By Claude Arpi
There are reports of fresh political dissent in Tibet and March 28 could see the eruption of violence. After a ‘glorious’ Rat Year, Beijing isn’t taking any chances. A ‘Strike Hard’ campaign has been launched on the Roof of the World to pre-empt protests by Tibetans
The Rat Year was glorious. The White Paper on Defence admits, “China is still confronted with long-term, complicated, and diverse security threats and challenges… Separatist forces working for ‘Taiwan independence’, ‘East Turkistan independence’ and ‘Tibet independence’ pose threats to China’s unity and security.”
Today, Chinese President Hu Jintao only speaks of “safeguarding national security and maintaining harmony and stability in society”. It is not an easy task, when repression is the only weapon known to him and his colleagues.
The biggest problem in contemporary China is that the leadership in Beijing can only think in terms of ‘strike hard’.
On December 25 last year, Xinhua reported that 59 Tibetans accused of inciting violence were detained in the Tibet Autonomous Region on charges of fomenting unrest by spreading ethnic hatred and by downloading and selling banned songs from the Internet. Those arrested were charged with ‘threatening national security’ by calling for an independent Tibet and condemning the ethnic Han migration to Tibet.
On January 18 this year, the Chinese authorities launched a 42-day winter ‘Strike Hard’ campaign in Lhasa. According to Lhasa Evening News, “Within three days of the launch of winter ‘Strike Hard’ campaign, Lhasa City Public Security Bureau office had deployed 600 officers, around 160 police vehicles and conducted raids on seven housing blocks, 2,922 rented houses, 14 guest houses and hotels, 18 bars and three Internet cafés in Lhasa. After conducting the raids on these locations, the PSB were able to round up 5,766 suspects and questioned them.” The ‘strike hard’ campaign was first introduced in the 1980s to fight crime and corruption.
Meanwhile, details of the sentences for the 2008 unrest have begun to emerge. Mr Nyima Tsering, a Chinese official of Tibetan origin, said 76 have already been convicted for the 2008 unrest. The Kardze Intermediate People’s Court in Sichuan province has sentenced four Tibetans, including two nuns, to varying prison terms. The Intermediate People’s Court of Ngaba County (also in Sichuan) has sentenced a Tibetan to four years in jail for spearheading protests in Ngaba.
Nine monks studying at Samye Monastery in Tibet were sentenced to varying prison terms for joining the protest in Lhoka Prefecture. One of the monks has since committed suicide.
Fearing fresh unrest on the ‘Roof of the World’, the Chinese have found a novel way to deflect the anger of the Tibetan population: They have declared March 28 as ‘Serf Emancipation Day’. It was on this day in 1959 that the Tibetan Government was dissolved by Beijing after the Dalai Lama left Lhasa. But nobody is fooled; the move will certainly trigger even more resentment.
Despite the phenomenal rise of China, all is not rosy in the ‘Middle Kingdom’ and the Ox Year may prove to be one of the most difficult for Beijing. Chinese leaders have already warned of it being ‘possibly the toughest year’ of the decade. Apart from the global economic slowdown, political dissent in Tibet could shake China in 2009.
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The views expressed in this piece are that of the author and the publication of the piece on this website does not necessarily reflect their endorsement by the website. The author may be contacted at: claudearpi@gmail.com
