 1996 and 1997.
Since then, high-octane celebrity endorsement has been missing, but interest has been rekindled in Britain with high-profile visits from both the Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, and the Dalai Lama this month.
In other ways, 2004 is a significant year for Tibetans. It is the centenary of the British invasion under Colonel Francis Younghusband that left more than 3000 dead after a series of battles. It is the 45th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against the Chinese and the Dalai Lama’s flight into exile.
Agreement between the British and Tibetan governments was reached in 1904 and a strong relationship between London and Lhasa resulted in the UK’s recognition of Tibet as autonomous. But Britain failed to aid Tibet in 1950, when, after the death of the 13th Dalai Lama, China invaded.
The UK government’s official policy remains a diplomatic balance of regarding Tibet as autonomous, while recognising the special position of the Chinese there. It was clear that commercial contracts had a higher priority than religious freedom in Tibet during the meeting between Tony Blair and Wen Jiabao this month.
There are two Tibets. Historic Tibet is the area of 2.5 million square kilometres which consisted of three provinces (Amdo, Kham and U-Tsang) before the Chinese invasion of 1949-50. The Tibet autonomous region consists of less than half that area (U-Tsang and Western Kham) and was created by China in 1965 as an administrative entity.
In the original area of Tibet, there are now six million Tibetans and an estimated 7.5 million Chinese. The Tibetans work mainly in traditional agriculture, while the Chinese are predominantly in government, commerce and the service sector. The policy of immigration, which provides economic inducements to Chinese to move to Tibet, is working. Yesterday the official Chinese news agency reported that Tibet has moved into the second place in western China in terms of urban per-capita income last year, sparking a rise in consumption.
At the same time, plans by representatives of the Dalai Lama to attend tomorrow’s inauguration of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian were denounced by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao. “We have reaffirmed that we demand the Dalai Lama recognise that Taiwan is a part of China’s territory, to abandon his Tibet independence stance, and then the conditions will exist for negotiations between the central government and the Dalai Lama,” Liu said.
Chinese rule has deepened the mystery of Tibet for many westerners, including James, a London banker, who took leave to travel in the region. Surrounded by Chinese propaganda, he was delighted to have a Tibetan guide. However, he insists that his name is disguised for fear of repercussions against the guide, who would talk freely while there was no danger of being overheard, but dutifully followed the Chinese line outside.
“One of his colleagues told a group of American tourists about the arrest and imprisonment of monks, who were so outraged that they wrote a letter of protest to the Chinese president. His friend is now in jail,” says James. “To become a tour guide, he had to take exams in Chinese, which included knowing the height of skyscrapers in Beijing. It’s part of a policy which includes cramming the Tibetan tourist industry with Chinese guides. He escaped to India, but was arrested on his way back to Tibet because he was carrying a photograph of the Dalai Lama and was jailed. The propaganda began on board China Airlines flight to Tibet. They claimed what a fantastic success the Chinese government has been for Tibet and that Chinese immigration to Tibet has been overstated.
“It’s difficult for visitors to tell what the proportion of Chinese population is, but certainly in and around Lhasa (the capital) it is high. In some areas of town, it would seem to be 50% Chinese and 50% Tibetan,” he says.
Author Patrick French became fascinated by Tibet after meeting the Dalai Lama when he was a student. He became a director of the Free Tibet Campaign based in London and in 1999 he returned to spend three months researching a book on Tibet. What he saw, particularly the “daily compromises that Tibetans have to make in order to live in a police state”, prompted him to resign from the campaign because he believes it is not making life easier for Tibetans. He says that the western view of the Dalai Lama as a “cuddly” celebrity does not always fully understand what he stands for in terms of religious and moral teachings or the moral complexity of life inside Tibet.
Yet there are former prisoners who testify that their release has been due to the international interest. Ngawang Sangdrol, a nun at the Garu nunnery north of Lhasa, was arrested in 1990 at the age of 13 for protesting with 12 nuns at the summer palace. Now in the US, she has told her story. Held for nine months in the Gutsa detention centre, she claims she was interrogated, beaten and tortured with electric cattle prods.
Sangdrol was arrested in 1992 for protesting and her three-year sentence was extended for protest such as singing Tibetan songs until her release date reached 2011. She was released nine years early in 2002. She says: “I was obviously released many years before my scheduled date because of pressure from the international community.”
The Free Tibet Campaign is disappointed that Tony Blair has said he is too busy to meet the Dalai Lama, whose first public talk in Glasgow is already sold out. But, despite a request, the Tibetan flag will not fly while he addresses the Scottish Parliament, because he is a spiritual, not a political leader.
Alison Reynolds, director of the Free Tibet Campaign, is hopeful that a third visit of envoys between the Dalai Lama and the People’s Republic will take place soon, but warns: “China has yet to demonstrate a full commitment towards substantive dialogue on the future of Tibet, and international pressure remains essential to push this process forward.”
The Dalai Lama himself remains unshakeably optimistic, stating: “A peaceful resolution of the Tibetan issue will have wide–ranging positive impacts on China’s transition and transformation on to a modern, open and free society. There is now a window of opportunity for the Chinese leadership to act with courage and farsightedness in resolving the Tibetan issue once and for all.”
The Dalai Lama will be in Glasgow May 29-June 1 for a series of talks and teachings at the SECC.
TIBET: A HISTORY
1904 British invasion under Francis Younghusband. Series of battles left more than 3000 dead. Without backing from London, British forces leave Lhasa and agreement between Britain and Tibet marks beginning of official “friendship”.
1935 the 14th Dalai Lama,Tenzin Gyatso, born in Lhamo Dhondrub in Amdo (now part of Qinghai Province) on July 6.
1950 he takes office as Tibet’s political and spiritual leader at the age of 15.
1950 Tibet invaded by People’s Liberation Army.
1959 Uprising by Tibetan people, 87,000 Tibetans killed in seven months. Dalai Lama flees with 80,000 Tibetans.
1989 Dalai Lama is awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1995 The Dalai Lama announces Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a six-year-old child in Tibet as reincarnation of 10th Panchen Lama. China abducts Gedhun Choekyi Nyima (whose whereabouts remain unknown) and enthrones an alternative child.
2002 Formal contact between Beijing and the Dalai Lama re-opened after more than 10 years of diplomatic stalemate. The Dalai Lama’s envoys visit China in September 2002 and June 2003 but China has yet to sanction a third visit.
2003 Tony Blair discussed Tibet with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing.
